Voie d’Arles Day 2, Sunday 22 April, 2018,

 Voie d’Arles Day 2: 22 April L’Isle Jordain to Giscaro.  On my phone: 10.6 miles, 23, 363 steps,  estimated distance about 15 km.

After wearing ourselves out yesterday, we decided to make today shorter.  Solitary Walker had written an enthusiastic account of his stay at Gite d’Etape Le Grange a few years ago, so we emailed ahead to say we’d be coming.

At first I thought we might decide to walk farther, but after about the first hour of walking, the heat and humidity began to take its toll.  Much of our walking was along pleasant dirt tracks. We arrived at the village of Monferran-Savès shortly after 11 am, after about 2 hours of walking and one brief rest.  As we entered the village two men directed us to a shop where we could “even get whiskey,” and we soon arrived at a Vival-Casino that was doing a brisk business before its noon-time closing.  Water, orange soda, some potato chips to help replenish our depleted salt, our leftover bread and butter from breakfast, a new bottle of water, and some dark chocolate provided refreshment enough as we sat at the plastic table and chairs in front of the shop.  A man wearing hiking boots and zip-legged pants hopped out of his car, and asked if we were going to Santiago.  When we said yes, he said, “Can get there faster in my car — two days”.  I’m sorry we didn’t take time to wander into the church courtyard, but we were eager to continue on our way.  

The only other people on the trail this morning were a couple of joggers and a small group on horseback.

The trail meandered up and down along fields and wooded lanes.  Many birds sang.  We stopped a few more times, not wanting to arrive too early.

At the top of a high hill we found, to our delight, a stone bench adorned with a scallop shell and with a sign urging Jacquairs to profit from it.  We sat there a long time, cooling in the shade and breeze, thinking we had only an hour or so yet to go, and we did, arriving at the Gite Le Grange some time after 2 pm., hot and sweating once more after climbing more hills.

Showers, clothes washed in a washing machine for 3 Euros, a couple of beers and then a long nap before a delicious dinner of zucchini soup, served in a lovely old tureen, tender duck, and oven-roasted potatoes, all prepared by Eric, who was covering for the Flemings.  

I was so energized by the nap and dinner, legs and feet no longer aching, so we took a walk before dark.

We are sleeping in a lovely attic dorm, just two of us in this room, snuggled under comfy duvets, cool night breezes coming in through a door and skylight.

Fellow pilgrim Emmanuel from Caen, who cooked his own dinner, is in the other room. He had walked from L’Isle Jordain much later than we.

Today, except for the heat, was pilgrim life at its best.

There are even lamps and small tables beside the beds, and extension cords to plug in phones.  This is the perfect gite.