Toulouse to Ayguesvives, 27.8 km
Many of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela go by multiple names, often defined by where they start. The route I’m on starts in Arles, but in Spanish it is the ‘Toulouse way’. Now that I’m past Toulouse I figured I’d add in the French name. The fact that the name changes when you cross the Spanish border at Somport pass is a whole other story. As is the fact that the four primary routes which originate in France are all the Camino Frances, popular usage (of names and participation) now generally refers to the route that starts in St Jean Pied de Port. The Arles route is the only one that doesn’t pass through SJPdP.
Today was a miserable day: rainy and cold, and nowhere to stop and rest with one exception: a motorway rest stop that had a back gate and wooden boardwalk from the canal to the front door. I nursed a coffee for an hour, warming up and killing time because tonight’s gîte didn’t open until 1500.
The highlight was walking along the Canal du Midi and marvelling at its engineering. The canal goes from Marseilles to Toulouse, a distance of 240 km, and construction was approved in 1666 (not a typo) and it opened in 1681. That’s quick work before excavators and dump trucks. It’s worth reading up on it. Here’s the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_du_Midi
Tonight’s gîte is one of the original lock keeper’s houses. It’s owned by the company that operates and maintains the canal and is loaned to the association that runs the pilgrim accomodations. Very cool, but the photo will have to be in tomorrow’s post as I’m not going out in the rain again today!
2saunter 