Camino Confidential

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Finieyrols to Aubrac

The weather has taken a turn for the worse "big time". Freezing cold, blowing a gale, raining all day. It's so changeable here.

Last night I was in the Gite Les Gentiannes and shared a room with two ladies from Oregon. I had seen them before on the trail because they have similar backpacks to mine, albeit in a smaller size. They are travelling really light! There was a full house for dinner with sweet potato soup, roast beef with potatoes and ratatouille, followed by cheese then strawberry tart. While we were waiting for dinner, hailstones started falling and I had to rush out to get my towel and socks from the line.

This morning, no one felt like setting off in the rain, but I had 21 kms to do. The countryside was wild moorland, "The Aubrac", really good walking country in good weather, reminiscent of the Pennine Way or the Bronte Country. Today there were proper gates that I could open and close easily!

I stopped for a coffee at Montgros and then had lunch in Nasbinals. The restaurant we chose was quiet on arrival, but filled up rapidly on 2 floors, one floor with a gang of men who were repairing the road. In the basement there appeared to be the entire Primary School as well.

My lunch was a stuffed buckwheat pancake, which I think they had stuffed with all sorts of suspect leftovers! I am hoping for better fare this evening, where put chef Cyril Lerisse has been praised in one or two blogs that I've read.

This place "La Colonie" is an enormous mansion, full of antiques and oriental carpets. The bedrooms have a bath in the corner, behind a screen, in the old fashioned style! The other thing to note is that Aubrac is jam packed with mobile homes, a grey nomad's paradise. They are all here for the "Transhumance" a festival celebrating the transfer of cattle to the high pastures for the summer. Good luck to them in this weather!

Romanesque Church at Nasbinals.

Dinner at La Colonie was very good: a plate of charcuterie for which this area is famous, followed by a beef, lentil and carrot casserole, cheese, then poached pear with cake.

Today's expenses

Lunch at Nasbinals Route d'Argent 15.50€

Demi pension at La Colonie 69€

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Aumont Aubrac to Finieyrols

It was another sunny but cold day as I left the Gite au Ferme du Barry. First stop was the boulangerie to pick up a ham sandwich. I was hoping to get a coffee en route at the pretty village of La Chaze de Peyre, but the Bar Restaurant was up for sale! The church was nice though.

In the next village, Lasbros, a herd of cows was being driven down the street like a stampede. The farmer shouted to me to get out of the way and go behind his tractor! I was happy to oblige!

I had a beer with lunch at Les Quatre Chemins. Madame Regine, thin as a rake and chain smoking, told me how the place had burned down a few years ago, after an explosion of fuel in the kitchen. She herself had done the Camino from Paris in 1989.

The afternoon turned cloudy and cold as I did the last part of the way to Finieyrols, a farming hamlet in the middle of nowhere. The Gite is next to the cowshed and inundated with flies. They are driving me mad buzzing round as I write this! On the way here, one farmer had tried to fence off the way to keep his cows from straying. I wasn't strong enough to open his makeshift gates and had to crawl underneath commando style! The second one I opened but couldn't close, so I just left it. The barbed wire was quite dangerous.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

St Alban to Aumont Aubrac

Church bells at St Alban

Tangled roots to trip you up

A beautiful bit of the way after lunch at Les Estrets

Gite a la Ferme at Aumont Aubracc

Our host with his aligot.

26 pilgrims for dinner

Menu:

Vegetable soup

Aligot with roast lamb

Rhubarb tart with lashings of cream

Aligot recipe:

1 kilo potatoes

450 gems mild cheese

Garlic and fine herbes

Villaret to St Alban

This was a perfect day for walking: warm and sunny with a slight breeze. Everyone set off from Villaret in good spirits. If only every Gite could be as nice! It would be 21 kms to walk every bit of the recommended route, going past the Domaine du Sauvage, a medieval pilgrims hospital, now a Gite. On studying the map, I discovered I could save 4 or 5 kms by going directly up the road via Chanalleilles. Apparently this more direct route was the original one and it was changed a few years ago by Jacques Chirac.

Romanesque church at Chanalleilles

Oratorio of St Roche, a roadside shrine

Just at the turnoff from Domaine du Sauvage, I met Alain and his friend Janick. They had gone the long way and got lost. Janick is camping in a tiny tent which he puts up outside a Gite and comes in for meals. He must have been frozen last night! We all had lunch together near the St Roche Church and were eventually joined by artist Jaques, who walks slowly because he carries so much gear, including a small gas stove.

Lunch spot

It was a lovely afternoon:

Wild pansies were everywhere.

Today's expenses:

Coffee at Chanalleilles 2.20€

Demi pension, wine and Perrier at Hotel du Terrasse, St Alban 63.10€

Saugues to Villaret

Saugues

La Terrasse served an excellent breakfast with many more items on offer than is normal in France. I chose fruit salad and yoghurt followed by bread and smoked salmon, with a croissant and two mugs of coffee. I took a banana for later.

First stop was a quick visit to the Romanesque Church and the Tour des Anglaise in the square opposite. There is a photo in my album of Claire and two other pilgrims at the top of this tower, but of course everything was closed at 8.30 on a Sunday morning.

The rain has gone, but it is now several degrees colder. It was 8 degrees early this morning and forecast to be only 2 tonight! However the sun is out and there has been blue sky all day. At La Clauze tower, the remains of an early medieval fortification, there was an icy cold wind. On my last visit the group was sprawled on the grass in shorts and t-shirts.

I chatted to Alain a friendly and helpful Frenchman, who offered to call up the Gite des 2 Pelerins to confirm my booking. He had also booked there because everything further on was full. This Gite is a little too close to Sauges to be ideal for most people, but for me an 11.5 km day is just what I need after yesterday's marathon!

Tour des Anglais

Artists impression of Church.

Wild daffodils near the stream.

La Clauze Tower.

Lunch at the Fromagerie

My fromage: it will last me a few days!

There was quite a crowd of people having lunch: more like the atmosphere at every stop on the Spanish Camino. It was a very sheltered spot out of the wind and no-one was keen to move on. I knew that I had only 2 kms to go to Les 2 Pelerins, so I was quite relaxed.

This Gite is lovely. I have my own room and ensuite, and looking forward to a good dinner! Some people are sitting out in the sun, but it's so cold it feels like being at a ski resort.

Fitbit: 13,000 steps

Expenses

Lunch at La Fromagerie 7.50€

Demi pension at Les 2 Pelerins 50€

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Arrival in Saugues

After leaving my purse behind at a drinks place and rushing back to retrieve it, I finally came in sight of Sauges. On my previous trip, I remember the bright yellow gorse bushes lining the route. This year they need another week of sun to get them to open.

Last time I took a photo of "being re-born" through this wooden sculpture, a pilgrim tradition. Now the sculptures have multiplied and become silly!

It was great to arrive on Sauges and find my hotel. Just when I couldn't move another step, I was given a small attic room on the third floor. Dinner was delicious. This is the cheese trolley:

Monistrol to Saugues

There was an incredibly long and arduous climb out of Monistrol. It took me about three hours to get to the top. It was either drizzling or raining hard and didn't let up at all. Everybody passed me as I took my time, some asking if I was OK because of my snails pace.

At the top I met the two French ladies from the Montbonnet Gite. They gave me some almonds. I said I really need a toilet. They said en plein aire. I said the long wet grass was not good. Finally I found a dry spot behind a tree and also spied a lunch spot on some sawn off logs for a chair and table.