Step 5: Halfway through the Voie de Vézelay
That day was our rest day, but we decided to walk 15 km on our rest days anyway. Nearly all of us were out of bread and so needed a boulangerie (bakery). The nearest one was in the village of Le Châtenet-en-Dognon, 4.4 km away from where we had stayed the night. We awoke early, around 6am. We didn't have much to pack up, apart from our sleeping bags and mattress. During the night, Rose had to re-inflate her mattress, as it appeared to be leaking from somewhere. Potentially punchered from something sharp on the concrete floor that we had slept on during the night.
I was out on the Way by 6:30 and walked for 1 km before stumbled onto where Enoch had pitched his tent. I passed quietly, so as to not wake him from his slumber, before continuing upon my way.
Enoch's tent pitched to one side by a gate
After walking for an hour, I arrived in Le Châtenet-en-Dognon to find that the boulangerie (bakery) was shut, and wouldn't open till the 28th of May. So I sat by the old laundry station in the township and read the book I had been working my through. I ate cheese with raspberry jam, as I had no bread left. The others took their time before arriving. Osgar was not happy that the boulangerie (bakery) was not open, and so he continued on as the rest of us stopped for a little bit. The next closest boulangerie (bakery) was in the village of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, 11km away, and would take over 2 hours to walk. We planned to stay in a camp ground there for the evening, as it was our rest day and we wanted to sleep in on Monday morning.
We continued upon the Way, and I shot on ahead of Rose and Enoch, and arrived at least half an hour before them in the village of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat. I first went to a boulangerie (bakery) where I brought bread, two baguettes, and as I was paying for it, I saw through the window Osgar walking down the street. So once I paid, I ran after him to let him know that I had arrived. We then went to the church and sat in the chamber where they christen babies, as there was a first communion ceremony taking place within the church itself.
After waiting for half an hour, Rose and Enoch arrived and we sat in the sun as I read my book and they ate baguettes. The weather was absolutely splendid! Warm unshine!
A decorated street in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat celebrating the day of Ascension
After exploring the Cathédrale, the others left to the campsite via following the signs for it. I said that I would catch up, as I was sitting in the sun reading. After half an hour or so, someone greeted me in English. I looked up from the book to see our Dutch lady friend who we had first seen on the morning of the 7th, one Sunday before. She asked what I was reading and I told her that it was a historical fiction about who the lady in the painting of the girl with the pearl earring was and that I was unsettled by it. For the reviews written on the book cover were misleading and ill given. She asked how so, for she was herself had lived in Amsterdam and the painting of the girl with the pearl earring was quite common over there. I asked her if she was staying in the campground, and she said that she was and that she was on her way in that direction. So I asked if I could accompany her as my siblings should be there by now and set up camp. So we walked the two kilometres which is about a 26 minute walk, and I told her what I had found bugging about the book. How we project our modern culture onto historical cultures, and our modern views onto how they acted and saw things. I was also not impressed by the sentence structure, or grammar. My own writing is not very good, but I haven't had a label of good views stating that it's exellent by Times! She then went on to talk about what she had studied, and we ended up on politics, feminism, and the family unit. 26 minutes was not long enough, however, when we arrived, I could not see my siblings anywhere! Maybe they didn't go to that campground, but it was the only one in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat? She bidded me farwell and hopped that my siblings were around. We did trade names, but as soon as she had told me hers, it went in one ear and out the other. She was meeting a friend there from back home who had come all the way down from the Netherlands with her mom to walk with Dutch girl for three days!
I sat down on a bench in the shade of a tree and took my backpack off before continuing to read my book. I was not far off from finishing it. As I sat, I occasionally looked up at the road to see if I could see anyone come down it that I recognized. After a while I saw Enoch come down the road! They ended up walking around 4 km to get to where the camp ground was! Way over an hour! We set up camp in lot 25, not far from where our friend had set up her place with her friends. After we set up our camp, I sat in the sunshine and finished my book. I was not happy with it and was angry that it had received such high praise!
I really wanted pizza, and so Enoch, Osgar, and myself walked back into the village via the route that I had taken with Irene (Dutch Girls name) and they said that it was alot faster and should have just taken that way instead of taking the really long way round of following the signs! We ordered pizza at a place called Pizza Fifi, and and sat outside. It would take over an hour till it was ready.
Earlier, when the others finally showed up at the campground, they had made a friend with a Dutch bicyclist who was biking the Camino. We had spoken a little when setting up out tents. I had opened the bottle of stout and shared it amoungst my brothers, and when he passed us, I had offered him a drink, but he turned it down, stating that he had promised his wife that he wouldn't drink while on the Way. We found him sitting outside infront of the pizza restaurant and we drummed up some talk. He had been working at a software company which did the software for counting Covid tests. At one point their company was processing 6 million tests a week!
As we continued to wait for our pizzas, the three of us crossed the street to a placed that served beer and Enoch brought me a beer which we drank slowly. Irene showed up with her two friends and they sat talking amoungst themselves over drinks. I was quite hungry, and Enoch had mentioned that he has seen a pizza vending machine around the corner. So I went to investigate and found the aforementioned pizza vending machine and ordered a pizza. It took 5 minutes to cook and was not very nice, unlike the one I had from a vending machine in Hiroshima back in 2020. The pizzas were soon ready and we walked back to the campsite to share with Rose the pizzas. I charged all my battery packs in the campground toilet over night so that I had power for the coming week ahead. The night was quite warm, and despite blowing up my mattress a couple of times during the night, I slept quite well.
Day 21, Monday the 15th of May, 16km walked
We slept in till 8am, then we got up and packed up before walking to a Carrefour supermarket 2km north of where we had camped. We then popped into the Office de Tourisme de Noblat to get our pilgrim passes Stamped. We had learnt from our Spanish friend with the trolley, that one could get the passes Stamped at the Office of Tourisme. We then were on our way. Rose did stop in at a pharmacy to buy more pain killers for her ankles. On our way out of the village of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, there was a viaduct, but we did not go over it, only under it.
Going under the viaduct just south of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat
The weather was good and warm, with no rain in sight. We hoped to camp just outside of Limoges that evening and so had to put 16 or so Kilometers into the days walk. Our path took us away from the road and up an incline through woods, passing a big J-L Coquet building with a group of woman dressed in white coats eating lunch at the back of it. We continued on for another half hour before arriving infront of the last couple of houses in the Hamlet of Chigot. Five years prior, Rose had walked the same path. It had been raining and she was at the time cold and tired. She ended up trying to pitch her tent by the base of a great oak which grew to one side of the track, seeking shelter from the wind and rain as she did so. Then a couple in their 60s or so, came walking down the path in the rain, and when they saw her, they brought her back to their place where she was given a hot soup, a shower, and a soft warm bed. We hoped to call in on our way pass and had brought biscuits. However, to our dismay, Rose could not see their names no longer on the gate of the house she thought them to be in, and so we continued on without popping in. After walking another half hour, we stopped by the road to have lunch. We pulled out our tents and sleeping bags to dry in the sun.
Eating lunch in the sun
We stayed close to 2 hours, if not more. I hoped to get to a decathlon that evening to buy a new mattress. So we continued on, passing through Hamlet and village till stopping around 5:30 to pitch our tents by a wood off the path.
A spider I found while we ate Lunch
Decathlon was 6.8 km away, and it closed at 7:30. I was adamant that I wouldn't sleep another night with needing to wake to blow up my mattress. Enoch and Osgar wished to come as well, as there was a McDonald's across the carpark from it. We set off. Passing through bush and by lake, up streets and down hills, we arrived 40 minutes before it closed. I popped in and brought two mattress, as I knew Rose was also having problems with hers. I also brought a opinel knife as I was unhappy with how my current knife did not have a sheath and was cutting holes into my backpack! We then popped over to McDonald's and had a hot chocolate before heading back, adding another 13.6 km to our day, bringing the total of amount walked to 29 km.
Day 22, Tuesday the 16th of May, 28 km walked
We were up and packed up by 8am. We would go though Limoges that day. We walked 8km before stopping for breakfast. We were now in the suburbs of the city and it wouldn't be long till we got to the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne.
Getting ready to go once more after breakfast
In the photo above, they all don't seem very happy. I will blame it on the diet and that there is not enough B vitamins in it for them to find joy in this life! We continued on for another 3 km before crossing the river and arriving in the gardens of which surround the church. They had a European Elder tree in flower, which I had been looking for one so as to put the flowers into a bottle of Vodka that I had brought while back in Paris. I had brought the bottle for making a tincture from Dandelions, however decided to make a wild flower and Berry liquor instead. So I sat in the garden and deflowered some flowers into my bottle and Rose sped the process up by helping me pluck the flowers from their stems before putting them into the bottle. We then proceeded to go into the church where we got our pilgrim passes Stamped.
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne in Limoges
It was quite an epic building, and most beautiful designs and art work. We continued on and found a boulangerie (bakery) for Osgar, as he was out of bread. After that we stopped into a donut shop which did bubble tea that the others really wanted and so brought before looking for a place where we could sit down to eat lunch. On our way, we passed a hug building with glass windows and a a roof that was held aloft by a cast iron frame. I wanted to go in, and so we did. It was an indoor market which sold fish, meat, cheeses, vegetables and other things of the sort. It even had a display on 3D printed ceramics which I thought very interesting! As I was inspecting the display, a man came up to us and said to Rose that he really liked how she was dressed, and how she was original! He asked if we were pilgrims and asked if we were catholic, which we said we were Christians. He then bowed his head with his hands together and said 'Shalom'. Then he introduced us to his friend from Sudanese before bidding us a good journey and then left. We thought the encounter a little strange but continued on up the street where we sat on a park bench to eat lunch. Enoch went and investigated a local Café that was across the way from where we sat, and came back with the first decent flat white I had seen since landing in France. So I went and brought one aswell, costing 5€! The most expensive coffee I have ever brought, in NZD dollars, the exchange rate would be $8.62nzd.
A proper Flatwhite Coffee!
Was it worth it? I think so. It was the first coffee that I have had since being in France that didn't taste like they have burnt their coffee beans. However, one problem still remains, they used UHT Milk which is terrible! No good!
As we sat and ate, we were passed by our Dutch Friend Irene and her two friends. We continued on, heading south west out of the city. After going for another 15 or so Kilometers we stopped by a place that Rose had camped five years before. We were not sure if we should camp there again, as it was by a house and now there was four of us instead of just one. So we continued up the road where a man was walking. We asked him if we could wild camp there, and he said yes, and so we pitched our tents where Rose had done so five years before.
Day 23, Wednesday the 17th of May, 25km Walked
I awoke early before the first bird song pierced the air, and lay awake till 6:30am. I then quickly packed up my things and began walking by 7am. The others were still in bed.
Leaving the others in the morning
I walked on for an hour and a half before stopping in the small village of Saint-Martin-le-Vieux, where I sat on the steps of the locked church to eat breakfast.
The church at Saint-Martin-le-Vieux
Its door was open, however just inside was a metal gate that was padlocked to the wooden door of the church. It was quite a blustery day, and the wind was cold, and the church offered little to no shelter.
The others didn't take long to arrive and we moved from the steps of the church to a place further down the road. There was a bus stop with benches and a public toilet. We stopped there to eat our breakfast before continuing. That day was a cold blustery spring Day in May. The wind was cold, but the sun was shining, and the air was warm. We continued on for another two hours before arriving in the village of Flavignac. I was ahead of the others by no little then 10 minutes. So I went on ahead to the next village called Les Cars which was three kilometres away where there was a boulangerie (bakery) and brought a croissant which I proceeded to fill with Apple and Brie before eating it for lunch. I placed my pack down by the bottom of a cross at the local church and laid down in the sun and slept.
My back pack under the cross in the village of
The others took two hours to appear as they had stopped for lunch in the village before Les Cars.
We waited around till the boulangerie (bakery) reopened, as the stores have a close time during lunch. Osgar needed to buy more bread before we continued onwards. For the rest of that day which was two hours of walking, I walked with the others. We arrived in the village of Châlus around 6pm. We had intended to walk another 3km for a place to camp, however as we walked up to study the ruins of the castle that had been the place of where King Richard the Lion Heart had been slain, a woman who was in her 60s greeted us. She asked where we hoped to stay that evening, and we replied that we were wild camping. She then took us round to the front of the castle where there was grass and told us that it was a good place to camp. She too was going to camp there in her small car, however she said that she was very allergic to electro magnetic waves and that there was three radio towers. Which there was. We could see three towers dotted around the hills. And so she bidded us a good night before leaving. So we pitched out tents there and slept in the shadow of the old ruins.
Châlus, where King Richard the Lion Heart was Slain
Day 24, Thursday the 18th of May, 22km walked
We awoke around 7am and were packed up by 8. We then went down the hill into the village to the boulangerie (bakery) and brought lovely things before continuing for an hour and a half before stopping to eat breakfast. It was so nice. We stopped in a little clearing in the woods by a stream. There was also a dam of earth behind us which held back a lake that fed the stream. I rang home to check in with my Mother and we talked for a little bit as we had our breakfast. It was late back in New Zealand, around 8pm.
Our breakfast spot
We soon then continued on and walked for another half hour, and in that half hour I began to listen to The Hobbit, read by Phil Dragash. It is a most excellent rendition of the Hobbit and I thoroughly recommend it. We soon stopped for lunch in the village of Firbeix by a lake. It was sunny, and so we laid things out in the sun to dry. To celebrate our approach and passing of the village of La Coquille later that day, Osgar had brought a bottle of Dr Pepper which we drank while we rested. That day was a holiday, celebrating Ascension Day again and so nothing was open. We drank the Dr Pepper and lay in the sun and ate lunch before continuing onwards. We passed two fellow pilgrims, one was from Japan, and the other Scottish. We walked another 10 km before reaching La Coquille. We stopped by the church and rested. The village of La Coquille was the Half way point through the Voie de Vézelay!
I walked around the town, but nothing was open. We walked for another three kilometres before looking for a place to pitch our tents for the night. There was grumblings about the distance walked till finding a suitable camping spot that evening. I had turned down two spots that they wanted to camp and so they grumbled at me for keeping them upon the road. We eventually did find one, and it was very nice, on the edge of a grassy field which sloped down into a valley where a stream ran, sing its tune.
Day 25, Friday the 19th of May, 19km walked
We had agreed to sleep in that morning. I had run out of water, and so after packing up, I left the others, for I wanted to get away to the village of Thiviers which was 15 km away. I didn't stop till I arrived there around 12pm. I was very thirsty, and not to mention hungry. I went to a supermarket and brought a bottle of Raw milk! It was all so very excellent! I also brought a bottle of Dr Pepper, and a bottle of Grapefruit juice, and a sandwich before continuing. I walked on till I arrived at the church in that village. Across frok the church was a boulangerie (bakery) which I popped into and brought a croissant. I then proceeded to wait for my siblings there before the church. As I waited, a fellow in his late 50s came up to where I was sitting and asked something in French. I apologized in English and he continued in very broken English, something about coming round to the church for breakfast the next Sunday or something? I told him that I was walking to Compostela, and he nodded his head before leaving me be.
The others didn't take long to show up. We then had lunch there and waited for the Office de Tourisme to open so we could get our pilgrim passes Stamped. When it did open, to my surprise, I found them to be selling a dessert wine that I very much enjoy and first had in France back in 2018. So as I waited for my pass to be Stamped, I brought a bottle to post back home.
Holding the bottle of dessert wine infront of the church
I then did a little research on where the wine was made, and found that Monbazillac was not to far off the path south. We had chosen to do the northern route out of the city of Périgueux, but after talking to the others about the fact that Monbazillac laid 6km off the path of the southerly route, we decided that we would go that way so that we may inspect the Vineyard of Monbazillac. They did tours for 11€ and that includes a wine tasting.
After we had done and got what we needed in the square by the church, we continued on towards the outskirts of that village. We popped into Aldi, a supermarket to buy bread before continuing on. As we walked for another 4km before pitching our tents. There were wild cherry trees by the side of the road with ripe cherrys on them while we walked through the outskirts of the village. We picked a few to eat before finding a place to pitch our tents for the night. We chose a place by the side of the track in a field that had been used to make hay.
Day 26, Saturday the 20th of May, 24km walked
We left by 8am and walked for 5.7km before stopping for second breakfast. There were wild cherry trees growing by the road side once more, they seemed very abundant, and Enoch and Osgar were picking from them to eat. We continued on. Before lunch, I finished listening to the Hobbit and began Lord of the Rings, read by the same fellow as mentioned before. We walked another 6km before stopping for lunch. Osgar had yet to read LOTR and so asked for it to be stopped as he wished to read it himself sometime. We continued on to the next village which was no more than an hour away. The village of Sorges, known supposedly for its truffles. The Office de Tourisme was also a Truffle museum and the stamp which we received in our pilgrim passes were two truffles! I waited in the church for the others to catch up, and when they did, who was accompanying them? No other than Irene! We had last seen her in Limoges with her two friends. We thought maybe it was the last we would see of her, but no. Here she was. We walked around the church and it was quite stunning, with the old stone work mixed with that of the new.
Church in Sorges
We stopped and went into the Office de Tourisme and got our books Stamped before continuing. Irene had decided to stay in Sorges with the older Dutch couple. After leaving the town and had walked for an hour, I had a falling out with my siblings, and went on ahead without them for a little time. Then stopped where Enoch wished to make camp before the Château de Lanmary. They cought up before making camp for the evening. In the morning, I left my siblings, telling them to find me four days south from then in the Hamlet of Le Poncet. There we would place our packs away and walk to Monbazillac.
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