After 10 days of work and a little bit of rest at our eldest son Peter's B&B, I am departing today with his eldest son Bruno, 25, for the Via Podensis, which runs from le Puy en Vélay to Saint-Jean-de-Pied-de-Port. We are doing it in reverse direction because I need to eventually return home.
Yesterday evening, Bruno landed at Carcassonne Airport from Stansted on a Ryanair flight. He had purchased a bicycle online from Decathlon, and it was delivered to us along with spare parts the day before yesterday. After some tinkering, Bruno and Peter skillfully assembled the bike. In the early morning, Magda and Bruno will go over the entire route and adjust the daily kilometers. It's a beautiful journey with a lot of elevation changes.
Yves and Bruno leaving from Servies-en-Val, together with Magda and Peter, setting off from Rieumes
Peter will drive us to Rieumes with his van, along with the bicycles, and at 1:30 PM, we will start our journey towards Auch. Tomorrow, we'll head to Aire-sur-l'Adour, and then we'll be on the Via Podensis. We will miss the first section, but that includes Harambelz, which we visited on the Via Turonensis, and Saint-Jean-de-Pied-de-Port, which I visited last year.
In Rieumes, you immediately notice that we are in the brick area of Toulouse. Many churches and other buildings were built using red brick, as is evident in the Rieumes church. Beyond Rieumes, we enter the Department of Gers, a splendid region with rolling hills. The road from Rieumes through Samatan, Polastron, to Pessan near Auch runs atop a series of ridges. This provides breathtaking views on both sides of sunflowers, cornfields, herds, harvested wheat, and more, stretching as far as the eye can see. Bruno is truly impressed by so much beauty. It's a demanding ride because we have to climb 900 meters in 60 km to reach Auch. Fortunately, the inclines are long and gradual, not too steep. Thankfully, every long uphill is followed by a satisfying downhill.
The hills between Rieumes en Auch
We are gradually leaving the Pyrenees mountains or foothills and heading towards the foothills of the Massif Central. It's scorching hot, but we need to cover our 60 km. Bruno doesn't have an e-bike but is pedaling cheerfully, embodying the true sense of the word. We're drinking liters of water but it's worth it. We stop regularly in the shade. Tomorrow we have to cover 80 km, and we've already decided to start EARLY, no later than 7 am.
In Pessan, we stop at the St. Michel church, which used to be a Benedictine abbey, practically nothing remains of it now. We meet Chantal, who has the key to the church (since she opens and closes it every day). She opens the church for us and provides a detailed explanation of the beautiful elements inside and outside the church. Inside the church, we are introduced to paintings by the Flemish painter Smets from the early 18th century. There's also a beautiful medieval Pieta, and we learn about a saint I'm not familiar with, St. Lizier, the patron saint of sick children. The flutter on my shoulder confirms that our little Rientje also finds this man charming and useful. In the garden next to the church, there's a remnant of the cloister and an old dovecote, a pigeonnier, as monks liked to eat pigeons... who wouldn't! There's also a beautiful city gate and some lovely half-timbered houses.
Pessac: the church, Chantal with the keys, Pietà
We meet Chantal, who has the key to the church (since she opens and closes it every day). She opens the church for us and provides a detailed explanation of the beautiful elements inside and outside the church. Inside the church, we are introduced to paintings by the Flemish painter Smets from the early 18th century. There's also a beautiful medieval Pieta, and we learn about a saint I'm not familiar with, St. Lizier, the patron saint of sick children. The flutter on my shoulder confirms that our little Rientje also finds this man charming and useful. In the garden next to the church, there's a remnant of the cloister and an old dovecote, a pigeonnier, as monks liked to eat pigeons... who wouldn't! There's also a beautiful city gate and some lovely half-timbered houses.
Pessan: City gate, typical houses and Bruno resting in the shade
After a final effort of 5 kilometers, we reach the city of Auch. We head straight to our (small but clean) apartment to settle in. Bruno goes to buy groceries and cooks fresh pasta. Visiting the city tonight is out of the question as we're completely exhausted. Tomorrow morning, we'll drive by the cathedral, but it will likely still be closed at that early hour. Nonetheless, we're satisfied because today we've seen so much beauty and met a lovely lady named Chantal who guided us in Pessan. That's all a person needs to be happy. I'm also thrilled that it's Bruno's turn to cycle a portion (10 days, the entire Via Podensis) with me. The past three weeks were fantastic with Floris, and the next 10 days will be equally enjoyable. So, I am definitely a happy grandfather. Additionally, I'm overjoyed to celebrate 54 years of marriage with Magda today, and it's also our Moses' 13th birthday. Hopefully, I can cycle parts of the Camino in Spain with him in the future. He was there last year and completed the last 220 km of the Camino Francés without hesitation or fatigue, which bodes well for the near future.
Pessan: interior of the church, enfeu (kind of false window)
I want to conclude with a special thought for August (or Gust Thiry), Ina's father (her husband is Dafke). I wish him the best and the same for his dear wife, Simonne. They were our former neighbors when we lived on Dorenstraat in Herent. Dafke and Ina are one of the many couples who have supported Yasmine and Tim's family for years, like many other families. They certainly deserve special thanks.
So far, our journey along the Via Turonensis and the Via Aragones has raised almost 5,000 euros in the Rinus Pinifonds account at the King Baudouin Foundation. A huge thank you to all those who provided financial support. We also received support for the PINI Love foundation, including from Lucien Bikes and several other sympathizers, for which we're truly grateful.
We hope that the journey along the Via Podensis via le Puy en Vélay will raise just as much for the projects supported by the Rinus Pinifonds, such as the expansion of the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) at University Hospital Antwerp. Our target for the journey along the Via Turonensis and the Via Podensis combined is 10,000 euros, and we're confident that our generous donors will provide the means. Thank you in advance.
Magda will now prepare and finalize the blog post, which deserves a special thank you, especially on our anniversary.
Meanwhile, Bruno's pasta is almost ready... I'll grab a bite and then head straight to bed, as it's already 8 PM. We'll be getting up early tomorrow morning...
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