Auvillar and Saint-Antoine

This is a bit of a swashbuckler tale that is kind of appropriate since I’m in the land of the Gascone (à la the Three Musketeers). I don’t really have time to give a good accounting, but suffice to say that I ended up not finding accommodations in Auvillar and , with SUSAN’s help, I was able to get a place at a wonderful new Gîte, Vox Gaudi.

My morning started quietly enough. I was walking along the edge of a pear orchard and heard a song, very beautiful, but I’d never heard before. My app identified it as a Red-billed Leiothrix, but the app advised me that that was unlikely. I did three more sound recordings, and that all came back to the same answer. Whoever was making this beautiful song, I was grateful for the company.

I had a difficult time getting a reservation for tonight. I’ve been getting a little slack about doing them in advance. I probably should be a little more attentive. It could be that some accommodations are closed for August holiday in France. When I stopped for breakfast in the next town, I planned to start looking for likely places to stay for the next couple of days. Unfortunately, the café wasn’t serving breakfast or lunch at the hour. I was there. I got a good crème café, bought some dried fruit and nuts at the local grocery store, and that caught me through the rest of the day.

I need to tell more about this story. I need to tell you how kind the hosts were tonight to make a wonderful meal of pork and red wine sauce, and mashed potatoes. I have to tell you about all the fun. We had learning each other stories and how we came to be at the table together tonight. I have to tell you how SUSAN and Emily have been working with spreadsheets and Internet to help me make a better plan for shorter hikes. But that can’t be now because I need to go to sleep. Breakfast is at 6 o’clock tomorrow and I have to backtrack to see a beautiful little church before I start my 22 km march!Læs mere