Diary week 4 Sunday 26 June. Lamothe to Manciet. At. Lamothe I had a whole dormitory to myself and it looks as though I will again here at Manciet. I left a little later than I really should have this morning but was enjoying taking full advantage of having free wifi for more than a few minutes and reading NZ newspapers on my phone. For the first time I had delicious bircher muesli for breakfast along with wholemeal bread. Much of the walking this morning was _along shady country lanes..just as well as the heat was oppressive by the time I arrived in Manciet. I passed through Euze at about 10 and found a super spar supermarket open where I was able to find some band aids for my blisters and a pain au chocolate ..will have to go cold turkey on those when I get home...so yummy! Just outside the Euze cathedral there was an outdoor market settting up.I bought some apricots and cherries: life is easier since I stopped trying to calculate everything in NZ prices. I walked today in sports sandals (now held _together with string ) and socks to protect me from the sun and give my new blisters time to recover. I got to Manciet about 1.30 and am having a very quiet and cool afternoon indoors reading.Of all the equipment that I brought along my Android phone...bought very cheaply only weeks before I left has been the winner. It came with a free kindle App and I was able to download many free classics to it. I am currently reading Wilkie Collin's "The _Woman in White"...a bit _melodramatic but lots of fun..just the thing for a long hot afternoon in a tiny village with nothing else to do in the fierce heat. I was also able to download Alison Raju's guidebook as an ebook very cheaply and have been very grateful to have it sometimes when the track is not well marked. I use the note App to keep my diary and cut and paste it into the blogger App when I find wifi. The camera is only 3 pixels but it does sometimes (when the wifi is srong enough) allow me to post photos. I downloaded a sound recording App and have been trying to record some of tge birdsong and other sounds of the chemin. The news and weather App quickly downloads a week of weather forecasts using the GPS function to work out where I am when I have wifi and is then available for offline reading.It also downloads NZ news headlines for offline viewing. Initially I wondered what the point of the Email App was as it seemed more user friendly to simply go directly to my email using the web browser but have found it very useful as it also allows offline viewing off email. Internet hasn't been as easy to find in France ad ot was in Spain 7 years ago..and when you do find it you then have to do battle with French keyboards..very offputting. Wifi (pronounced weefee here ) is getting easier to find and pops up in unexpected places. I have rarely had Wifi for more than very short periods but it has been great being able to read newspapers from home and blogs.Language has been a bigger barrier than in Spain..I can now get by during the day but am lacking conversationally in the evenings..if only I had taken the time to study "le rugby". The Android certainly fills a gap then..and of course I also use it as a phone..it would be very difficult to rely on public phones to book accomodation and phone home. Now if I could just get past the next level of Angry Birds...
I am staying at the gite Chez Matthieu beside the church but wouldn't recommend it unless you can find nothing better. Lots of uncomfortable folding beds jammed into small rooms with thin translucent walls, no cooking fascilities and only one bathroom...would be appalling if it was full. There were 5 of us at dinner and conversation centred around "le chaleur" the heat and how we should all leave at. 6 in the morning to avoid the worst. Just checked Miam miam and tomorrow's gite doesn't open till 3..will have to hope for a shady tree somewhere close.
Monday 27 June. Manciet to
Maison Labarbe.
Another shortish 19 k day because of predicted 37C. Left Manciet at about 6.15 am and arrived at Nogaru 2 hours later. Had a pain au chocolate sitting in front of the church and then headed off again forgetting my stick and had to go back for it after a few hundred metres or so. Walked for another hour and s half or so before heat really began to set in for the day.Pack heavier than usual because of need to carry extra water. Found a shady corner of a corn field and set up camp until about 2.30. Shade kept shifting and I had to keep avoiding the stinging nettles. Read one of the Anne of Green Gables books on my phone. Miscalculated a little and found I still had several kilometers to go in the heat. Hot tar and gravel embed themselves onto the soles of my sandals.Sweat dripping onto my eyes ...thank goodness for my umbrella although it could do to be a bit bigger and more opaque. The combined layers of sweat and dust from the very dry tracks make me feel like well fried Wienish schnitzel. Arrived to find noone here and note on door wishing me a good installation.One good thing about the heat is that even in the early evening my washing dries in only an hour or so. Am the only person staying in gite so ate my four course dinner in solitary splendour ...salad , roast duck and haricot beans, cheese, icecream trumpet. Then popped and drained blisters ....should have done, ir the other day really. Hot sleepless night ...tried opening the window but it is hotter outside than in. Temps expected to drop to 29C on Tues.
Tuesday 28 Juin : Maison Labarbe to Aire sur L'Ardour. As I was alone in the gite I wad able to leave by 6.30. Walked through corn fields dodging the irrigation sprinklers. Only saw 4 other walkers today...one a Basque man with such a thick accent it would have been hard to understand him if there hadn't been lots of hand action describing the heat of the last few days. Not too bad today..grey and threatening rain but never really.I should be able to see the Pyranees by now but perhaps it is juzt too overcast. Arrived at Andre and Odile's gite only minutes before it opened and was wecomed with a cold drink and chocolate! Had stopped at a giant Carrefours supermarket on my way in. Andre and Odile are lovely..he has treated my worst blister..he is of the mercurochrome and cotten threaded through the blister school so will be interesting to see how it goes... a bit gory but my wee band aids were certainly not working. They have also rung ahead for me to Miramont Sensacq as I kept getting an answer phone and wasn't sure what to do. In the meantime Regula and Marie Helene and Vanessa (swiss) have arrived..nice to see a familiar face or two.
Wednesday 29 June Aire sur L'Ardour to Miramont Sendacq. A long hot sleepless night, much of it spent listening to audio book on my phone. Left early without breakfast and soon met up with Fleming from Denmark who speaks excellent English ...had my first real conversation in a week or so. We were walking through corn fields and were joined by 3 others.Somewhere along the way we all must have bern too busy talking as we missed a turning. We suddenly realised it had been some time since we saw a marker.I would probably have turned back at that point but the consensus was to go on so we did until we eventually found s little village where we asked an old lady. We just had to backtrack a little and then keep straight along the road for an hour or so.Arrived at Miramont about 1.30ish..very nice welcoming people showed us around and will cook us a meal tonight for a donation. Lots of familiar faces here. Was able to grab a bottom bunk, a power outlet for my phone, a shower and an afternoon sleep..life is good!
Later had very good shared meal cooked by hosts for donation. We sat around outside and Adrian played the Pan pipes and there was some half hearted singing of the Pelerin song Ultreia. The night was a bit cooler and I managed to get some sleep for first time in several days.
Thursday 30 June. Miramont Sensacq to Arzacq Arraziguet.Today I have been walling for a month and only have one week left. We all left about 7.30 and had relatively short 16 k walk but a few ups and downs. More corn and sunflower fields and sheep and cows. Arrived at A just a few minutes after office closed for morning so did a quick trip to boulangerie and fruit and vege shop then back for lunch.Am hoping that wifi id available as promised by MMDD.
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