heck, i’m going to golinhac

“On the blank leaf glued to the inner back cover I drew the double curve within the circle, and blacked the yin half of the symbol, then pushed it back to my companion. ‘Do you know that sign?’

He looked at it a long time with a strange look, but he said, ‘No.’

‘It’s found on Earth, and on Hain-Davenant, and on Chiffewar. It is yin and yang. Light is the left hand of darkness… how did it go? Light, dark. Fear, courage. Cold, warmth. Female, male. It is yourself, Therem. Both and one. A shadow on snow.’ ”  ― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

DAY 9 de Conques à Golinhac (maybe 17km) sur Le Chemin de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle.

It was bound to happen.  After several days of walking and each day as marvelous as the previous, or more so, and after several days of walking through beaux villages de France where one must be careful about taking too many photos and running out of pixel space on a camera card, it was bound to happen.

I was bound to experience a commonplace day.  I was bound to settle for a night in a bland village, small and with little to recommend it.  I was bound to find reflection of the previous days’ walks more entertaining than my surroundings.

The eye of the beholder it is true.  Sometimes.  Fire and wind, opposing forces, do have their beauty.  The stars and the moon need the darkness to be seen.  The darkness cannot be without the stars and the moon.  Does one have a dark side, and does one need to move into the light to understand either?

The previous days were fun and filled with wonder.  The day into Golinhac was boring and so was Golinhac.  Knowing the two days to come in Conques make my assessment in hindsight all the more compelling.

But I need to balance the excitement of the trip thus far with crushing boredom.  I need to hit bottom.  I need to suffer unpleasantness.  The sooner I experience it the faster I will recover and delight in the next adventure in the next beau village, Conques, which will occur the next day.

Estaing, Montégut, Rion del Prat, Campredon, La Sensaguerie, Le Mas, Castilhac, Falguières, Massip, La Radal, Golinhac.  The day’s hamlets and villages.

The Church of Saint Martin in Golinhac is built on the site of a 9th century Benedictine abbey.  That is of interest.  (Click on a photo to see more.)

I took refuge in the Hôtel de la Bastide d’Olt for the night.  The next day I could not get out.  I was not locked in my room, but I could not get out of the building.  It was locked.  I returned to my room, opened a window, squeezed myself through and over the sill and onto a roof, then climbed down from there to the sidewalk where I could walk to the dining room for breakfast.  Not boring.