We walked into Moissac before noon. All of us were tired, even though it was only 16 km. Our lodging was in the Ancienne Carmel, now a gite which reminds me of a conference center. Except for the bunk beds! The place is run by volunteers. 
The food was good an honest but not the fancy meals of some smaller gites, but the company was excellent. 
Over the last week we have gotten to know Anne-Marie (Ireland) and Ingrid (Austria). They met on the trail; Anne-Marie finishes in two weeks at St Jean Pied-de-Port, while Ingrid continues to Compostela. 
Johan and Mette and I have shared many meals and a few glasses (bottles, perhaps) of vino. He is a ship captain and I have learned much from him. He and his ship are the subject of a documentary (Netflix) called The Last Breath which I’ll watch when back home. 
Patrice and Mary France (France, on the far right of the photo) live in Paris and have invited me to visit. I fully expect to take them up on this. The photo is in the pilgrim welcome office here (Accuel Pelerins) with the volunteers who are running it. 
Remy has a rural gite and is one of the people who makes this a true pilgrimage experience. I’ll write a separate story about him. 
Serge has a gite in Cahors, another person who is focused on helping us be le vrais pelerins. He locks the door shoulders his pack, and walks to Compostela each year on October 15. We learned quickly how much he is respected down the trail. I’ll write more about Serge when I have time. 
What will I do when there is no walk each morning, no ancient churches to visit, when everyone around me is speaking English instead of French?
Amazing things happen all around us. We are in the right place at the right time as we wander around the countryside.
We were out of food options today; no stores or restaurants on our route. We came to a very small village and stopped for a rest at the church. We had already done 10 km and lots of up and I needed a break. We tried the door but the church was locked. But a man came from the house across the street and unlocked it. It was a simple but beautiful church. And we knew there was a gite in the village, our trail friends Jean Luc and Veronica had stayed there. So we found the gite and asked if she could make us a sandwich. With all the fancy food we have from time to time, this was fabulous. 
St Cirq de La Popie is usually crowded with tourists. But at sunrise I looked out the window and saw that a thick fog had formed over the river. This doesn’t always happen, but it did for us. Our early morning walk through the village was just us and a few locals. Most people remember narrow streets crowded with people. We will remember the quiet in fog, and Jackie the wood turner.
We stayed way out in the country outside of Arcambal with Pierre and Carmen. It couldn’t have been better. The hotel side of their house has 7 bedrooms and one toilet and one bathroom, but we were the only guests. The old old house was charming but Carmen more so. She told us stories and fed us a fantastic dinner-soup, salad, soufflé with artichokes, cheese plate, pudding. Oh la
We had planned an extra night in Cahors because Anne-Marie had heard of a concert she wanted to attend. When we went to the tourist office we found that the concert wasn’t until the following weekend. We picked Gite Ferme Trigodena from the app and made reservations. That night after dinner our host, Remy, a farmer and farrier, sat down at his old piano and played a marvelous concert.
The three of us are having a wonderful trip. We all met on this trail last year. That we are walking this two weeks together is purely serendipity.
The Camino has a way of taking a Pilgrim to marvelous places. The path is never the shortest distance to the next town. The Grotto at Peche Merle is one of those marvelous places. 
This painting, in a karst limestone cave deep underground was made 29,000 years ago. I have read about these drawings but never imagined I would see them. 
Now we are in Saint Cirq le Popie. Below us the Cele created fog at sunrise to create magic. 
This is one of le Plus Beaux Villages and has 400,000 visitors in the summer. One of the many shops and art galleries is this wood turning workshop. Jackie and his dog were a delight to get to know. He said only a dozen people stay the winter in the old downtown. 
We met Nathalie, a glass artist, in her shop. Slowing down to have a conversation.
We took a ride on a ship built in the tradition of the barges which plied this river for hundreds of years. Originally pulled by people, then horses, and the towpath was carved into the canyon wall. We went through a manually operated lock.
Tomorrow we leave the Cele River. Tonight we are in a gite in an old train station; it is strange to say the least. Who knows what adventures tomorrow holds?
We are still in the Cele River Valley, have now completed 5 days of walking, 6 nights in gites d’etape with demi-pension meal plans. 
We stayed at Peche Merle Equestrian Center with Pasquale last night. Dinner was sausage (organic but not from the farm) and lots of vegetables from his garden. Pasquale was a fabulous host, dinner was 2 1/2 hours and finished with an aperitif (plum liquor) made by his neighbor. 
Lunch was at the Grotto, grilled cheese and ham sandwich (cheese on top, not inside). 
Dinner was at the restaurant which owns the gite: cocktail, wine, too much of every part of a duck on a lettuce bed. With us are Jean Luc and Veronique from Paris, and Bridget, a Québécois. 
And dessert and coffee too. 
We has to walk it off in the village. 
Imagine yourself on this bench. You are looking over the Cele River. You don’t know yet what there is below, but it is a pretty sight. 
I have a trail guide and the trail is well marked. It is an ancient trail taking pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, one of many branches of the Camino. The French government owns and maintains the trail and calls it GR65. 
I have walking companions from a previous trip. Although I walked GR65 last year, this year we are taking a Loop off the main trail, GR651. what surprises lay ahead?
A forest of hanging moss. 
Walking miles between stone walls used for moving livestock. 
Miles of cornfields. 
Springs on a mountainside.
Stone herders huts
Old houses 
Spectacular villlages
Dinner with trail friends 
A more intimate dinner with Christine and Jean-Phillipe at the Celezen Gite outside Espinac (fine dining it was! Tomato soup and beef ribs with shallots and potatoes, baked peaches and figs for dessert, almost entirely from their garden). 
Beautiful Churches 
Sandwiches for lunch- just great bread, butter, and ham. This one made by Fabian, the bartender. 
Troglodyte homes in a cliff. 
You have to work for these views. We went up and back down cliffs like that three times-and that was just today!
This is a Street in the village we are in tonight. What secrets does tomorrow hold?
The last scene in the movie “The Way” is set at a small port town called Muxia. This is a fitting ending place to my European adventure. Tomorrow we head back to Texas. 
This is a popular place for Pilgrims to visit after walking the Camino de Santiago. We walked three days of this loop but the other four we are doing by bus. Muxia is small and charming. 
There is a beautiful beach beside the town. 
The church of the Virgin of A Barca is on this peninsula jutting into the Atlantic Ocean. The legend says that Mary visited the area to encourage James in his evangelizing. 
The first time I’ve had scallops. Quite tasty! This plate is €12. Pairs well with Albariño wine, the local favorite.
What does a thousand year old trail look like?
Starting in A Coruna, a pilgrim will be in Santiago in 3 1/2 days of walking. If one starts in Ferrol, as most seem to, is 5 1/2 days. The short trip is counted at 75 km, not enough to get a Compostela from the Catholic Church (100 km is required). I have one already and no one seems to be interested in it. 
This is the starting point in the port city of A Coruña. 
The nursing mother Mary statue in the church at the start is unique. 
The trail is well marked but you are somehow guaranteed to get lost trying to get out of the city. I had two sit-down map and guidebook consults on the way out of the city. 
The way takes pilgrims through lovely and quiet suburbs. 
The first albergue was super modern and welcoming 
Much of the trail is through forests. 
There are few cafe-bars on the way, but this one was super-friendly. This was just after the trail from Ferrol (the other starting point) joined us, along with many more pilgrims. 
I walked past the albergue on day 2 because it was only noon. The only other option was a hotel just off the route at Ordes. This was the view from my room. 
I used a routing from maps.me to head toward the Camino (I don’t have a map of this trail, just a description). I walked with these local women for a couple of kilometers. They showed me where to pick up the Camino. 
Wildflowers are abundant 
People pursue beauty in their yards. 
The way went up 1000 feet the first day and 1500 the second. 
Dinner in a bar with a card game on
Lunch today-beef stew. Hit the spot.
