Photo: Country view
September 16, 2017 In mid day, I stopped in La Souterraine to by some bread and sausage at an open air market. I had a difficult time finding the pilgrim route signage from the downtown area to the out of town route.
At 3:30 pm and after 32 km (332 km total), I reached Benevent l Abbaye. There were about 8 pilgrims there, including Guilhem. I shared a room with two others, including Dominique from northern France. He lived in Vermont and worked in Boston for United Airlines. The owner of the gite was an English woman. Most of us ate at her daughters restaurant that evening. I had a pork burger.
Credencial stamp of gite:
Photo: Old Chateau
September 17, 2017 It was raining very lightly as I began todays walk. Later in the morning, the rain grew more steady. At Arrenes I stopped for coffee at a bar. The bartender was English and told me he had bought the bar. When I came out I met Domonique and we walked together in the rain from there. Much of the route was in the woods on muddy, slippery paths.
At Chatelux le Marcheix we stopped for coffee at a bar. The locals there told us they were looking for people to move to the village, so many had left. After walking 26 km (358 km total) we found the pilgrim refuge in Les Billanges and met the friendly, eccentric owner Francoise. She made a fire in the fireplace and we dried our wet clothes. Guilhem arrived a little later.
Francoise told us that Les Billanges used to be surrounded by many farms, but now they had consolidated down to only 3 large farms. The village had supported 6 bars and now only one survived. She told us a local story from when there were 6 bars. A local man had drank all night and passed out on one of the streets in the village. Neighbors went to his house and told his wife so that she could get him home from his spot on the street. She did not want to be bothered and said "He is fine where he is."
Francoise made us vegetarian spaghetti for dinner. She assigned each of us a little art project for the evening.
Credencial stamp of gite:
Photo: Pont du Dognon
September 18, 2017 It was a pleasant day for walking. In St Leonard de Noblat I had a coffee, but was unable to locate a food shop. I continued on, following roads. I took a wrong turn in the rural country roads at one point and was briefly lost. Some locals straightened me out and eventually I made it to the farm B&B at Le Masbareau, a very nice place. I went about 28 km (386 km total).
I stayed in the upstairs loft that had bunks for pilgrims. The owner, Anne Boudet, prepared a very nice dinner for me and a non-pilgrim couple from Brittany, France. The meat and vegetables were all raised or grown on the farm.
Credencial stamp of gite:
Photo: Guilhem at Limoges Cathedral
September 19, 2017 In mid morning I got to the outskirts of Limoges. I stopped at a bakery for an espresso and croissant. Soon after that I ran into Guilhem and walked with him to the cathedral and downtown Limoges. We had lunch and left him as he was going home to Paris that evening.
I asked for a map and directions out of the city at the tourist office. The woman gave me wrong directions and I was soon lost. I asked a shopkeeper and he got me on the right road. I spent much of the day walking thru Limoges and its suburbs. I walked several kilometers past Aixe Sur Vienne or about 33 km (419 km total) and camped in the woods near the road. It was a cold, but dry night. I slept very little.
Map of camino segment
Map of camino trip
