THE REST OF THE WAY

I made an early start, though not quite as early as I intended, to finish the walk I began last week before the heat of the day. I began where I stopped at the bus stop by the Hippodrome…

… then followed a shady path beside a suburban road until the houses came to an end and the road became a track.

After about 45 minutes I came to the edge of Lescar old town, where a little old man, assuming I was lost, announced his intention of coming with me all the way to Artiguelouve. Fortunately the door of the Cathedral was wide open, and I told him I wanted to spend some time there.

I particularly liked the quiet Oratory Chapel (bottom left) and the wooden statues of SS James and Francis (top right).

By the time I left the Cathedral, the day was warming up, and there was very little shade in the next 2 km. I had walked this stretch in reverse on my way in to Lescar from the river, and it didn’t seem quite as long now I knew where I was going.

After crossing the river on the road bridge, I returned to the cycle path along its banks, and passed an unusual sight: a timber yard where tree trunks were being irrigated to prevent them bursting into flame.

A tunnel led under a road to a sports field, and I was coming to Artiguelouve. About two and a half hours after starting the walk, I came to a bus shelter. Not the one I wanted, but a good place for a drink of water and an attempt to establish my position on Google maps. All I needed to do was follow the waymarks to the church and turn left to look for the site of the old railway station.

But first I turned right in search of the statue of St James the Pilgrim to gather inspiration for Sunday’s sermon.

And there he is! Now for the bus stop, the end of today’s walk and the beginning of the longer one to Oloron-Sainte-Marie which I hope to achieve before leaving Pau at the end of the month.