Time Departed: 8.00am
Time Arrived: 4.00pm
Distance: 26
Cumulative Distance: 117kms
Percentage Completed: 15% (187,200 steps)
Weather: Dense fog then sunny hot day
Accommodation: Hotel La Route d’Argent
Feelings: Neil - Happy , Henk - Tired, Di - Good, Anne - Dimanche Dreaming
This was a tough day because of the hot weather and the distance. A storm was predicted later in the afternoon but thankfully it didn’t come until about six o’clock and we were tucked inside our hotel. We did 43,000 steps today and were very pleased when we reached our hotel as we were hot and tired. Earlier in the morning we had bought our lunch supplies from the local Boulanger at Aumont-Aubrac as our guide book said there were no grocers until our destination of Nasbinals. We later enjoyed our ham and pickle baguette and an apple pastry.
We set out with many other walkers in an atmospheric dense fog. This lasted until about nine o’clock when the sun came along and burnt the fog away. It then started warming up considerably.
In just over an hour we reached the first village La Chase-de-Peyre which means house of stone. From the distance and across fields we could see picturesque village with its 12th century church and its impressive bell tower. There was not very much happening in this tiny village on a Sunday morning. The population is only 300.
About a kilometre from La Chase-de-Peyre was the lovely and very tiny Bastide Chapel named after the family who contributed to the chapel’s renovation in the 18th century. It was originally built in 1522.
To our surprise at about ten o’clock in the small village of Lasbros we found a newly built large cafe. This was not in our guide book. We timed it perfectly as it opened at ten. We indulged in coffees, drinks and wonderful apple pastries.
After three hours of walking along pretty lanes the scenery distinctly changed as we started walking on the Aubrac Plateau. There was barely a tree in sight and the exposed landscape was lined with drystone walls. This plateau is a sparsely populated at about 1200 metres, 40kms long and 20kms wide.
We saw a number of Aubrac cattle which is a French breed of domestic beef cattle.
Despite the heat the Aubrac Plateau is a beautiful part of the world and there were many types of flowers along the route.
Once again we saw acres of daffodils as well as other delicate flowers we didn’t recognise. Spring has certainly sprung in this part of the world.
At twelve thirty we found a rare cluster of trees next to a huge field of daffodils giving ample shade for lunch. We needed the shade to cool down. Adelaide Cathy and Bree soon came upon us and we had a good old chat before they moved on. After half an hour we knew we had to complete the last ten kilometres in exposed, hot conditions. There were a number of long steep inclines which had to be tackled. Henk nearly stood on a snake of about thirty centimetres near Montgros. It was an Asp Viper which is venomous. He managed to get a photo of it as it slithered off into the grass.
For the last two hours we took it slowly and Henk counted down the kilometres until we arrived Nasbinals. We were pleased to see the small town on the last rise.
We weren’t sure which hotel we were staying. We firstly had to go to one hotel to be assigned our accommodation and thankfully it was the one we were staying at. We could have had to go to another two in town and we didn’t relish having to walk another step. Anne had to go to another one but it was very near where we were staying. We met for dinner at seven at the restaurant in our hotel. This was our last day with Anne as she moves on tomorrow and we have a rest day. We will miss Anne’s company as she made a great addition to our team. Anne is also keeping a blog and as she will be a day ahead of us I’ve threatened to do a “cut and paste” of hers and change the names!
We had another great four course French dinner in what seems to be the town’s only restaurant which is in our hotel. Aligot, the exquisite potato and cheese dish, was served again. We could become addicted to it! The jugs of wine went down well too!
Tomorrow is our first rest day.
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