The Way of St. James #40: From Castetnau-Camblong to Ostabat

This was written on the 21st, and posted on the morning of the 22nd.

I left the Villa Mouchoux after a good brekfast thanks to my hosts. I really will recommend this gite to any future travelers.

My route took me out of the village, past neat farmhouses and into the forest. I passed chateau do Mongaston, but the castle is too far back from the route to be really noticeable. I did pass a house that either keeps pigsons or tolerates the wild ones breeding ad lib around his property. It reminded me of the line from William Blake: “A dove cote full of doves and pigeons shudders hell through all its regions”. If that be true, then this one would really have hell shuddering.

I continued on through the village of Charre, and across the river Le Saison to reach the village of Lichos. In both villages, it seemed like everything was closed. I kept on going. By now the sun was out, and I had good views of the way that I had come.

With no stops on the way, I was making good time and soon reached the Chateau de Joantho. Again, it is difficult to see any of the chateau through the trees. By this time, it was close to noon. Perhaps I should have gone on into Aroue for lunch, but that would be 400m off the route, so I decided to just keep going, hoping to find somewhere open along the way. I passed through a couple of hamlets, but with no shops, never mind being open. The route ascends into the hills and affords great views of the countryside around. And so at last, I came to Ohaiby. The church itself is about 250m off the route, but it does have a source of potable water, so I went there. At this stage, I was running dangerously low on water, and was constantly thirsty.

Then it was straight on, over hill and dale to reach my planned destination at Larribar. Google Maps says that there is a gite at Larribar, but Google Maps is wrong. There is no gite, and now I was faced with a choice. I cound take a detour off the route into St. Palais, with uncertain prospects as regards the time it might take, and whether there would be anything available when I got there. Or I could go on, and look for a place at the first gite I came to. So I went on. Out of Larribar, across the main road and across the Bidouze river.

I kept going, on through Hiriburia, so fixed on finding something that I missed the cross in that village placed to mark where the other French routes join the GR65 for the final piece of the way to St. Jean.

Then the route took me up the hills again. There were panoramic views of the countryside all around.

The chapel at the top of the hill, the Chapelle de Soyarza, offered shelter and another chance to replenish my water supplies.

And then it was all downhill. I actually lost the GR65 and found myself on a cycle track. But it seemed to be going in my direction, so I decided to follow it rather than look for the correct route. Going down, the route gave great views of the Pyrenees ahead. They were no longer white capped peaks in the far distance, but darker, closer, and presenting a prospect of just how close to them I now was

And soon I could see the village of Ostabat. With my plans changed, this would be my rest for the evening.

I checked in at the gite, had a shower, and went to the nearest bar for something to eat. So the day ended well, even if I had to walk 9km more than planned.

I try to make note of the interesting and unusual as I walk. So the photo at the top, showing how pilgrims leave mementos at particular places is an example. Why These places and not others is a mystery to me. But I also notice the flora as I go, and on this section, there are still the orchids, though paler than those of earlier days.

My step count for today was 64,126. I have just over 20km to go to St. Jean. Let’s get this section closed out tomorrow.