aux auvillar sur le chemin

I walked out of the Le Pont Napoléon Hôtel into a misty, rather bleak morning, and did not mind the the start of a new day.  From the bridge–le pont–the day before, I had seen the canal where I would walk.  A canal means a flat path, and I knew I would be walking it for a distance.

The towpath along the canal is not the official GR65 but a variant.  For those who worry about going the true Way, do not fret.  Even the GR65, which climbs above the canal to a view point where one can see the confluence of the Tarn and Garonne Rivers, is not the true Way.  As noted in The Way of Saint James the historic route was destroyed when the Autoroute des Deux Mers was constructed in the 1990’s.

DAY 22 de Moissac à Auvillar (peut-être 19km) sur Le Chemin de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle.

So, after some days of going up and down and up and down, I was looking forward to flat flat flat flat.  Until that became monotonous and I wondered if I might have a hill for variety.

Hmmm.

It was a pleasure to stroll instead of hike along the towpath.  After passing Maulause and crossing the bridge at Pommevic, I begin walking more directly toward Auvillar, passing farms and tractors plowing, and it was then I would have enjoyed a modest climb.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail.)

Along the way in the early morning I saw the “lake” where the Tarn River and the Garonne River meet.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail.)

France is powered by nuclear plants.  Once during a bicycle trip through France, I had the “opportunity” to camp near one.  They look a bit ominous at night.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail.)

That night I walked in and out of the streets.  The night took on a curious blue tinge that constrasted nicely with the oranges of the lights.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail.)

The Rue de l’Horloge and the Église de Saint Pierre, now a museum, both were gorgeous in the evening shadows.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail.)

Close to the Place de la Halle with its circular Medieval market hall I found the chambre d’hôte where I was to stay, the Chambre d’hôte Dassonville on rue Saint Pierre in the old part of the village.