Day 9 - Short and Sweet (Espeyrac à Conques - 14 km)
Dan spent the night camping with Clément and Lucie just outside of town so we headed there for camp coffee just after 0700. After a brief visit, Dan, Kate and I headed out for a short hike that was not without a couple of challenges.
Over the past nine days it has been easy to determine the different strengths of our group. With the exception of a lack of navigation skills when deep in thought, Dan is strong in many areas but excels at endurance and downhill. Kate too is strong on the downhill and also very fast on the flats. Me - I rock the climbs. Because of these differences, the three of us rarely walk together as a group. When we hit a portion of the trail that is in our wheelhouse, away we go. If the plan is to stay in the same location, we will always find each other at the end of the walk.
Each day we can find a wide variety of trail characteristics, each with its own challenge. We've seen asphalt roads, dirt roads, farmers' lanes, deeply furrowed goat paths, and rocky, treacherous steep paths. These could be found in open areas, heavily forested areas, and everything in between. That's part of what makes this journey so amazing.
We met a young man from Brittany who hopes to make it all the way to Santiago. Pierre is 22 years old and this is his first big journey on his own. We hope to cross paths with him along the way. We also met Nadine, a young German woman who recognized Dan's Seahawks hat and told us that she attended school in Seattle several years ago. Finally Dan's hat is recognized!
Once again we met Clément and Lucie, this time at our destination in Conques. They were on their way to the river to cool down and then off to sleep in a chapel two hours past here. The excitement on their faces for both events was very visible. And..... they plan on adding a few more days to their adventure which excites us. We can't say enough wonderful things about these two very special pilgrims who were gifted into our lives. I forsee a long friendship with them.
We stayed at Abbaye Sainte Foy-Communaute des Premontres in Conques tonight. The church is hundreds of years old and staying in the abbey is very special. Dinner was with over 50 pilgrims and was followed by a benediction service for the pilgrims in the church. As one of the three English speaking pilgrims from North America, Dan volunteered to do a short reading for the mass and did a great job.
Another special day is complete.
