We've received these lovely photos from one of our parishioners, Danny Thomas, who is currently on a pilgrimage walking part of the Pilgrims Way to Santiago de Compostela (from Lodeve to Toulouse). Here you see a statue of a windswept St Jacques (St James, Sant' Iago) which is to be found in Castres.
A photo of a cross taken along the route with the sunlight behind it makes a beautiful focus for the pilgrim on his journey. The route is full of similarly inspiring images and must be very uplifting at the end of weary day's walking.
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Some 900 kilometres are to be walked from Arles to reach Puente-la-Reina along the Arles route (GR653 long-distance footpath). Puente-la-Reina in Spain is at the crossing with the Camino Francés coming from Roncesvalles and heading to Santiago de Compostela. The Arles route runs via Montpellier, Lodève, Castres, Toulouse, Auch, Oloron-Sainte-Marie and Jaca, crossing the Pyrenees by the Somport pass.
Compared to other St-James routes, the Arles route benefits from varied landscapes: plains (from Arles to Montpellier; from La-Salvetat-sur-Agout to the beginning of the Gers), mountains (Grands-Causses and Haut-Languedoc from St-Guilhem-du-Désert to La-Salvetat-sur-Agout; the Pyrenees from Oloron-Sainte-Marie to Jaca), more or less pronounced hills (from the Gers to Oloron-Sainte-Marie; in Aragón and in Navarra).
The great diversity of landscapes, climates, soils, architecture, ways of life and cultures would make it worthwhile to walk the Arles route.
This was my "3rd stage" of the walk; I will return next year to walk some more.
Although perfectly achievable by an average walker, the Arles route may sometimes be demanding because of the terrain and, as it is less popular, lonely.
Please see more pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003246&l=14bf8&id=1037156528
and
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003409&l=7196a&id=1037156528
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