Day 13 Limogne-en-Quercy

Thursday 29th September and I see a small vinyard which I take to mean I am dropping in altitude and I see that I am up and down at around 350m to 150m today.

The scenery at the moment is more...
Yesterday I had to find a needle in a haystack. Very nearly literally, as I glibly offered a safety pin to a pilgrim who had sat down next to me and was examining his feet. After a moments hesitation I emptied half my rucksack, found my 'on-the-road' bag and tipped it out revealing all my lotions and foot care products. The safety pin revealed itself and was given; I had no wish to have it back. My feet later received a good smooth-down and cream. Perfect.

Over this stretch of path someone has built sections of wall with seating and pictures. One provides a clue to the use of the circular stone huts assuming that is smoke billowing out of the apex.
Later I come across a walk that takes in quite a number of these cabanes, or stone huts.
The dormitory today is very chic for a dormitory. It is more like a triple room at a Chambres d'Hotes.
The daily routine is fairly consistent:
6.50am alarm though I am usually awake.
7.00am breakfast though sometimes this is later or given as a flexible time window. Occasionally diner time is used to vote on breakfast time.
8.00am is a natural start to walking 
8.30am is often when we needed to have vacated the premises anyway
11.00am is when I snack on whatever food I am carrying such as a banana and left over sandwich.
3.00pm is when I either check-in or hang around if the gite doesn't open until 16.00pm. The protocol is to leave boots and rucksack in a store room taking what you need in a plastic container. The pre-diner time is used for laundry, shower and checking plans for the next day as well as resting and reading 
7.00pm eat dinner though that can very occasionally be 7.15pm or 7.30pm
9.00pm sleep

I am currently reading the Sidney Poitier autobiography which promises to be good as no ghost writers were used and he does write very well.

My closing note is that I have passed the 300km mark.

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1 Saint Privat d'Allier

Image
Saturday 17 September and what a great first day's walking. It is autumn and the fields are being ploughed after the sweetcorn harvest. This reveals the rich crumbly volcanic soil that needs no further breaking down before it is resown. Coming out of Le Puy-en-Velay you can see the puy lentils at various stages of growth and I am disappointed I didn't try them. The landscape is still quite lumpy and bumpy which I assume is a result of the volcanic activity 2 million years ago, and because of this the fields are small but very fertile. Despite the scorching summer everything is green and lush.  I had seen a couple of rusting steel cattle crushes (cattle holding stations) that allow close interventions by farmer or vet. The one below is older but is the same design as is still used locally.  A Chapel that appears to emerge out of the landscape makes for a good excuse to pause. I had taken a picnic from the last gite but it mirrored breakfast and was too m...
Read more

Day 28 Maslacq

Image
Friday 14th October and with the weeks ticking by it can be hard to keep track of time; I travelled out on the 15th September so this is one month in France with 6 days walking to go including today. After three hours of tarmac along quaint country lanes I make it to my mid-point town and take time for a coffee and tarte-aux-pommes . I had enquired about sandwiches or cakes but was politely directed to the bakers round the corner and it was only by exploring the inner depths of this quirky eatery that I found the tart. I also found a pile of freshly baked madelaines but they were a special order and not for me. The coffee was ordinary but the tart was exceptional, soft buttery pastry, topped with yielding surgery apples and then a third layer of latticed pastry. As the madelaines were off limits (they smelled delicious but were a special order) and the place was yet to serve lunch I was cornered into a second routine coffee and another slice of the equisite tart. This was ...
Read more

Day 10 Livinhac-le-haut

Image
Monday 26 September brings a not unwelcome cooler day starting with a climb out of Conques that had an almost jungle feel to it; struggling up through the mist once I had exited the town itself.  The previous night the Abbey put on quite a show which included a concert, a talk about the stone carvings on the outside and a 10 minute long animated illumination of the carvings to highlight the stories, characters and what colours they may have been painted. The concert included an organ recital of Procol Harem's Whiter Shade of Pale and The Animal's House of the Rising Sun which is about a brothel though the music does have an ecclesiastical feel when performed on a church organ. This is the finale but the animated show highlights specific areas at a time. Another up the hill and down the hill day and I started out too brisk so weary towards the end. There is still lots of vintage farm machinery left gathering dust and rust in open barns. ...
Read more