Another marvelous day to notch 22.9 km (14.3 mi) without the heat I was expecting--temperature was under clouds and in 70s and the walk mostly easy rolling hills. I encountered a German WW II cemetery on the way--sad that so many young men of the 8000 laid here to rest died for a cause, I think, they never really understood.
At some points, only a passing tractor shared the road with me. I arrived at lunchtime with the Office de Tourisme still closed, so I took a lunch break. It's not everyday one gets to have lunch in a medieval city in front of the 12th century dungeon tower--actually the only complete remnant of its medieval history. Indeed, Pons is a town of 4000+ with tourism at the top of the list.
Our pilgrims' quarters with 4 sets of double bunks is at the lower end of town and lies just 300 meters from the Office de Tourisme, and ironically was the location of the new pilgrims' hospital founded in 1160. Mind you, hospital in those days meant the pilgrims, the poor, the sick being treated by hospitallers more from a religious vantage point than today's hospitals. The remains of this hospital, just meters from our quarters, had a fantastic Camino de Santiago (Chemin de St Jacques de Compostelle) exhibit I couldn't miss.
By the way, all six of us from last night have managed to be at this pilgrims' albuerge, and the two folks that offered me food for dinner last night are offering to prepare something for me tonight as well! Thank you, ever so much.
