Aire sur l'Adour

I have a short day today. I’m up early and on the road by 7 AM. I had a nice breakfast with two of the pilgrims who I met yesterday, a father and son. The son was very kind and helped me with my French as the father looked on approvingly.

The high temperature today is 86°. Rain is forecast for this evening. Europe desperately needs more rain. It may make walking more difficult for the next couple of days. Many parts of the path are sunken farm roads which tend to double as drainage. I’ll gladly accept that problem.

In this part of France, it’s common to have roads 10 or 12 feet below grade. Often they are lined with trees, giving the effect of the woodland cathedrals. During the heat of the day, I much appreciate the shade they bring.

By my calculations, I should be off the road by 1 PM or about two hours before my accommodations are ready to receive guests. It’s a good time for exploring the local village, making reservations for tomorrow’s stay, and drinking cool beverages in the café.

My new favorite cold beverage is Jupiler zero alcohol beer. It’s not sold very widely in this part of France but when I can, I definitely enjoy it. It unseated my old favorite, Guinness. Jupiler Claims it’s zero alcohol beer won the world championship and I believe them.

Other things I’ve tried here in Southern France. This is the home of Armanac. Enough said. There’s also a fortified wine called Floc de Gascogne. They serve it as a digestive here and it claims the status of AOC (appellation d'origine contrôlée). If you know France, you know that the AOC is a very big deal here. The AOC guarantees that you receive what is exactly on the label. For example, I think I heard the (apocryphal?) story of a shipment of Miller highlife beer landing in Europe and being confiscated. You can’t claim to be the champagne of bottled beer because champagne comes from Champagne-Ardenne in northeast France.

OK. My second telephone reservation didn’t go as smoothly as the first. I thought I signed up for a single room with dinner and breakfast. In fact, I got a dormitory room with no dinner. But I’m still learning.

My gîte tonight is quite beautiful. It’s obvious that the proprietor took great care with her restoration and furnishing of this wonderful place. She she beamed when I noticed all the fine work she has done.

Oh well, that means I’m looking for dinner tonight. But I think I’ll just repeat lunch, which was a great salad.
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