Day 16 - Outside Grealou - Cajarc - 17 May

Time Departed: 8.30am

Time Arrived: 12.00pm

Distance: 12kms 

Cumulative Distance: 276 kms

Percentage Completed: 35% (469,500 steps)

Weather: Overcast and cool, some sun

Accommodation: La Peyrade Hotel 

Feelings: Neil - Happy, Henk - Happy,  Di - Happy

We met for breakfast in the Gite’s dining room at seven thirty. The French seem to rise a little later. It was a basic buffet of bread, jams, yoghurt and one kind of cereal. The cereal seems to be for the English as the French don’t have it. We only had to walk twelve kilometres today. It was shorter because we broke the distance into two parts on this stretch so the walks aren’t as long. It was supposed to be thirty-one kilometres but whilst it’s “doable” it’s a long day of walking.

The walk was a pleasant one alongside high moss covered drystone walls, large wheat fields and more rustic stone buildings. We are starting to see vineyards. For the first time in days we saw the sun in our last half our of walking and it quickly warmed up.

We passed by a large dolmen which is one of three in the hilltop area and has been classified as an historical monument. It’s hard to believe that it dates back some 3,500 years. 

There was no steep ascent today and only one steep descent which was into Cajarc from the high surrounding escarpment. This escarpment apparently prevented the English taking over the town during The Hundred Years War during the late Middle Ages. 

When we arrived at the hotel, our rooms, not surprisingly, were not quite ready but we were able to leave our backpacks. We then walked the two hundred metres into town and finding quite a number of outdoor restaurants we finally settled on one for a long lunch. I used the excuse that dinner was seven hours away to order the Menu Pelerin which is the menu for the pilgrims and consists of three courses and includes wine. 

Once again our meals were all very delicious. We then walked around the very pleasant town with its treed centre. 

Neil and I went to Benediction at five thirty. It was for the pilgrims and we were the only ones with five old women from the town in an enclosed very small chapel. Near the end we were joined by another pilgrim. It was an intense service with such a small group but it was good to have gone. Neil and I got our credentials stamped. 

Dinner was another three course delicious dinner at our hotel. I’m thinking of calling this an eating holiday with some walking!