Cacabelos to La Portela de Vacarce

Another beautiful day with a moderate 23 KM walk, 430 meters ascent, which started late at 9:15am out of our charming room and through the town with a stop for coffee and pastry.
We walked through the vineyards to Villafranca del Bierzo through the delightful town of Valtuille, which had an old wine press. We passed farmers with carts full of grapes and they insisted we accept some grapes before wishing us well, buen Camino.

Coming into Villafranca you came down a hill and suddenly we were in the town as the valley was so narrow you did not see the town in advance. Coming into town we stopped at the 12th century Romanesque church of Santiago with its Puerta del Perdon, again a place where pilgrims can go if they can not travel further to Santiago because they are sick and injured, and by walking through the door receive the same indulgences as if they had gone to Santiago. The church was very simple but very beautiful and and the place was lit with red candles. There were white Oriental lilies giving off their fragrance. We lit a candle for our families and friends and departed ones. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed as I would have loved to have taken one as this church really drew me in.

There was a large cross with Jesus and a very simple white alter cloth with the red cross associated with the Camino. The nave on the right had a more traditional carved golden alter with Mary and Jesus and the opposite nave was bare and contained the door of forgiveness.

We had an excellent peregrino lunch menu at a cafe in the main square. Fun to just sit there with our boots off, cooling our feet, and watching the world go by. At 2:30 we left the town and climbed up a narrow gorge following the Rio Valcarce (330 meters of ascent). There were 3 walking options and some how we got on the "senda". This is basically a pedestrian walk path along the highway. We were following the Rio Valcares on our left and the highway on on right with crash barriers between us and the cars. A new autopista has been made so the traffic on this road has been reduced. The trees by the river provided some much needed shade as the temperature was around 85. So while the second part of the day after lunch was pretty, it was not as nice as the morning. We arrived here around 6pm so made a mad dash to do the laundry as the previous place did not have a balcony , so no laundry had been done. The upside of the Albergues is that they have washing and drying facilities as well as internet.

Our hotel tonight is basically a truck stop! The first hotel we booked ahead and wished we could have kept on walking! Of course we were stuck here for dinner too. Bonus is they serve breakfast at 6 am.
The path tomorrow continues along the highway and then we have the climb up the mountain to O'Ceberieo basically 600 meters in 7 KM. Tomorrow is the last day I will send my pack forward and we want to get an early start on the day.

Our weather adviser Bob, advises no rain coming for 10 days so we can expect the heat to continue.
We wear the little neck scarves that have some water absorbing gel filler to help keep us cool.
There is a group of 8 French day packers that have been with us the past couple of days. In their 70s I would say and walk with poles and very light backpacks. They  met the definition of day packer because of the size of the pack they carry, they wear white, and they have more than 2 changes of clothes. Anyway, one petite lady made us laugh at the way she was mincing down the trail, hips swaying, poles dancing out to the side. Any way saw her today at our lunch spot and the group here tonight and she is in a sling and husband seems to be driving a car. I feel very sorry for them.

David has caught a cold so we think we will take a rest day after tomorrow. Two nights of church bells every hour and on the half hour does not make a good nights rest. No church bells tonight only truckers.
The photo of the diet coke is an expression of my displeasure over a 200ml coke size versus the usual can of 330ml!