Day 33 /Châlus -Thiviers / 36.3 km

April 04, 2018

Day 33 /Châlus -Thiviers / 36.3 km

The kids of the restaurant owners, I guess age 3 and 5,had a late party last night. Around 1 o’clock they felt it was time to go to sleep. During the rest of the night I could hear through the shutters rain falling on the streets. Occasionally thunder accompanies the rain. When waking up it’s till raining. Monsieur Agricole predicts mostly rain with a probability of 60%.

Breakfeast are stale croissants and dry bread with butter and jam. The breakfeast comes with an already used knife but no plate. The tables in the restaurant are not emptied from the day before.A transvestite enters the bar and orders coffee. She looks like she could use some coffee, and a shave, after what I guess her walk on the wild side the night before. The owner smiles and winks at me.

When I start running the sky is still grey but it’s not raining anymore. I make a bakery stop to buy lunch and exit the city via a RN.

The next 15 k is bliss. The sun starts to shine. The path goes through green fields, woods and sometimes small paved roads. One moment the sky is blue, the other it seems it will start raining, which it doesn’t.

The only disadvantage today is that the paths are very wet as result of last night rain. Not only does it make running difficult but it also gives wet feet.Sometimes there is no option then to do a quick step (I’m not meaning the dance) in a puddle. My wet feet do although not out weight the beautiful landscape and the pleasure I have running down a long descent through the forest.

For those interested. I pass a village where you can buy building plots at 1€ the square meter. I must say that the bakery and bar in the village had both a sign that they were definitely closed. The football field looks also as it hasn’t been played on for some time. Nothing a bread machine, PlayStation and a microbrewery can’t solve.

The next village I pass a sign indicating it’s (only) 1240km to Compostela. I’m somewhat suprised as the previous sign indicated it was 1535 km to Santiago. That sign was at Bénévent-L’abbaye which is roughly 100km from the current 1240k sign. Based upon my calculation the 1240 is the more likely.

The rest of today’s stage is besides running, enjoying beautiful landscape, a stop and coffee at firbeix, a stamp at Cocquille and a pain raisin in in the fields. It remains dry until I almost arrive at Thiviers. The entrance into Thiviers is a long straight road, called by the locals the Route Napoleon (he again) and was supposedly built to transport his army towards Spain.

Thiviers is a small city, marketing itself as a tourist hub in the Périgord and place to be for foie gras lovers. Today, as it is not yet tourist season, limited people and even less duck are on the street. With some effort I find a bar open to have a drink.

In Thiviers I’m sleeping in the house of Isabelle who makes her house available for passing pilgrims. Although she’s not at home I’m able to sleep and use her house. Impressive to see how people trust other people. I go to a nearby supermarket for dinner :foie gras, pizza, rice pudding and a nice red Bergerac. Tomorrow it will be 16º. Time to give my legs some sun.