Pilgrim's Progress – Long Distance Walks in Europe and the UK

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away…

Antigonish – Edward Lear

At around 11am I received a strange SMS. The man (Roland) I’d booked to spend the night with at Montjoie-en-Couserans had gone to Lourdes for the day. He didn’t know exactly when he’d be back, but he’d keep me posted. I replied that I hoped to arrive between 5-6pm, crossed my fingers thst everything would work out ok, as they normally do.

The day got off to a late start. Breakfast with Colette turned into a lengthy discussion of the problems facing French farmers, autism and the literary scandal in the UK involving ‘The Salt Path’. Before I knew it, it was 9am! Time to bid Colette a fond farewell and speed my way down the valley to Le Mas d’Azil for the day’s provisions.

Le Mas d’Azil was a small but thriving community. En route into town I passed through a sporting complex which boasted a swimming pool, three immaculately maintained tennis courts and a rugby pitch which was being diligently mowed by an old man on a ride on mower. I wondered who had paid for it all!

A bustling market was in full swing when I arrived. Everything was on offer from fish, meat, cheese and fruit abd veg to stalls selling clothes, second hand books and DIY stuff. I could easily spent half the day browsing but restricted myself to a quick visit to the small local supermarket. They were out if grated carrot, but I splashed out on a bottle of diet coke and a new variety of tinned mackerel to see me through the day.

Mas d’Azil is most famous for its extraordinary caves which a road passes through for 400m. First discovered in the mid 19th century when a road was dug through the caves, the archaeological remains that were unearthed were mind boggling: superb engraved and sculpted objects including the famous ” bird fawn ” as well as animal bones from the Ice Age which testified to the presence of mammoths, woolly rhinos, bears and prehistoric humans in the caves.

Archaeologists discovered evidence of continuous settlement from the hunter-gatherers of the Paleolitic and the sedentary of the Neolithic: the Aurignacians (40,000 BC), the Magdalenians (16,000 years BC) and the Azilians (13,000 to 9,000 BC).

After wending my way through the magnificent cave system, the rest of the day  was something of an anticlimax. I walked beside a stream for an hour or so before reaching a gite with an outside bench ideal for eating my lunch on.

At mid afternoon I descended into a valley and was faced with a difficult choice. Should I stick to the official GR78  route which involved another steep ascent up a wooded valley or stick to the low level route by road for 8km? It was hot, I only had half a litre of water left so I wimped out and opted for the low level riute. If I legged it, I might make it to Roland’s place by 5pm.

I eventually reached Montjoie shortly after 5pm, plonked myself down on a bench outside the Mayor’s office and gave Roland a ring. There was no reply.

60 minutes later, despite numerous unanswered phone calls and texts, there was still no sign of Roland! What had become of him? Would he return? Had he gone to Lourdes for some grocery shopping or something more serious like a cure for a mystery ailment?

At 6.30pm I decided to cut my losses and head off to Saint Lizier. It was only 20 minutes down the road, and I had received word from Neil and Sarah, the Australian couple, that there was room in the municipal gite. They were just down the road in a restaurant and a cold beer was on order for my arrival.

On arrival at The Tempo (Saint Lizier’s sole gastronomic offering) we settled gin to beer, sausage and chips and a bottle of red.

It had been a long day but despite Roland’s no show, the day had had a silver lining – another opportunity to bore people rigid with my musings about the scandal