Hello stalwart readers! We made it to Saint-Gilles du Gard yesterday the 28th. What a long, flat, hot slog it was. 17 miles. I spent a good portion of it creating senseless,  but fun (to me), descriptions to a cadence chant from the army. No way I can duplicate it here, so you’ll just have to remember to ask me for a sample when I get back.

Yesterday,  we walked through miles of vineyards and orchards: apple, peach, apricot.

Close to Saint-Gilles we met pilgrim Calum, Scottish but born in Bruges, Belgium because his dad was Catholics, his mom Protestant and they couldn’t marry in Scotland so they moved. True love. Having a new companion helped the last few miles slip by. Calum said he was really tired and we helped him, too.

Here are a few pilgrim makers new to us, and the first sighting on this trip of the traditional one…

Oh, and this dual version:

We also saw stencils on many homes.

Last night i fell asleep before even beginning a post. Tonight, while writing it. So, I’ll have to sign off until tomorrow. 

This is one of the more historical cities I’ve been in. The Roman’s had a huge presence here. Roman name is Nemausus, after the water god dwelling in the natural spring that feeds this place it’s water. David Burns, Water Flowing Underground,  comes to mind.

There’s a fully intact amphitheater here – some gruesome acts took place (prisoners forced to fight to the death of one; prisoners tied to a post while a wild animal tears into him; two animals chained together and fighting it out), and also some exciting gladiator combat. I was surprised to learn of the many different gladiators there were and if their attire and wespons.

Again, a Roman Temple,  still standing in astonishing good shape.

A few symbols:

That’s part of the wall that surrounded the ancity of Nemausus. There were ten city gates, of which two remain (partially). It’s not a bad climb up 140 steps for a long g view of old and new Nîmes.

I don’t know how the rest days here went by so fast and we stayed up so late, too. Tomorrow we walk with packs to Saint-Gilles. And now I lay me down to sleep.

May you all be well.

I was too tired after our 19 mile trek yesterday to think. At one point I declared that I was NOT going to walk 17 miles from Nîmes to Saint-Gilles, not realizing that I was already engaged in a 17 mile walk, that became 19 somehow and to Saint-Gilles will “only” be 15.

Maybe our host Thierry had something to do with it. He’s very appreciative of where he lives and all it has to offer within short distances. One of which we just had to see and it was a 7 minute walk from the house and he would take our backpacks to a meeting point in his car, join us on the walk, and then drive us to a Chemin starting point. It would only add 30 minutes to the day. HA!

Thierry offered to drive us two towns over to make up time, but we were committed to the walk. A boulangerie in Dions was not too far for sandwiches. However, no sandwiches on Sunday.

Hoof it to La Calmette where a Lidl would be open til noon thirty. Arrived at 12:28. Closed. It actually was not bad hiking without lunch. Thierry and Catherine had provided us with a more than ample breakfast. Thierry also loaded us down with a small jar of his fait maison confiture and a small bottle of his fait maison rhum arrangé, a digestif.

This long long lonely road went on and on and on. Quite a bit of gradual elevation gain. Thank goodness for some cloud cover and a breeze.

The thing about walking long distance with a pack is that after a period of discomfort when you wonder if you should call a cab, if only you could, so it’s good you can’t, things settle in, or on, more pertinently.

There was lots of impressive stonework along the way.

Last year we took a rest day after two days of walking. This year – 12! I’d say our training in the Sandias and Manzanitas was effective.We are here in Nîmes til the morning of the 28th when we walk to Saint-Gilles, our final day and end location of this Chemin. A few people though have suggested we walk to Arles. “C’est pas désagréable,” said one woman we met hiking in the opposite direction. I don’t know as that’s a ringing endorsement. On verra.

Two last photos, which reminds me. We saw about 5 wild boar running across that path in the photo above, followed by about 7 boar-lets. Very impressive! Those adult boars, however, had no adult in the rear to ensure the piglets were following.

Wild things…

Touristing in Nîmes today, but taking it slow.

May your days and nights be awash in wonder. Bisou.

We began this trek among pastures, went into the mountains,  and are now among vineyards.

Got to speak French three times today: at lunch in Moussac, with a pilgrim along the way,  him headed north and staying in Ners tonight Chez Fanny where we were last night, and with our hosts tonight, Catherine and Thierry.  Lovely older couple in a verdant and quiet location on the edge of town.

The first 10 days of walking we saw a poppy here, a poppy there. Suddenly today there are fields of them.

Have only seen three of these crosses. Protestant churches here are called temples. They are never open. Nor have Catholic churches been sin ever left the Cevennes. Curious.

That’s all I got for today. Except to say that 15 miles is long and tomorrow will be longer. But a few breaks here and there,  even short ones, make it all do-able. Not to say that it’s tiring as all get out, and my feet and legs will be happy to take a break in Nîmes. We’ll probably still walk a lot,  but not with packs.

Voilà.

We walked 14 miles yesterday the 22nd with an unexpected amount of elevation gain. And getting into Alès, several tricky descents that were steep and on unstable ground. Worst part was the 2 Mike walk through the city of Alès on pavement.  For some reason my right foot has decided that it can’t abide pavement and hurts hurts, especially after a long day. I was asleep by 9 and slept til 7. I was out.

Photos from Le Pontil to Alès…

Mushrooms are big here.  Not a large as the sculptures,  but the ubiquity of the sculptures tells the story.

It truly is jarring and jangling to suddenly be in a city after spending days among villages and walking through hamlets. Sometimes going for miles without seeing anyone except men in tractors. Will miss the Cevennes mountains and trails,  but not the rocks.

We had a pleasant surprise today, the 23rd, with the medieval town of Vézénobres. Part of its fortifications still present.  The trail took us along the ramparts.

We are lucky to have a place here in Ners for the night. Our host Mdm. Gras has 25 people staying across the street at her dorm style Gîte. A big birthday celebration. We are staying in a building near her home. It has 3 bedrooms,  kitchen/living. It’s farmhouse funky. She is generous. Welcome beer. Free use of washer n dryer, though we couldn’t get the dryer to work and so used the dryer rack. Great dinner. Salad with olives, corn, onion, green pepper, black and green olives. Galette de Bretagne with courgettes. Flan. Bread – of course.

And now time to fait dodo.😴

Aah! It’s already 10:36. We arrived between 4:30-5. 13 miles today, not the most difficult terrain, but today I felt it. (Could have taken a nap in the shower.) Especially the last hour and those dang rocks and roots. A serious lack of balisages didn’t help, having to deduce the route and hope to see a marking. Good news is, it always worked out.  I then think of pilgrims in the middle ages – how did they follow a route? Was it more obvious back then? Were they on the well traveled commerce route and not traipsing through the woods? Though it would have been through woods. We think we were on another bit of Roman road today.

Seems we entered Protestant country today. Saw one Protestant church and a stylized Huguenot cross on a house. No photo of that, but there was also this building.

Stayed at the above in Génolhac last night. The night before in a similar faded glory Hotel Balme in Villefort, though Balme was better. Still the dinner at Chalet was great (rogail de saucisse) and thank goodness for that as it was the only place to get a meal.

A lot of these small towns we walked through have well maintained homes that are closed up. We think that, like in Luc, many are vacation homes as the Cevennes National Park is so close.

Creative people:

Time to call it lights out. 😴

Re above: there was a big sign on weathered wood. About a tuilerie.  And a chief Camisard. A staircase going steeply (of course) up. A gate to the staircase with a sign to close said gate due to animals. Surreal

I have written a few times (a lot?) about rocks and the challenges of walking on them. So, yes, more today. What i haven’t written is how that challenge keeps you focused. In the moment. If you want to look around and see the scenery,  you’d  best stop, and just do that. Otherwise,  you could be over a cliff, rolling into a sprained ankle, or landing on your butt.

Only started seeing these signs since Villefort.

Another sign:

Oh! Speaking of signs, a black snake crossed, right to left, in front of me yesterday. Omen? Portentious? Positive or Negative?

So many streams, rivulets, and waterfalls today. Ah, the sound of water…soothing.

While some broom is still in evidence,  the massive amounts of two days ago are no longer.

The day started off cloudy and drizzly, but had turned to just cloudy when we hit the trail. Mid day looked ominous and a wind was whipping. It soon cleared. All in all, a gorgeous day for trekking. Even up that 55 degree grade. It was long too, making it the first time on this hike that I trilled the Rocky theme song at the top.

Long day tomorrow, about 13-14 miles . Bye for now.

Hello wondrous wonders!

Top photo of the day, even though it won’t capture the majesty of the view. Hint: if you can, view the photo in landscape or at least expand it.

We encountered the above just before arriving at La Garde Guerin, a fortified 12th C “city”. It’s  very small and is now renowned as a lunch and gift shop offering local ingredients honey, confiture,  wine, beer, lentils and more) as well as high quality handmade items like wool slippers and incredible hand knitted thick sweaters from local wool. I would have bought both if traveling in a car.

You can tell from the photos that it was overcast today. Rain and thunderstorms threatened, but never materialized. It was comfortable weather for walking. On the other hand, walking was not comfortable at all. Compare: walking from Langogne to Luc, almost 8 miles. We got there in 4 hours. Meanwhile,  Prevenchères to Villefort was about 9 miles, and it took a whole hour extra. Which, now that I think about it, is not bad, given the nonstop rocky terrain, including long stretches of the rippled undulating volcanic rock.  We did have a few respites – walking on cushy pine needles for a too short while and another short bit lakeside.

I wonder about these homes in the woods. Were they once farming homestead? Were they abandoned during the religious wars? Was it a Protestant or Catholic family forced to flee?

I’m going to take a bath now. This hotel has a long and deep tub that i must use to my advantage. I leave you with this image, the other name for this route.

Beau rêves …

In no particular order, here are memories of the day…

Breakfast/le petit-déjeuner is generally coffee, bread, confiture, honey, butter. No plates. Just make a mess on the table.

I wish I could transmit the fabulous aroma of the broom in bloom which has always been with us on this walk, but no more so than today.  Oh, so sweet, but not cloying. When the going got a little tough, I breathed deeply and smiled.

Broom, as in Spanish Broom or Scottish Broom,  but these grow more closely to the ground.  Same flower though.

We sat on a trailside berm for lunch with the above view for our dining pleasure.

We walked on quite a bit of petrified lava today. The ripples and undulations make for trippy walking. Though neither of us tripped a bit. It also has a beautiful silvery sheen in the sunlight.

I probably mentioned that our trail sort of parallels the Robert Louis Stevenson trail and at times intersect. There are many references to RLS along the way.  The above being one of my favorites. 

Some people think it’s worth over 600€ to rent a donkey for a 14 day hike. Then they wear a backpack instead of having the donkey carry their stuff. Who’s the ass?

Had such a fun encounter with folks today. We were heading into Prevenchères and heard/saw some folks outside. I called to them to ask about the Auberge we were headed for. Well, that went into an extended conversation with 3 good buddies of 40 years who all worked for SNCF, the French RR company. That turned into an invitation to try some Verveine alcohol. Yes, of course. More conversation in a mix of French,  English,  some Spanish. Did I get a photo? 😦

I’ll  end with some images of Prevenchères.

Finally, two photos of trees that are hundreds of years old. They are so venerated that there are plaques describing their history. That’s what I love about rural France 🇫🇷.

And with that, I wish you bonne nuit or bonjour  – whichever makes sense for when you receive this missive.

What a day for walking… We started on pavement getting out of Langogne, then onto gravel. It was a pretty steep climb out of Langogne. Throughout the day a mix of gravel and earth trails. Less road walking today than yesterday,  more walking by fields and through forest. Oof, then a steep decline, picking our way through rocks, to Luc.

Just before that steep decline, we came upon the remains of a chateau. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote about having a meal there in 1878. He was served an excellent repast by an old woman in a veil. I think he ate some mushrooms…

Luc is the first small town we’ve stayed in on this route that I really like.

We had a short walk today, made even shorter when we found a shortcut on the map – cut off about a mile. Plus it was a nicer route through woods and not on the road.

À demain