Walk This Way

I hurried back to the cafe and explained the situation to the bartender, apologizing profusely for walking out.

"Really?" he responded. He, too, had forgotten that I hadn't anted up.

He calmly waved his hand and told me not to worry about it. "It doesn't matter anyway -- anybody with a conscience would come back."

I paid the bill and wondered just how far removed Saint-Chely was from the modern world. And then I thought that probably was why we were here.

Age-Old Hospitality

It's rare to find a local hospitality industry that goes back more than 1,000 years.

Yet from about the 9th century -- after the remains of the apostle James were said to have been miraculously discovered buried in Compostela, Spain -- travelers have made their way there from neighboring France and beyond. A shrine was built on the spot, and later a cathedral. During the Middle Ages, the trip became one of Christianity's most important pilgrimages, along with Rome and Jerusalem.

Hospitals, monasteries and accommodations for pilgrims were built along the route, as well as an impressive collection of Romanesque churches. In the 1990s the Compostela/Compostelle pilgrimage routes in Spain and France were added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites.

Many of the pilgrims and hikers carry walking sticks and backpacks decorated with the traditional symbol of a scallop shell. From our experience, the locals -- though English speaking is limited -- are more than willing to help.

The second day of our walk, we descended into the Lot Valley. The landscape changed as we walked up and around hills covered with young wheat and corn, through evergreen forests and stands of chestnut trees. The trail during that week would vary from anything from a foot-wide path muddied by the trickle of a spring to a regional two-lane road.

More than once, locals on foot or in cars stopped as we passed through town to give us directions. We really didn't need much help. By Day 3, we easily made our way in four hours from the bustling river town of Espalion to what would be my favorite stopover, Estaing (population 600), with its hilltop chateau, stone streets and bridges and cafe terraces that overlook the Lot. After that, I put the guide away, and we simply followed the trail markings.

The last two days, we pushed on to the town of Conques, set into a deep gorge. It's considered one of France's most historically important medieval sites, with its grand Romanesque abbey and elaborate sculpted stonework. The abbey still puts up travelers in hotel-style rooms and dormitories.

We toured the abbey with a fellow hiker, a fit 74-year-old widowed grandmother named Bernadette who gave us her address in northeast France and promised to cook us a meal if we came to visit her.