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.