It was quite a warm day, but there was welcome shade along the way that made the climbing easier than I had expected.
Quite suddenly, the Collegiale stood out on the flat ground, almost directly ahead. 
The cloister and church were both well worth a visit. 
There was much history that you wouldn't expect to find in a small out of the way place, about a cardinal and temporal power... 
There was also a lovely gite here, that had been converted from an old convent. 
The dormitory was beautiful, light, airy and spacious, and there was a warm welcome. 
Another feature of La Romieu was the beautiful roses that were in full bloom all around the town. 
There was also the legend of the young woman and the cats....
How different was my experience in La Romieu after a day walking in mud and downpours! That lovely airy dormitory was very chilly, too cold for the very wet clothes to ever dry that night. What a difference the weather makes! I didn't even visit the cloister and all the things I'd hoped to see when there. A group of us huddled near the fire in a nearby restaurant, a shelter from the cold, dark, damp.
ReplyDeleteLinnea, I was reminded time and time again when I walked this year how important the weather is in the whole Camino experience. Sometimes I thought towns were dour, dismal places in 2008, but this time with sunshine they were completely different. The second day of the Aubrac Plateau this year there was brilliant sunshine and the views were magnificent, whereas last time it was foggy and dismal. What a contrast!
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