In France, what we might call a bed & breakfast is a chambre d’hôtes. These places are more adventurous than hotels, since you typically interact with the host, stay in a place not originally designed to be a hotel, and typically eat dinner with other guests and the host. If there’s a dinner, it’s home cooked: the food arrives at the table and you eat. No substitutions. Luckily, everything we had was interesting, well-seasoned and even a bit exotic. It seems that dishes from the French Caribbean are popular at the moment, foods that take their flavors more from Africa and India than Europe.
This place is on the famous pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, a trek that’s gaining in popularity it seems. We were the first non-pilgrims to stay there in many a year.
For some reason, I tend to think of John Wayne when I head the word, “pilgrim”. This is, of course, different. Speaking in a Western cowboy drawl absolutely does not work, for example. Not even in French.
These people really are on some kind of pilgrimage, quest, walkabout, or whatever. Everyone’s reason is different, and the person we met was a fairly staunch atheist. Walking many long kilometers through the European countryside is a way for many to clear their minds, often after some major event happens in their life. No belief in a Supreme Being required for that.
It might be a fun thing to do, someday. Right now, my meditation route tends to be long trips on Highway 5, gazing at the horizon, sere golden hills and various types of agriculture, with rock and roll, jazz, or world music playing as my mantra.
This being a landscape blog, I’d better get back to it. The actual subject here is a country inn garden, pretty typical. There are things made with old stones, a hodgepodge of elements that are simply plunked down, probably the result of weekend projects. Then there are functional elements, in this case a swimming pool, sitting areas, a vegetable garden and paths.
Should you ever find yourself near Condom, in the Gers region of France, searching for an interesting, beautiful and perhaps adventurous place to stay, you can contact Les Arroucasses directly, in French or Spanish. Maybe even English (call and you’ll find out how many languages they speak).
They’re situated in a tiny village perched on top of a hill, with magnificent views all around. Once you’re there, all you need do is relax.
When you leave, try to stop by La Romieu, another interesting village perched atop a hill.
Les Arroucasses
Jeanine et André Rodriguez
32100 Castelnau sur l’Auvignon (Gers)
Phone : 05 62 68 12 24. From the USA, it’s 0-11-33-5 62 68 12 24 (drop a zero).