Your pelerins are now in Conques and the trek is over

 

We have achieved our goal. . I am writing this in our B&B perched on the edge of Conques. This B&B looks out over a picturesque camping ground below and the small river here. Yvonne is very glad to have reached Conques but was sorely tempted to dial the telephone yesterday and call on our new hosts to come and get her - as they had offered to do if required. With her trip counter being regularly checked against Randall's trip estimate she was almost ready to call it a day. But then we reached the point where the track begins a sharp descent into this medieval treasure and she had passed the point of no return.

As you know, Entraygues-sur-Truyere is a little off the GR 65 walking track and so we had to play it a bit by ear and eye to get back into the walking system yesterday. We decided to stay on the known roads for almost 13 kms until we reached Espeyrac which is where we were able to pick up the red and white track symbols again. We did miss the pleasure of off road walking and it really gives you a totally different, and much better, experience.

 

But knowing that his was the last walking day and that there was an escape clause to call up a lift kept things going and we were finally into Conques about 5 pm. We had a couple of celebratory drinks for our 230 kms completed.

The weather was and is still a bit indifferent, especially for this time of year. In reality it is ideal for walking but sometimes we were quite hot and at other times cool so we were changing jackets etc from time to time as we went.

Conques is an amazing medieval village almost stuck in time. The whole place is much the same as it ever was and we have spent quite a few hours today just taking in the ambiance and enjoying our recovery day.

So now the fat lady is singing and this is the end of what has been a great experience. Yvonne is yet to believe that you really do discover who you are on these trips but she goes along for the pleasure of it in any case. From time to time she says she is only doing it for her hubby but those of us who know her think otherwise.

 

Rural France is an amazing, perplexing and sometimes frustrating place and we incessantly talk about the value systems we discover. In many ways it appears to be so old fashioned, stuck in its rigid ways and uncompromising to foreigners. In other ways the lifestyle is very attractive and seductive, just begging one to throw in the towel, sell up and sign up for a better life. And that is why we continue to come back to France in various ways from time to time.

No doubt I will return to discuss these lifestyle points again from time to time again in our other blog www.movingintothirdgear.blogspot.com where you can pick up from now on.

Will we complete another walk such as this again? Too early to decide.  

 

 

203 kms down with one day left to the finish

Today we cheated. Twice.

 

After breakfast and as arranged, Monsieur Le Manoir drove us back to our start point at Estaing. Strike 1

 

And then after a short debate and rain starting to fall, your pelerins opted to walk all day along the road passing through the Gorges Du Lot (17 kms) rather than taking the GR 65 up and down through the hills and then cross country to our off track destination of Entraygues-sur-Truyere (27 kms). Strike 2.

 

 

We did pass an interesting little chapel on the way that an English artist on hearing the story of the landed father who hundreds of years ago stopped the love affair between his daughter and a young servant to keep a promise to wed her to another landed gent. The young man made arrangments to rescue his beloved but this was foiled by hired ruffians and the young man drowned in the Lot. Shortly after this trauma, the young lady also died and her father had a chapel contructed by the Lot River where his body was found. According to local fishermen, the young lady can sometimes be seen floating over the water. Aaaaah! What romance!

The artist has restored the chapel and the surroundings with mural paintings on the inside.

Entraygues-sur-Truyere is a medieval town on the confluence Lot and Truyere rivers. Our B&B accommodation in the heart of the old town here was built somewhere around the 15^th century. Quite a contrast to the night before, but still comfortable and that is what makes this travel exciting, you never know what will be around the next corner. The town is very old and has many very very small narrow lanes winding everywhere.

 

We must be moving into English countryside as our hostess tonight is English and her partner is South African. On the square there is an enterprising young English couple with a Salon de Tea, although one of us thinks that they could do better on the cakes and scones side. Still it is a pleasant atmosphere. This couple have some other small enterprises going. So it is good that some do try.

And that brings us to that inevitable question of chosen lifestyle. Here in country France, time has stood still and most of those few living in these parts are carefully guarding the old ways. Is this good or bad? Sometimes it is hard to judge, particulary for those of us from a differenct culture.

The menus for the last 150 kms are almost the same and apart from the odd pizza place with a couple of local louts, it is various forms of steak, trout or salmon, confit de canard, tripe, jambon and nearly all these accompanied inevitably with aligot-a very rich and often poorly done mixture of mashed potato and cheese. Cafes, bars, brasseries and restaurants run much the same as they ever did with restricted hours of operation and the services provided are often inflexible. The boulangeries and charcuteries are still the same as ever. No one appears to be out to make money or get better. Is this the real France or just those left over in these backwaters?

Just one day to go. Yvonne is really looking forward to the finish now as we have passed the 200 kms point and are headed for the Conques finish line tomorrrow.

 

 

Deeper into the Averyon we plunge

 

Valery Giscard d'Estaing-ex President of France hosted your two pelerins in his village. A short walking day and we arrived in time for a great lunch at a good restaurant with views of the Lot River. We chatted with a Dutch couple travelling with their motor home heading home after a holiday in Spain, They are thrilled with Princess Mary and her contribution to royalty in Denmark. We also sat next to a young French man travelling by bicycle with his chook as you do. The range of people we meet never gets boring and there a lots we haven't/can't list here.

At lunch was when Randall found that he had made his first error of detail. He had not thoroughly checked the exact location of our lodging and so was a tad surprised to find it was about 4kms from Estaing and on the other side of the river to that we had walked and back towards Espalion.. Oh dear.

The tourist office did advise that perhaps the owner would come to town and get us and in any case, our hotel - Le Manoir-a Chateau Demeures participant (normally aligned with a vineyard) - does not receive guests before 5pm.

So after lunch we filled the time in by visiting Valery's chateau. Together with his brother, he has bought the chateau back from the National Estate and it is being restored. It is now a type of dedication to Valery and seems to be making a connection with a former French Admiral Estaing. The 'family' connection was apparently usurped by Valery's grandfather but from the displays we saw, you would think he comes from this Estaing line.

The display does admit that around 1792, the Mob had 'assumed' ownership of the Chateau and Estates on behalf of the people and asked the then Admiral Estaing in 1794 to place his head on the guillotine. The chateau was at some point a school and then had fallen onto hard times.

Around 4pm, our host picked us up and we were taken home. Le Manoir is a quiet place with few guests. Just 4 couples for dinner, so we relaxed and enjoyed our small break. Dinner was a fixed deal with a terrific trout for main course which we enjoyed with an Estaing estate vin blanc.

 

Finally, we should mention the walk! A short 17 kms but a fair bit of up and down along the way. On the tops you get a 360 degree view which makes you feel that you are top of the world: farms dot the countryside, the contented steaks and cheese providers are wandering around and tractors scout around making hay for the winter. Fantastic.

 

 

 

The Lot has the lot - walk day 7

 

Randall's luck or more likely great planning has worked out again. After a wet day of rest in St Chely d'Aubrac yesterday, we arose to an emerging blue sky for the seventh walk day. Perfect.

 

And perfect is how the day went, all 25 kms of it. Yvonne did not much like a couple of the downhill efforts over rocky ground and it was perhaps a couple of kms longer than she wanted but it was a good walk today. Perhaps it is better for her not to have a rest day!

 

Only a couple of general comments to note.

 

We stoppped for lunch just 3kms out of St Compte D'Olt (unes des plus beaux villages-but over rated in our view) and about 17 kms of walking at a hill top place where madame offerred lunch, drinks, repos etc. All fine but she never stopped talking to a french couple a table or two away for the whole half hour we were there. Would have been great just to sit back and enjoy the view, but it did not work out that way.

Whilst still in the Averyon region we are now heading beside the Lot river. And this will continue for the next 2 days. One of Randall's favourite rivers and he feels that he is home again here.

 

 

Looking forward to another good day tomorrow. Just 13 kms planned along the river to Estaing.

And tonight, all over France, it is the annual festival of music where quite a bit of street music entertainment is put on for the public. Not that great as our Sarah would verify and much over-rated. Most of the music we have ever heard at these events belongs at the footy over half time or boring moments of matches. But at least they try something to add to community spirit.

And after 6 days they rested

It was planned this way.  The duo planned a 2 day stop at St Chely d'Aubrac.  And as it eventuated, the day was one of constant light rain, at least thus far.  We are hoping for better tomorrow and the forecast is for a better day.  In the meantime, the more artistic member of the team, asked for a selection of pictures to be posted for you.  Here they are.

 

how old is my tree

I waited until he was in exactly the right spot

Field after field after field
 



And how quickly we climbed out of Monistrol d'Allier
 

Now that is what we call a free range chicken!



The mushrooms are big around Sauges

And onwards and upwards the pelerins push forward-Day 6

The sky was overcast and there had been some wind whistling through the roof of our second story room during the night. Elsewhere in France and especially in the Haute-Pyrenees, there was flooding and big storms. Pelerins there were being accommodated in school halls and a town or two had to be evacuated.

As is 'the Mode' elsewhere in the Western World, the politicians were deploying by helicopter to visit their citizens to say noble things, promise State support and ensure the media was there to project the 'right' image in the news.

Your pelerins arose to this grey world and bravely prepared themselves for just another day on the GR65 heading towards Spain and Santiago de Compostella. 0740 hours and by now the daily routine was being followed as Randall took the bags one by one downstairs and ready for transport to our next stay. This promised to be a much shorter day of about 17 kms and we were looking forward to a 2 night stopover and rest up a bit before venturing further into the Auvergne. In winter here it can get to minus 20, the roads are closed and the locals get around on skis. The cattle are locked away safe for the winter.

In the villages around here they observe the Transhumance, normally the last weekend in May, to celebrate the release of the animals back into the hills and fields for the summer, bells tinkling away as the cattle are fattened up for that inevitable day when they will become entrecote for pelerins like us.

 

We faced up to the most traditional French breakfast yet - a tray with local sausage and Entre Deux and Tomme cheeses, two large pieces of baguette, a croissant, butter and jam, fruit juice and a large pot of strong black coffee. Fantastic!

We then ventured out into the day about 0845. Yvonne bought some bread to go with a few things we had bought the day before and with rain coats on, we were off with others on our route out of town.
 

 

After a kilometre or two and with the wind getting up again and the rain starting to increase, your pelerins donned their overpants, zipped up the raincoats, pulled down the hood drawstrings and marched along the GR65 as it crossed hill and dale. The going was a bit slow as the fields around here were quite rocky and we were not wanting to slip or damage knees and ankles.

 

On and on the duo went, the rain increasing and the wind persisting. For the next 8 kilometres the weather persisted and yet the pelerins battled on, dodging cows and their bulls, going ever further across the crests and valleys. Heroes two.

At about 1130 the duo reached Aubrac where they found an accommodating 'Buron' which offered hot drinks, and eventually lunch. By now the weather had abated quite a bit. The rain had stopped and the wind gone, at least down here in the village. Your pelerins sacrificed themselves by having just two large coffees and a huge slice of homemade tarte with a melange of fruits. Very satisfying indeed. And to follow up on yesterday's events, the Japanese couple turned up just as we were leaving. She was happy enough to be walking again after a close call.

Refreshed by what turned out to be lunch and by the weather which had changed to just overcast with a hint of light sun, the duo pressed on and by 2.30pm, they had reached their home for the next two nights at St Chely d'Aubrac - Les Coudercous- a much appreciated Logis de France. The duo rested, having now completed 143 kms in 6 days. There are four walking days left to complete as we prepare to enter the Gorges du Lot and head for our destination of Conques.
 

And to complete Yvonne's imaginary story, the young Swiss bloke was back walking by himself today and Spanish girl is back with the other girls. Tonight we said goodbye to them both as it is unlikely that we will see them again.

A word from the other walker-day 5

 

We now feel part of a moving community. As we start walking we meet up with some of the same people each day. However this morning was different. There were lots more pelerins suddenly. At times it felt like Pitt Street. A few groups must have commenced their walk in our last stop of Aumont Aubrac. Today we had a priest with his 20 older teen charges who delighted in telling them all about this Australian woman as they went past singing their anthems! I didn't think I was that rare. The priest was walking in sandals as you do.

A mid morning stop at a strategically located café run by Ma and Pa Kettle, both 90 not out but probably millionaires from the passing pelerins was interesting too.

Another group included a young blind woman and they did impress me when two people took her through the muddy and rocky ground at risk to the deep mud and rocky terrain themselves.

Another incident occured today when we were coming across a narrow stone bridge with little inlets where a few people were resting looking at the view. We came up to a Japanese couple we had met up with a couple of days ago. They spoke no French and a little English. The Japanese couple were moving off and a car came along slowed down but ended up running over the toes of one foot of the woman. She lent against the bridge and just stared at the driver who wound down the window and said something and then drove off. Obviously the woman was in pain and could hardly walk.

We had to hail down a couple of cars before we could get one with space. Randall did the talking to the French tourists, finally convincing them to take the lady to the next town about 1 km away where they were staying. I took on the role of traffic cop. A large red truck was looming with us six people still on the bridge. Eventually he obeyed my direction and stopped about six feet away. At least the French couple once they got over the shock of this incident did come back to tell her husband where she was. We hope she is able to get some medical assistance.

What I enjoy about the walking is getting away from the crazy world we live in and relaxing in the outdoors with the great wide spaces in the French countryside, the forests, flora and fauna, meeting the different people and especially the breeze which keeps me going and somehow keeps the bottom half of me moving. And I love the wind in my hair.

We had bought a couple of sandwiches before we left town and they were devoured at some point around 1 pm before we moved on to the very pleasant town of Nasbinals.

Altogether today was not hard, but long again at about 27 kms. Or maybe we really are getting fitter.  My count of walkers passed is now up to 27 so I can stop that competitive business now.  The storms never arrived so we were saved getting wet, although the wind was strong in the afternoon. Tomorrow is a shorter day in distance, but we are not sure about terrain. We shall see.