Part 2, day 12 : Dourgne to Sorèze

The time at Sainte-Scolastique had been lovely and refreshing.  Their gîte turned out to be more modern than its first impression lead me to believe, and I was joined there by Bernard. The only other person staying there to my knowledge was Jacqueline, a woman slightly older than I, who was taking care of a 93-year old woman.  The latter appeared to be in very good shape, and was doing an extended visit of sorts to the monastery. In fact, when Bernard and I had dinner in the dining area, there were more than a half-dozen "groupies" -- older lay people who were also dining there and seemed to be "regulars"  helping out in ways that they could.

Bernard and I attended vespers and enjoyed listening to the sisters as they sang the hours.  We were not alone, as there were other habitué(e)s in attendance as well. I was glad to have him with me, though, as it would have been a bit lonely there by myself.  Apparently he had hoped to stay in En Calcat, but the monks apparently did not take lodgers during the month of September because they wanted to devote their spare time to gardening. 

The walk to Sorèze was a short one. I started out before Bernard, then, during a scary portion along a busy highway, ran into Teri from Raleigh, North Carolina again, and the two of us walked together the remainder of the way. She had done a portion of the Camino Francés the previous year through Camino Ways, and was so impressed that she had decided to do a segment of the Voie d'Arles as well.  She would be walking as far as Toulouse.  

Sorèze was an artsy town with a lot of activity going on. I stopped to take photographs, and, because I was staying just a couple of kilometers in the outskirts of town, lost Teri when I decided to have lunch there. She would be walking as far as Revel that day.  Since I would not be taking the demi-pension at my gîte that evening, I decided at least one good meal that day was in order, and the Brasserie/restaurant St. Martin, half covered in vines, turned out to be an excellent choice.

Sainte Scolastique

Teri negotiating a field with no markings

Bernard takes the lead

Teri in Sorèze

 

The restaurant was covered in vines

The Brasserie St. Martin

My gîte that evening, the Moulin du Chapitre

Part 2, day 11 : Castres to Dourgne

Castres turned out to be a sizeable town. Its name is derived from the Latin castrum, and means "fortified place". Castres grew up round the Benedictine abbey of Saint Benoît, which is believed to have been founded in AD 647, possibly on the site of an old Roman fort (castrum).  According to Wikipedia, the town became an important stop on the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in Spain because its abbey-church, built in the 9th century, held the relics of Saint Vincent, a well-known Spanish martyr. It was apparently a place of some importance as early as the 12th century, and at the time ranked as the second major town in the region after Albi. Like Albi, where the name came from, it was a stronghold at the beginning of the 13th century of the so-called Albigensian heresy.

So despite the early Benedictine influence, Castres became a major Protestant stronghold in France.
 

Here's the hotel where I couldn't get a reservation on a Saturday

I stopped in the main square to enjoy a beer before returning to my gîte

My wonderful hostess, Madeleine Lucchese, ran a bed in breakfast out of her home. A former pilgrim herself, she took special pains to make her guests feel welcome and drove me to the next village the following morning to shorten my walk because of the heat.

Madeleine Lucchese, my superb hostess

Madeleine was kind enough to give me a head-start on my day's walk

The  Black Mountain so-named for its appearance

old windmill

rest stop at this church courtyard

Verdalle

There were twin monasteries in Dourne, both built at the end of the 19th centuries, En Calcat for men, and Sainte Scolastique for women.

The Saint Benoît Abbey of En-Calcat, a Benedictine order, was founded here in 1890. The nearby women's abbey, where I stayed, St. Scholastique was founded four years later, in 1894.  Although now deceased, one of the monks, Dom Robert, became a well-known figure in tapestry design.

I had lunch there on the grounds

Sainte Scholastique where Bernard and I would spend the night