A minimal breakfast of tea and toast with jam to start off with, although now we know there will be no chance of 2nd breakfast and we will need to rely on our stash of dried apricots and Werthers candies to get us to our picnic lunch of crackers, cheese and an apple. The hike today is 11km and starts off back up into the hills. The trail is a little rougher than yesterday and we can tell the trail markers are not as diligent in this section as the last. Knowing that volunteers mark each section of the trail, several times today we have wondered if we are on the right path, and then just as we are getting ready to turn back there is a small red and white flash half hidden on a tree trunk. Yikes!
As we walk into a little larger town we have great hopes of a café for coffee but then we meet Sophie and Case, the 2 Dutch folks sitting at a rare find – a picnic table just at the edge of the town of St-Amadou. They had already checked it out for a café. Nope! So we had our apples there before carrying on
I love these fields of sunflowers.
We couldn’t help wondering why these sheep are lying right against this stone fence.
We were following the directions in the guide book to find our next stop which was right on the GR 78. Someone else needs to write a better guide book that would be available in English as well as French and include good places to stop for bathroom breaks, somewhere for coffee or where there is a nice park bench or picnic table to stop at. The trail today follows something called “la voie verte” which is like the galloping goose in Victoria - old rail bed that has been converted to a trail. They tend to be flat, long and straight. We found out that evening from our hostess, Elisabeth at la Lampistiere, that in 1939 and 1940 the Germans ripped up all the rails to use for their projects and France did not replace them after the war.
We finally found the place but hostess was away until 5 so we sat out on her terrace and ate our lunch, then just relaxed. Her house was once the railway station for La Carlaret. When she arrived she offered us tea. I could have hugged her. She has about 165 pilgrims stay with her each season in the rooms up on the third floor. Perfectly comfortable large room with 2 single beds. We have to provide our own sheet and towel. She made dinner for us, mostly with vegetables from her garden. A delicious tomato pie, a whipped zucchini mashed with garlic and basil, and lots of steamed little potatoes. Chassalass grapes off her own vines for dessert along with some local cheese. Very good. She has a huge yard with a big veggie garden, and chickens at one end. They get the kitchen scraps and also produce eggs for her. I could hear an owl calling during the night. It’s a very rural and peaceful location.
Two Canadians from Quebec are expected tonight. She has had many Canadians, nearly all Quebecois, as all other Cdns we’ve met have been as well.
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