Part 3 Day 13 Maubourguet to Anoye

Today's agenda: Maubourguet to Anoye. Actually 24km was going to me too much for me and the wonderful Dutch woman at the little gite d'etape that recently opened up in Maubourguet drove me to Lahitte Toupiere which cut out 5 km. and then on to Vidouze, which cut out even more, giving me a huge head start. 

Towards the end, I stopped near a large lake, actually the Petit Lées reservoir, hardly visible because of all the surrounding shrubs and vines. Nearby the Friends of the Camino of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques had planted birch and fruit trees for walkers which is a nice gesture. I had my lunch there and ran ran into Claude from Marciac, plus Jean-Louis with a bourdon he carved himself, and a Dutch/German couple that would end up sharing my gite. Three other French "sportif" types also joined us all  in the same gite communal later. I am glad I had my beer there early as there is only a small "depannage" as supplies are extremely limited and I am carrying 1 1/2 days of food with me.

 Also noteworthy towards the end was a large palombière, with its cage of pigeons and a camouflaged metal tower which surprised me.

The tiny town of  Anoye once boasted a pilgrim hospital there.

There are 8 of us in the gite tonight. I brought food but was worried about lunch tomorrow, but the "depannage" turned out to be substantial. There is even good wine and foie gras for those willing to pay. ..