Day 16 Castres to Dourgne, 21 km

It’s been raining, spitting really, all day. One of the things I did before I left home was to send my newish pack back to the manufacturer (Durston gear in Golden, BC) to get two small repairs ( which they did for free and sent back in very good time despite the person who does the work having been off sick). One of the repairs was to retape the seams. The fabric the pack is made of is waterproof. But last year, walking in torrential rain in Portugal, water was clearly getting in. Today it was not raining nearly that hard, but I’m still really pleased the inside of the pack is dry! I use a liner (aka a garbage bag) and dry bags for almost everything, so it’s overkill. But nice that it’s working!

Very quiet walk today. It’s Sunday, I left relatively early, and this is not a busy landscape. I was passed by three women out cycling. And about 800 metres from the end I met a woman (who had spent a year in Milton, Ontario, of all places) who was out walking her fox terrier.

On a weekday I can see that the exit from Castres would be frightening. Two-lane road going into the city, no shoulder. One confusing roundabout. Today it was fine. Mid morning I decided to shave a kilometre off the GR route and follow a small road directly into a big village where I hoped to, finally, get a coffee. The GR went to the left and made a big wide semi circle before joining back with the road a few kilometres later. I went straight. Within about 100 metres a car stopped to tell me I was mistaken. I explained I was in a hurry for coffee, and he went on. A few minutes later I started seeing GR markers. So did the chemin used to go down the road? Was it rerouted for safety reasons? Or maybe local people found the pilgrims annoying? It was a pretty prosperous-looking area. Big houses behind gates. And at the bottom of the hill, a bar with coffee! At 10:30 on a Sunday. That’s a miracle. And across from the bar - a boulangerie. I took a good long break.

The next section was similar. Mostly on tiny paved roads and farm tracks, several of which had turned to mud. And one of which was a long straight line of knee-high, dripping wet grass. Within about 30 seconds my shoes were soaked.

After the soakers, came the woman with a red umbrella and the fox terrier. And then about 10 minutes after that, the Abbaye Sainte Scholastique. What another fab place to stay.

This is huge Benedictine convent. Just after I got here it started to rain much harder, so I have not explored the outside, but I’ll post a photo of a postcard that shows the whole building. It’s not that old in local terms. Founded and built in the late 1800s. I was greeted at the door by one of the Sisters who gave me a tour and instructions. I am the only pilgrim tonight, so once again I get to have my own room. With its own bathroom. And it’s a nice room, with a 1970s dorm-room vibe. Spotless. Miracle #2.

One of my knees is bugging me a bit today. So I spent a good chunk of the afternoon stretching and doing some other exercises. Then I went to Vespers at 5:30. There were 21 nuns there. It was all sung (is it always only sung? Everywhere?). The church is large but very simple. There were maybe 10 of us there besides the nuns.

I had dinner with the other 6 people who are staying here. A couple who come a few times a year for some quiet. A couple from Quebec who are here volunteering for a month. A woman who I think is doing a kind of retreat. And a young woman here to study for her exams. The huge record collection and creperie where I went the other day in Boissezon — it used to be her grandmother‘s house!

There is barely any cell service here. So if you see this before tomorrow that will be another miracle!Read more