billmclaughlin
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- SJPP/Burgos 2012; Le Puy/SJPP 2013; Aumont Aubrac/Aire sur l'Adour 2014; Burgos/Santiago 2016.
I have elsewhere suggested that it's a good idea to get off the official path in Spain. Otherwise one enjoys only a very narrow (pun-intended) experience of contemporary Spain. Examples that come to mind are Pamplona and Logrono. I made this same point to a Frenchman while walking the Le Puy route recently, and his view was that the same advice applies to France.
It's perfectly obvious that the official route skits the edges of Figeac and Cahors. But no one should rush past Figeac without at least a detour to the town center. Cahors, though I like it less, has interesting sections and if you don't pause to explore at least a bit you'll remember little more than a tough descent and a very tough ascent broken only by a few minutes along the river and one fantastic bridge. The cathedral is an interesting hodge-podge of styles (not for purists!). At the right time of day there's a good market. Add some hidden gardens, a wine bar, dining al fresco -- for the non-French a good taste of comparatively urban contemporary life.
But my French friend had a few other places in mind.
Condom. The route skirts the city center and its interesting cathedral, a good produce market, a few good spots for a beer, and a great photo op with D'Artagnan and the 3 Musketeers. (Compare it to Éauze, where the route takes you right into the central square alongside the cathedral, or the way we meander through Nasbinals.)
Decazeville. The official route avoids the center, leaving most hikers with a descent, a few dreary streets, and a long uphill. Instead, when you reach Ave Laromiguiere, go left and across the rotary into the Rue Gambetta to find an attractive commercial main street that gets nicer the further you explore. Nothing historic at all, but lots of stores and services.
Moissac. The entry route is dreary until you reach the commercial center, which is livelier, then there's the Abbey and the route continues behind the tourist office to the less than pleasant walk out on the busy street alongside the railroad tracks to the canal. But if you explore south of the abbey a few blocks, you find far more attractive streets including several excellent bakeries. (Once, 30 years ago, visiting Moissac by train as a tourist, I missed my train back to Toulouse and spent the 3 hours waiting for another train exploring. There are nicer neighborhoods along the water to the east, too.) The exit route in particular left some hikers without provisions for lunch, requiring a detour that went bad when they tried to return to the canal and found a bridge under construction. Some of us enjoyed terrific little pizzas from a Moissac boulangerie instead, the fruit of our wanderings the previous afternoon.
Are we missing something in Nogaro? Is there more to Aire sur l'Adour? I haven't explored every town, but my general advice is to get off the path from time to time and see what's happening.
It's perfectly obvious that the official route skits the edges of Figeac and Cahors. But no one should rush past Figeac without at least a detour to the town center. Cahors, though I like it less, has interesting sections and if you don't pause to explore at least a bit you'll remember little more than a tough descent and a very tough ascent broken only by a few minutes along the river and one fantastic bridge. The cathedral is an interesting hodge-podge of styles (not for purists!). At the right time of day there's a good market. Add some hidden gardens, a wine bar, dining al fresco -- for the non-French a good taste of comparatively urban contemporary life.
But my French friend had a few other places in mind.
Condom. The route skirts the city center and its interesting cathedral, a good produce market, a few good spots for a beer, and a great photo op with D'Artagnan and the 3 Musketeers. (Compare it to Éauze, where the route takes you right into the central square alongside the cathedral, or the way we meander through Nasbinals.)
Decazeville. The official route avoids the center, leaving most hikers with a descent, a few dreary streets, and a long uphill. Instead, when you reach Ave Laromiguiere, go left and across the rotary into the Rue Gambetta to find an attractive commercial main street that gets nicer the further you explore. Nothing historic at all, but lots of stores and services.
Moissac. The entry route is dreary until you reach the commercial center, which is livelier, then there's the Abbey and the route continues behind the tourist office to the less than pleasant walk out on the busy street alongside the railroad tracks to the canal. But if you explore south of the abbey a few blocks, you find far more attractive streets including several excellent bakeries. (Once, 30 years ago, visiting Moissac by train as a tourist, I missed my train back to Toulouse and spent the 3 hours waiting for another train exploring. There are nicer neighborhoods along the water to the east, too.) The exit route in particular left some hikers without provisions for lunch, requiring a detour that went bad when they tried to return to the canal and found a bridge under construction. Some of us enjoyed terrific little pizzas from a Moissac boulangerie instead, the fruit of our wanderings the previous afternoon.
Are we missing something in Nogaro? Is there more to Aire sur l'Adour? I haven't explored every town, but my general advice is to get off the path from time to time and see what's happening.
