Day 7 in Arthez-de-Bearn

We haven't had internet access for the last few days. Finally we are staying at a hotel in a town called, Arthez-de-Bearn, that has wifi so we can begin to catch up.

The last three days have been very similar - country roads and dirt paths (sometimes muddy), rolling hills.

On DAY 3 we walked about 24 kilometers. We started around 9 am and finished by 5 pm. After we were done we went by van on a side trip to Lupiac (hopefully spelled correctly) which is the town that D'Artagnan, of the three musketeers fame, lived. We planned to visit the museum, and hurried to get there before it closed, but found that it was closed on Mondays.

On DAY 4 we started from Lanne Soubiran. It had a little church with a large porch and an unusual dome. As we walked toward it we expected it to be something other than a church.

It was a long walking day, about 25 km, and pretty hot. Had a picnic lunch in a town called, Barcelonne du Gers

We ended the day at the doorstep of a hotel in Aire sur l'Adour. It was a pretty large and town along the river, Adour. There was some construction going on so we couldn't enter the church, but the next morning (DAY 5) we stopped by a local church near the hotel, a 19th century, Eglise de Sainte Quitterie, which was built on the site of a Benedictine Monastery.

On DAY 5 we walked from Aire sur l'Adour to Pimbo. The street leaving Aire sur l'Adour, was called, Rue Nelson Mandela.

Today we had our first glimpse of the Pyrenees, snow-covered in the distance. Each day from now on they will get closer.

A highlight of DAY 5 was the Eglise de Sensacq. It was an eleventh century church dedicated to St. James. It had a total immersion baptismal font for infants. Somehow it seemed so special. We had walked for so long through woods on a very hot day. Seeing this little beautiful church made us feel so peaceful. Krishna rang the church bell several times before we left. Wish we had taken photos of it on the iPad so we can post them now, but we will have to wait.

We ended the day in Pimbo after a long stretch of a narrow path. Pimbo is an old Batide village founded in 1268. It has a collegiate church of Saint-Barthelmy on the site of a monastery founded by Charlemagne.

On DAY 6, after walking about 7 kilometers, we stopped at a place called, Arzacq-Arrziguet. It is a Bstide town founded in the 14th century. The church had a stained glass window of Saint James. We stopped at a grocery store to get things to carry for a picnic lunch later, and stopped for coffee outside the church, before continuing on. We turned on a small street called, Chemin de Saint-Jacques, and walked along side of a large, artificial lake. We missed our turn off just before the end of the lake and had to backtrack to find our way again.

We ate our picnic lunch in front of a little church in Louvigny and ended our day in Larreule where there was Benedictine monastery on top of a hill above the town, founded in AD 995.

We rode to a hotel in Arthez-de-Bearn where we will stay for three nights. Happy to find that it has wifi and we can start to reconnect with everyone after three days out of touch.

Today, DAY 7, the forecast was rain. The temperature dropped more than ten degrees. It was a cool, wet and gusty day. Luckily, the walk was only 18 km, shorter than most of our days, which have usually been around 24 km. We ended our day's walk in Arthez-de-Bearn early enough to have a short Skype session with La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club just before the meeting began.