Via Tolosana/Voie d’Arles Days 13-14 Lacommande to Oloron to Sarrance

Day 13.  Thursday May 3,

Lacommande to Oloron Ste. Marie.

Cold,rain, and Mud

14.7 miles, 33,174 steps abt 22 km, but we cut a few by road walking

Rain, Cold, Mud.  High temp about 47 F.

Kent and I were the first to set out this morning.  The skies were dark and threatening, but no rain at first in pretty Lacommande.  

After the pretty flowers by the door, the first item of attention was a dead hedgehog on the street.  “Maybe it’s just playing possum?” I said hopefully.  I  touched it gently with my pole.  It was definitely dead.  “I’ve never seen a live hedgehog before!”  

“You still haven’t,” said Kent.  Alas!  I took a memorial picture.

In the night I had wakened, thinking about the grave markers and bones of pilgrims who had died and been buried in this place over the past thousand years.  They may have been walking to or returning from Compostelle.  Why were they walking, and what had befallen them here?  They certainly weren’t carrying high tech backpacks or wearing quick-dry clothing, or sturdy hiking boots like modern pilgrims.  What was it really like, and why were they walking?  Why are we walking?

After a fairly pleasant beginning on roads, then wooded paths, we soon ran into serious mud, and trails that ran with water.

There were no view of the Pyrenees today, just clouds and cold wind.  as we crossed an open field it began to rain, hard.  Out came the ponchos.

Eventually, we came to a road where we were able to choose — More muddy paths or road walking.  We chose the road, which wasn’t all that pleasant, but got us to Oloron more quickly.

It was still raining hard as we entered Oloron, a city with many hills and rushing river crossings.  Where was the pilgrim gite?  Suddenly Emmanuel popped out of the door of a bar.  How had he and Olivier arrived so fast?  Someone had offered them a ride, and they had actually passed us as we walked on the road.

The gite was very nice, and a beehive of activity with 8 Pilgrims — the most we’d seen anywhere.  Kent and I were given a room of our own.  But, I was cold and couldn’t get warm until we went out walking to the grocery store.  It was raining too hard to enjoy exploring the town, a disappointment as there was much to see.

Later we enjoyed dinner with Emmanuel and his roommate Urs, a veteran Swiss pilgrim.  We had to rush back to the gite to avoid being locked out at 10 pm.

Day 14.  Oloron Sainte Marie to Sarrance.  The rain had stopped by morning, so we first hiked up to the Cathedral, where someone was just opening up.  Grabbing some yummy pain au chocolat, we then went back down that hill and climbed another hill with stairs to rival any in San Francisco, to the Eglise of Saint Croix, a very old, dark, atmospheric place, supposed to have Arab influences that I couldn’t really see.

Then down the hill and out of the city, along a few damp trails and several quiet country roads.  The afternoon was particularly beautiful, as we followed the valley of the Aspe  toward the Pyrenees.  About 3-4 km before Sarrance we entered the woods, Here the trail clung to wet wooded hillsides above the rushing river. Streams of water often crossed the path. One slip or misstep and you could slide down the slope and perhaps never be able to get back up.  It was probably the most difficult camino walking I have ever experienced. At long last Sarrance appeared, and at its far end was the church and Premontre (Norbertine) monastery.  I told them that there was a Norbertine Monastery in Albuquerque, but they did not know of it.

We rang a bell and were ushered in by a wild-haired monk. Kent and I were led to a two-bed room.  Kent got the top bunk. We were able to wash some clothes and dry them in a room warmed by the boilers that provided heat and hot water.

Chickens ran happily about in wet green grass.  We ate with the monks and others of whose identity we were not sure, although one stocky jovial fellow in a beret was a sheep-herder.

A very old man read prayers before the meal, which consisted of bread, two different soups, and a delicious baked potato casserole.  No wine was served.  Cheese was brought out for dessert.  And some crescent-shaped cookies and herbal teas for dessert.  By then the brothers had left for evening prayers, and we visitors collected and washed the remaining dishes.  It was an interesting experience.