We were back to sunshine for an easy stroll from Arblade-le-Bas to Aire-sur-l’Adour. We stopped to see the 16th century L’église Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel in Barcelonne-du-Gers and then carried on to Aire-sur-l’Adour.

The first thing we did was to visit the tourist information centre. An enthusiastic and knowledgeable young lady gave us all the information we need for travelling to St. Palais tomorrow. We’ll take a bus to Pau; a train to Puyoo; and a bus to St. Palais. The total travel time is six hours including two “layovers.”  It would have taken us six days to walk from Aire-sur-l’Adour to St. Palais. Sadly, we got our planning wrong and didn’t allow enough time to walk. We need to arrive in St. Jean Pied de Port on October 7th. Just for the record, bus fare is two euros each and the train is 9.5 euros each. What a bargain!

Some of the most important monuments on the Chemin are here in Aire-sur-l’Adour. The first one we visited was the St-Jean-Baptist Cathedral which was built in the 11th century. The classical organ was added in the 18th century. Then we went to the Sainte-Quitterie built between the 11th and 14th centuries. In the crypt is a white marble sarcophagus (4th century) with the tomb of the young and martyred princess Sainte Quitterie, beheaded for not renouncing her Catholic faith. Friends from Dijon we’ve been following for days showed us incredible photos they took in the crypt. We are sorry the crypt had just closed when we got there!😢 

Then off we went to buy pizza for dinner and soon discovered we didn’t need to. We were expected for dinner at Gîte d’étape La Maison des Pèlerins. No matter! We love cold pizza and it will come in handy on our travel day tomorrow. Dinner was very good and interesting. How often can you say you had dinner with a Parisian man whose job it is to paint the Eiffel Tower? 😃 Love it!