Castet-Arrouy to La Lectoure

A very short day today for some reason - only a little over 10 km. and a fairly easy walk. We decided to stay at La Lectoure which was unfortunately closed so we didn't get much of a sense about what the town was really like. When these towns are closed up they are closed up solidly and everything looks really dead. There were a couple of restaurants open fortunately and we stopped for lunch at a kind of gourmet place. I'm not sure exactly why they were open since they weren't really planning on serving food, but they were very accommodating and the chef offered to put together a cold plate for us which was really delicious. And of course we had our cafe au lait so all was well. We spoke with a family from New Zealand who also came in looking for food. They were taking a few months off and travelling with their children because they thought it would be a good experience for them. They insisted the children use French as much as they could and always when saying please and thank you. It was very charming.

We decided to stay at a place called L'Etoile Occitane which was owned by an  'ancienne' who was a former pelerin or pilgrim our guide book said. She was in India at the time, however, and the place was being 'looked after' by two people who were presumably her friends. The house was filled with Buddhist sayings and could have had a nice feel to it in spite of its age but with the two people who were looking after it, it was a disaster. Everything was dirty and the whole atmosphere was one of a lack of welcome towards everyone  who was staying there. We felt we were interrupting the latest television show and really they would have preferred that we be somewhere else. It probably hadn't been cleaned since the owner left. Rather unfortunate all around but not horrible. We had dinner at a little spot across the road which only offered chile con carne and a couple of other dishes that included tripe and something else that didn't sound appealing even in French. I was expecting the worst but actually it was delicious and the people were very friendly and nice - and spoke some English as a bonus for us.

La Lectoure itself had some interesting looking buildings and I wished we could see it on an open day. The city, with a population of less than 4000 has been declared a "town of art and history" by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. It has a huge church which indicates a more important part in history than in the present. Apparently the repairs and modifications can be traced back to the 12th Century.