Day 10 – Logibar to Ste Engrâce

September 7, 2019 – Departed 9:00 – Arrived 17:50

Another very long day. There was no other option today, as there was no auberge between Logibar and here. I must say that I am not too fond of long stages, like the one two days ago (11 hours) or the one today (almost 9), specially when I don’t start very early. I prefer 6 or 7 hours. More than that and after 6 hours I only want to arrive, and once there there isn’t much time left except for shower and dinner.

Tonight I still managed to go to church since there was a mass celebrated at 7 pm in the 11th century church here, right across the auberge. What an experience! When I entered I saw the men at the very back of the church, the women near the front. Not knowing any better I sat by myself in the middle. There were maybe 30 people in all. The office was all in Basque, except for the day’s prayers, the readings and the homily which were in French. All songs were in Basque, sung by the priest with a powerful voice. The men and women were responding in song to each other, and everybody was singing. It was very beautiful.

At 8 pm the auberge treated us to a great dinner, including tomates farcies and confit duck legs. The mom did the cooking, the dad came and sat at our table to tell stories and recommend local cheeses. The daughter manages the gîte and the café.

But enough for what has happened here in Ste Engrâce. On the trail this morning the first hour of a steep climb took me to the Holzarté suspension bridge, which is quite spectacular some 150 m above the canyon below. At the end of the bridge I was approached by three or four scruffy teenagers, they were quite friendly so I sat down and shared with them 1/100th of a cereal bar. They occasionally squabbled but apart from that did not say much.

The rest of the hike was going up, up, up, and then down, down, down. The mountains were beautiful, massive, imposing, everywhere. Some are covered with trees, some with ferns, some with grass; the tops are baren, and big slabs of rock stick out here and there. It’s quite an awe-inspiring sight. Also lots of streams around here, and sheep in places where you would not expect anything to be grazing.

Speaking of up – tomorrow is a shorter hike, only 5 hours, but apparently it’s only up up, up, so I am going to try and get a good night’s sleep to prepare for it.