Time Departed: 8.30am
Time Arrived: 4.40pm
Distance: 21
Cumulative Distance: 91kms
Percentage Completed: 11.6% (144,200)
Weather: Cool, overcast, hazy in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon
Accommodation: Hotel Prunieres
Feelings: Neil - Happy , Henk - Terrifique!, Di - Relaxed, Anne - Samedi Special!
It felt like a lazy Saturday to us and we set out accordingly taking it slowly. After six kilometres we arrived on the outskirts of the small village of St Alban and decided we deserved a coffee and a chocolate croissant. It was a steep descent into what seemed to be a prosperous town along a tarmac road. We spent about 45mins having morning tea on a terrace outside the 12th century red sandstone and granite church called St Alban’s which was a former monastery. Anne with the assistance of Jasmine, a young Australian woman teaching English at a Paris University managed to buy another adaptor. Anne had left hers behind at a previous hotel. Anne and Henk are managing the French well and Neil and I are happy to let them do it.
One of our guide books suggested the walk was an easy walk today but we didn’t find this to be the case. There were still quite a few long ascents throughout the day. However, we are finding the track much easier underfoot compared to the Camino Frances. We heard birds all day and frequently cuckoo calls in the distance. There were many fields with dandelions and gorse in bloom. The bright yellow was spectacular.
We are coming across many different scents. The most pervading one is of cattle and today we came across the ultimate contraption for cleaning out a large barn. It was an automatic manure remover churning out gollops of manure.
We walked a further seven kilometres steadily rising again through open farm fields, small hamlets and pine forests. We are passing some old farm houses that have seen better days but are a photographer’s delight.
There are quite a few walkers with the majority of them being French. After St Albans we came across a number of shelters in a pine forest. They had table and chairs so maybe they are used in bad weather.
Places to stop, eat and have coffee are few and far between. At Les Estrets our guidebook alerted us to a possible eating place. It was lunchtime and we were keen for a break. We weaved our way around the historic granite village to find that the gite was serving refreshments. We sat in the open at a picnic table having the best cheese and home-made pate baguettes. This photo shows that Henk and I couldn’t stop eating them to have a photo taken!
After lunch we only had seven kilometres to go and thought it was going to be a doddle. However, the sun came out and the temperature rose from the morning’s hazy 13 degrees to a sunny 26 degrees. It has given us a taste of what is to come and we all agreed that we would prefer the cold weather. Rather than the anticipated flat walking for the last seven kilometres we had quiet a number of long ascents. The track only started to descend one kilometre from Aumont-Aubrac.
When we arrived at the town it was buzzing with walkers and many shops open. On the way in we came upon Adelaide Bree and Cathy who are staying at the same hotel. We caught up with them after dinner and had a great chinwag.
From the supplies in the food stores, the clothing stores to the souvenir shops Aumont-Aubrac seems to be a small town geared for walkers. The population is about 1000.
Once again it was a good day of walking. Tomorrow is another 26kms day and we stocked up on supplies in case there are no cafes open. Then it’s our first rest day after five days of walking.
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