Day 3 of walking and it was a cracker. It felt like the landscape changed a lot throughout the day which is one of the things I am loving about being able to walk in a straight line. What I mean by that is that instead of leaving your house or parking your car somewhere and doing a route that ends at the same place you started, what I am doing is walking off into the distance. That means I get to go twice as far away as I would doing a circular walk. I immediately left the busy road that I have been moaning about and headed off along the canal in countryside that was quite lush and green with several red squirrels in the trees. This is a really quiet part of the canal though I did meet my first long distance walkers (walkers with proper rucksacks - presumably for carrying overnight stuff) of my journey so far. I said hello and then really impressed myself by telling them, in French, about the walk I had done and the walk that I am doing. I also understood their response and answered questions when asked. This is great, though I do still struggle a lot when people start talking to me at full speed, especially if I am not expecting it so don’t know what it will be about.
At lunchtime I arrived at Castelnaudary, a typical style town for the south of France which has a big lake type area on the canal which is very pretty. I can’t help but think though that many of these places probably look far nicer in the summer as, at the moment, nearly everything is closed. Outside of the towns the fields are also currently all ploughed and I bet they look great with sunflowers or other crops in the summer. One of the main attractions of Castelnaudary however is the cassoulet, the dish the town is famous for. The dish is a sort of casserole made with duck and sausages and lots of haricot vert and it is perfect for days where it is a little bit cold outside like it was this morning. It is also incredibly filling though I managed to eat a portion of it as well as a HUGE profiterole. Afterwards I told the waiter in french that I wasn’t going to eat for another week, a promise that I have since broken. I felt incredibly guilty walking along the canal afterwards as, every time I saw a duck swim by, the taste of cassoulet came to mind!
I then stayed a night in Lasbordes and, after walking up the hill to the town I was greeted with a beautiful view of the Pyrenees all covered in snow. I love the Pyrenees but definitely don’t have the right gear on me now to go and tackle them at this time of year. Otherwise I would be heading south immediately.
The Idiocies of Mark
A selection of tales about Mark being a bit of an idiot, written for the benefit of his friends and family.
Before I left, one of my former colleagues said I should write about my trip as she would love to hear about all the daft things that happen to me, as if I actually make a habit of getting myself into slightly silly or embarrassing situations. I can’t believe she thinks so little of me!
Anyway, it turns out she was right so I have made a special section for just such stories:
Earlier today, I was sat at a table in a nice restaurant enjoying my food. I was sat by a table of three men all having what looked like a nice conversation. They were the burly French types with beards and big muscles though also very jolly. In order to improve my french I have been trying to follow what others are saying and was doing this when they used a phrase that I had not heard of but knew most of the words to. I typed this into my translator app on my phone but accidentally put it in the translate to French section. This meant it simply read out what I had typed in. Out Loud. Very loud. The three men looked over at me, clearly wondering why their conversation was now coming out of my phone. With an embarrassed and awkward look on my face and the use of my translator app, I explained that I was trying to learn French and that I really needed to practise with people talking. Luckily they found this very funny and we went on to have a little chat about my walk. I then made my excuses at the earliest opportunity and left the restaurant, hopefully never to see them again!
Day 4 was exactly what I imagined walking along the canal would be. I won't bore you too much with talking - just admire the photos. This place is absolutely gorgeous and the weather was perfect today. Not too hot but warm enough to be in shorts and t-shirt all day long and to have a lovely snooze by the canal. It really is shockingly quiet but I am actually quite enjoying that.
The thing I am not enjoying is the canal closures. They are doing loads of work on the canal to get it ready for the summer but every now and then they shut the footpath. This is very understandable but I wish they would suggest a diversion route. I had huge anticipation for walking into the historical city of Carcassonne with the turrets and spire of the castle being reflected in the canal. Instead, the path was shut, I took a route on my phone that sent me through a vineyard I am 99% sure I shouldn't have been in and eventually ended up walking into the new part of the city through an industrial estate! Hey-ho, you can't always have it the way you imagined it.
Was keen to get to Carcassonne today and have a rest day tomorrow as my feet and shoulders are getting pretty achy. What with all the diversions, I ended up doing 25.6 miles today so am definitely looking forward to gentle sightseeing strolls with no backpack tomorrow.
Total distance over the 4 days = 82.9 miles.