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13.07.08 Sunday.
Roquelaure to Auch (rhymes with gosh!)
A short day after yesterday's 22 miles, so we planned to stop early in Auch at the Municipal there and shop before 12, Tomorrow is Monday and Bastille day so no chance of shopping in Isle de Noe which is where we hope to be. During the nine miles before breakfast in Auch we pass a field of sunflowers that have labels – it seems the farmer is experimenting with different cultivars for best yield. This is a common crop in this area and is looking very well at present.
During our breakfast on the bank of the River Ger we were approached by a Frenchman walking his dog, asking if we were pilgrims, it appears that we have reached the Route De Arles which is the route we shall cross the Pyrenees on and the possibility of Pilgrim Hostels becomes a reality once we can find out where they are. He had completed the Camino twice, once from here and once from Le Puy en Velay. The route De Arles travels around the south coast of France to Arles on the Rhone delta and would be the route taken by pilgrims visiting Rome after Compostella, the one remaining pilgrimage would then be Jerusalem completing the Big Three medieval pilgrimage sites. We intend to follow it to Puenta del Reina near Pamplona where it joins the main Camino. By then we hope to have shed some of the excess baggage required for camping and lightened our packs considerably.