Mirepoix to Vals

September 27, Friday: 16km (ish) we were up and organized to be ready for a great breakfast at our B&B at 7:45. We headed out just after 8:30. Walked out of town on the route we had checked out yesterday. After crossing the bridge we had to walk on the highway for a bit – not fun, before our trail cut up on the other side of the highway onto a trail. We spent most of the day climbing up a steep hill or coming back down the other side only to go back up again. A pretty tiring day but we both enjoyed the hiking. Once again we would come out of the woods to an incredible vista. We could see for a long way, so pastoral, so beautiful. And in the distance there are the Pyrénées.

Another one of the small villages with no services that we passed through today. This is Manses.

We walked into the village of Vals where we had booked our overnight in a dorm for pilgrims at Vals café which is a run by a young Dutch gal Lisa and her mum, Nicole. They both spoke 3 languages: English, French and Dutch. Their home and café are in a very old building – 2-300 years old that Lisa and her husband are updating so there is room for her family (consisting of 3 sons and 1 daughter, all under 7) on the 3rd floor and the pilgrim dorm of 6 beds as well as a B&B room for 2 on the middle floor and the restaurant on the ground floor. It is the only business in town besides the museum next door that also sells beer and closes at 5pm. Lisa is very pregnant with baby #5 so I am not sure where she finds the time to do all of this. Her mum makes the dinner for the pilgrims for €10 each as there is no where else to go. The dorm is €20 each and includes breakfast. We shared the dorm with 4 others:
Joanne and Jacques  from Montreal and Sophie and Case, Dutch friends living in France. All very
nice folks but Wendy and I decided after a night of sleeping in a bunk bed (guess who got the top?) and someone snoring very loudly, that we were done with sleeping in dorms no matter how cheap.

The village in the forefront is Teilhet, Vals is the village in the distance.

Vals is famous for its church built into a rock. We had the chance to check out the inside. Lovely and cool and full of cobwebs. Obviously don’t have a cleaning lady.

The next morning we headed out for our 5th day hiking to Le Carlaret, an even tinier village.