As you can tell from the title, neither town name sounds very French. In fact, I have entered the Region of Béarn, which has its own linguistic tradition and culture. It- will be different still when I enter the Basque Country of France.
The hiking between these two towns was flat and (sorry to say) boring. There were a lot of long straightaways, passing by farm after farm. All told, I must have passed by over 1,000 farms since I started this Camino.
A couple of highlights stand out. In leaving Nogaro at 7:45 in the morning, I saw a parts truck arrive at an auto-repair garage. The garage was closed, so the driver went to a neighbor and knocked on his door. The neighbor opened his bedroom window (with his pajamas on). The driver asked where the owner of the garage was. The neighbor knew, and the driver started his truck and headed for the owner's house. I wonder what would have happened in the States?
Second, I stayed at the hostel in Aire sur l'Adour. The proprietor there was a man (André) who had made the Camino eight (yes 8) times. So he had walked 8,000 miles on the Camino all told. That has to be a record. He and his wife (Odalie) run the gîte as a real ministry to pilgrims. In fact, they were looking for a house on the Camino so that they could open a gîte. He was a former paramedic who is now full-time into caring for pilgrims.
On of the things that André does is offer to inspect pilgrims' feet for blisters. He checked mine and so compassionately treated a blister. It was like Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. What an incredible act of love! A great reminder of Jesus' love for this Holy Week.
