All went according to plan. This morning I picked up a cash advance from the fine proprietors of the hotel. Then I left and for about 80 glorious minutes I did not need rain protection.

The waymarking was great - little white and red bars at critical junctures and the occasional Chemin du St Jacques sign. However, they did not match the description in my guide or road map. I followed them anyway since they appeared new and I figured this was a new route. It ended up being the right thing to do for two reasons. Firstly, it did eventually connect with the route I was expecting south of Peyrucolles. Secondly, because it travelled through the too-insignificant-for-my-road-map town of Peyrucolles.

It was there under a tree where I fumbled for a map to figure out precisely where I was in relation to where I thought the Chemin was. Suddenly, a guy across the street was shouting to me and momentarily I realized he was asking if I wanted to come inside. Well, I only had about a meter of dry space under the giant bush-tree so I said yes. One thing leads to another and I am drinking wine and eating a fine country meal with Francois, his charming wife, and their friend Jean-Luc. My boots and gear are drying by the fire. Life is good on the trail.

Now the hour is 21:12. As I finish yet another fine meal I reflect on those lucky people with jobs back home in the States. Back in Colorado the work day is half over. If I were still at Jones I would be looking forward to a meager two day weekend. Instead, this trip stretches ahead of me like a vast unexplored road. I think this is the better deal.

Back to the mundane details of kilometers. I believe tomorrow will be a shorter day although looking at the map perhaps it is too short. I may be able to skip over Marciac and bed down in Maubourguet with a second big day afterward, but I will probably sleep-in and follow the original plan. In eight days I will be out of France so why rush? Plus, who wants to be doing 32+ kilometer (20+ mile) days in the rain consequtively?

In closing I just want to say that after my guidebook comes out of the oven nice and dry, I plan on going upstairs to my room and having a Cuban cigar that I bought in Barcelona. On the AT I did something similar. A cigar at the finish and a cigar at the start. I did not actually smoke it until night 5 at Blood Mtn shelter if memory serves so this feels right. Everything works out on the trail.