France at 3 MPH: Serendipity

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.