Auch had given a bad impression at first wheni came in the day before, but actually the central part of it was pretty and not too large a city..with a river along it with pretty crossing bridges and a hill with the historic part of town arranged on it including the cathedral near it's top. It was large enough to have all the shops you could need but small enough not feel overwhelming. Perfect day visit town...
I got up around 7ish... V. had already started packing... we had coffee together and said good bye to each other, in case this was the last time we met.... she was going on and I was going to mail another package home and check out if I could catch a bus to Lourdes from here... at tourist office I found out that it would take two buses and the next one was not till 12noon..which meant I prob would not get to Lourdes till late afternoon and it would mean, not really seeing anything till the next day..this was too many days for me... I wanted a quick in and out of town trip all in one day..there is now this internal pressure to keep moving forward...i have now been walking for almost 3 months....so I decided to continue walking... On the way out of town, i stopped in the large cathedral to explore and pay my respects.
It was ten by the time I hit the road, was a late start and so I goal-ed for only 17km away from Auch... the trail leading out of the city was a lot saner than coming into the city had been yesterday.. The first 8kms were on tar road which was unpleasant to my perma-foot-sore feet and in the heat...the landscape changed slowly from suburbs to rural... not ugly but not striking either.
I had to get used to being alone again...this meant I had to find the trail on my own...and readjust to my own pace and breaks... despite another package going home some how my pack felt even heavier... I took more breaks than I would have with my friend but also shorter...since there was not someone to blab with...for a short while the trail went through woods...but a lot of it also was out in the open sun...breaks were now determined by available shade spots... I arrived in Barran around 4.30. in the book it said to go to the bar and ask for Mme Coco, the bar looked like it was no longer in business but the small grocery store across the street, was open.. I got some picnic items and asked about Mme Coco... I was directed to the house next to the post office.. I went and range the door bell a small dark haired woman with kitten at her feet, answered...she seemed well prepared for me..she asked for my credentials which she stamped, then she took me and a set of keys to were the communal gite was.. it was in an old building ..rooms where upstairs somewhere...it had a faded worn look but totally functional.. bathroom and bedroom with six beds and stove and microwave and some dishes to use... she gave me the tour and all in french,...though she seemed totally comfortable dealing with me as a non speaker...she then wished me well and was off... I showered and laundered and had some food... no real dinner yet... I made myself do a short circuit of town..the church was locked but it had a cool steeple...
then back to the store were I got a can of tomato and squash which they called ratatouille. I would eat it,with my bread and cheese for dinner... I was kind of wiped out from the heat again... and lay on the bed reading a lame english sci fi book I had found in the shelves there... then a little journaling... it rained furiously for about ten minutes but it did not seem to cool anything down after....this was the first time I was alone in what seemed like a long time..usually I felt like I did not have enough time to do my things with all the socializing... this eve I had almost too much time.. I like being alone but I also need to adjust again to things like not having anyone to share my days experience with..to laugh about stuff with or even better to complain about the weather etc with...but I also enjoyed the luxury of alone-ness. But I am prepared for that to change very soon... I do wonder how easy it is to make connections with people when there are bigger crowds like everyone says I will face when I get to spain... and yet me and the other pilgrims i've been talking to lately are now eager to cross the border... I think in part it is that the hiking has been a bit less interesting, landscape a bit repetitive... in the gite-log i see an entry from the swiss couple two days ago...it made me smile..you think of those who you met who you know are ahead of you on the pilgrims road and those who you know are behind...and wonder how they fair and wish them well..
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