May 17, 2026 – Gigean to Florensac – 29 kms – Chez Dèdou et Madou 

May 18, 2026 – Florensac to Béziers – 26 kms – Place de la Mairie Art Apparts

May 19, 2026 – Béziers to Capestang – 21 kms – Entre Porte Midi Chambre d’Hôte

Ruth: Our first three days on the Piémont Pyrénéen (GR 78) have been stunning. We are following a necklace of villages and small cities, each of them jewels. We have heard this route has the largest number of Romanesque treasures, and so far we have not been disappointed.

At Saint Thibery we stopped to admire the beautifully restored thirteenth century flour mill, originally owned by the Benedictine Abbey. 

Next we spent a night in Béziers, the scene of one of the most dreadful massacres of the Crusade against the Cathars.  During the siege of Béziers in 1209, the Abbot of Citeaux was asked how to distinguish between the Cathar heretics and true believers.  He reportedly answered, “Kill them all, God will recognize his own.” The entire population of the city was either burned or put to the sword. 

After a 26 km walk Gord still had the energy to climb up to the top of the Cathedral tower and then to the Roman Bridge below. it’s a spectacular city, but I’m glad I wasn’t here in the thirteenth century. 

Our route today was entirely on the Canal du Midi. We climbed through a famous set of nine locks before the canal settled into a slow meander through the vineyards and poppies. 

Tonight we are in Capestang, one of my new favorite towns in France. It has an amazing and colossal unfinished gothic church that towers over the countryside. What is finished, is filled with stained glass windows, including a Saint Roch as a pilgrim.  His chapel is dedicated to the pilgrims enroute to Santiago. Capestang also had a medieval pilgrim hospital and therefore was an important stop on the Chemin de Saint Jacques.