Kiwi Pilgrims: Chemin du Piémont Pyrénéen

11 September 2023

Lourdes to Lestelle-Betharram, 16+ km

This was the day we changed from being pilgrims of Lourdes to pilgrims of St Jacques de Compostelle - Santiago de Compostela.

Just after 8am, loaded with our packs, we walked out of Lourdes - up past the Sanctuary, then out into the Forest of Lourdes where the chemin (camino) path followed the River Gave for a way. The morning was cool and being among the trees was beautiful but it wasn't long before we left the forest behind and the day heated up - it reached 30° or more with high humidity.

We stopped for our first break in Rieuhès, a wee settlement with a church (locked) and a few houses. This is where we encountered our first fellow pilgrims - from Italy, Belgium and Paris.

Shortly after we stopped at Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre, a small town with a couple of small food places which were open - a very pleasant surprise as we understood that this would be rare. We bought a cold drink and sat in the shade in the square while we ate lunch.

From then on it was a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. All of the walk was lovely but the heat and the humidity made it wearying - as did walking on roads, even though they weren't busy ones.

We arrived at Lestelle-Betharram, our stop on our chemin, at 3pm, where we stayed in church accommodation which I had arranged with Père (Father) Laurent Bacho - a lovely gentle, quiet-spoken man with gorgeous laugh, almost a giggle. He didn't speak any English and my French is extremely limited!

Vespers was at 7pm then we went to the community room for dinner which was prepared by two young priests - one from India and the other from the Ivory Coast. It was a fun meal as the priests ate with with the pilgrims - Filip, the Belgium we had met earlier and Fred and Debbie from the US who are walking to Santiago de Compostela. Also dining with us was a French woman who was staying for a weeks retreat.

We were very pleased when we finally returned to our room as we were very exhausted. Sleep wasn't immediately possible for though due to a violent lightning and thunder storm that lasted 3 or 4 hours - I had received a storm alert on my phone shortly after we had arrived in Lestelle-Betharram. We did get a few hours sleep when it eventually passed.

This was our first day on our chemin from Lourdes to St Jean Pied de Port. It was a beautiful walk, but very tiring in the heat.

The exact distance we had walked is unknown as a guidebook said 16 km but Fred, the American pilgrim, tracked it on his phone and said it was just over 22 kms.

Our first sign for the Chemin du Piémont Pyrénéen as we leave Lourdes.

The Sanctuary as we walked up past it on our way.

A very prominent sign. The Chemin du Piémont Pyrénéen is also known as the GR78.

Walking through the Forest of Lourdes.

We haven't seen any snails but there are slugs everywhere - orange like this one and grey/black ones, equally as big.

Balisage markings for GR routes. The one on the left indicates to go straight and the one on the right shows a righthand turn. Confusing when there's both.

There are plenty of roadside statues and crosses.

The Italian pilgrim leaving Rieuhès.

The small church at Rieuhès where we sheltered for a while from the harsh sun.

Between Rieuhès And Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre.

A pretty window box.

Having lunch in Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre. We appreciated the shade in the village square.

In Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre.

The Church of Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre - it was locked.

Then is was back into the sun again.

We finally arrived in Lestelle-Betharram. The alleyway where the red car is is the way to the Notre-Dame de Betharram pilgrim accommodation. The whole building is belongs to the community, the church is at the far end, not visible in this shot.