I was prompted today with this , “what’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?” Noël chirped, “I get told everyday how good my French is!” I’m so happy he speaks perfect French, but it is his mother’s tongue. She was Belgian/French. I think one of the sad things in America is we do not have the opportunity to move from language to language and have an attitude that everyone should speak English. BTW The French think everyone should speak French too.

We had a perfect rest day. We are staying at gite/hotel peyrade. Cedric is the perfect host. If you are are a pilgrim he will treat you well!!

We walked a bit of the town and had a super nice lunch in town. And had a nice conversation with a local during lunch. Super shout out to the cafes that are open. They take reservations and most of the reservations are for laborers. And they are treated like royalty. It’s so awesome.

Afternoon for me was coaching clients. A sit in the massage chair. A quick conversation with William. Looking forward to dinner. Ohhhhh and trying to book accommodation through Holy Week.

I feel like I complained about yesterday instead of looking at the whole day and accepting the lessons learned.

We spent a lovely morning in Figeac. We had a wonderful lunch. The host at our accommodation let us hang out until it was time to go so that we didn’t arrive too early at our next accommodation in faycelles.

As we made our way out of Figeac (yes the wrong way) we encountered what looked to be a homeless person on a bridge. Noël and I scrambled to get a bag of nuts and dried fruit from our breakfast and a €2 coin. When we got to him I handed him the bag and he cupped his hands as if we was receiving the Eucharist/Communion. He looked me in the eye and said “merci beaucoup”.

Finally, accepting our limitations and finding the same grace for ourselves that we are willing to offer to others we took a cab.

Today wasn’t easy but it was a good day. We have met more pilgrims and have connected with others we have already met. Super cool.

We are at a great accommodation and taking a break tomorrow to let our tired feet rest. We travelled from Faycelles to Cajarc.

Well today was a bust. We only had 8 kms to walk today and couldn’t get into our accommodation until 5:30. So we spent some time exploring Figeac. We had an encounter with our pilgrim friend Francoise. And a super lunch.

We were able to leave our backpacks at the hotel where we stayed, Best Western in Figeac. And after wandering around and lunch we just sat at our hotel waiting for 3:00 to arrive so we wouldn’t get to the accommodation too early.

We followed the signs on our way out of town. Noël wanted to wait until 5 kms to check how much farther we had to go. I agreed. Well, at 5 kms we found out we had gone the wrong direction. There are many variants after figeac, apparently. So we started walking back to figeac. We had walked the distance we would have walked so decided to call a cab. The cab driver gave us super tips to make sure we watch where we walk in the next few days because there are several variants. We will use all opportunities and devices not to walk 5 kms out of the way again.

The cab driver gave us several helpful tips so we don’t do this again. And once again while waiting to get into our gite a dog befriended us.

As always adapt, adjust, advance (thanks DC) it was still a great day. And a day in the life of a pilgrim.

I honestly don’t have a lot to share today. We walked 27,5 kms/17 miles and again a lot of ups and downs. We only saw one pilgrim close to the end. And we chose a little luxury for tonight after the difficult couple of days.

I do want to share something beautiful. We were walking into Montredon and hoping to find a sort of cafe. As we entered town we passed by the Mairie (town hall) and even though it said it didn’t open for another half hour we took a chance. There was a very nice woman who said we should be able to find a gite open and get a stamp. Then she said “actually the church has been in renovation since 2021 and so the gite might not be open yet.

She invited us back into the Mairie where she gave us a stamp. We were all set for disappointment with nothing open to take a rest and have a lunch. When we got to the church there was a sign: Welcome Pilgrims. So we entered and found a picnic table, water, tea, snacks…and a stamp all there for pilgrims to enjoy for a donation. It was perfect. The room was cool after the blazing sun all day. The floor was cool to our barefoot tired feet. And the respite was invigorating to our tired bodies and souls.

After leaving a donation we walked around the church to find it open. We were able to light a candle and offer prayers. And be on our way.

For whatever reason today was a bit tough. We moved from official route to the “faster” google route from time to time only to find frustration and fear by the French drivers. But we made it to Figeac and have a shorter day tomorrow so will have some time to explore.

Thanks for following along. And if you feel inclined to help us raise money to beat cancer feel free to donate!

https://gofund.me/e25bbc66