Our hotel last night was very interesting – basically an old couple in what amounted to a museum. We (thought we) only had a short walk today, so we slept in a bit and had breakfast around 9am – very French with lots of bread and pastries – and got away around 9:45 am. Rain was forecast in the morning and late afternoon and before we even left the hotel grounds we had our pack covers and rain jackets on. Not enough rain, we thought, to warrant the full ponchos.
The early part of the walk was out past the sports grounds of the town and then an up and over (the up seems to be mandatory again) to the village of Grazières-Mages (don’t ask me why the town names are all double bangers!) where the rain started to increase. There is a picture of a cross on top of the hill before Grazières – they have been common appearances along the trail and apparently they mark the site of a local shrine or pilgrimage.
We crossed the Ligmanole river and I thought we were going to get a nice walk along a river valley but we headed straight uphill along a path that was turning into a rivulet as the rain continued to get heavier. I’m not sure whether anyone maintains the tracks but this one got worse and worse as the continual scouring had exposed more and more rocks and trees routes.
We passed a small village about 4km from the start of the day and then emerged back into similar country to yesterday at about 1100m – only this time wet! Finally, after about 7.5km from the start, the rain started to slow up and we dropped down into the village of Les Estrets – you can see the small church and graveyard. We could have done with a break but nothing was open and, although the rain had stopped, everything was wet. We’ve brought two lightweight chairs with us but up till now there have been plenty of covered and uncovered rest stops so we packed them in our suitcase today to reduce the amount of gear that got wet: we really could have used them today so they’re staying on the pack from now on!
After Les Estrets we crossed the Truyere river and things got really confusing. The map showed us spending a fair bit of time on the road but the description (and the actual path) was completely different. Anyway, we climbed back uphill and into a high river valley, supposedly 4km to a junction with the road but it seemed like (and recorded on my watch as) closer to 6km. At one point we came across a sign that said 2.5km to Aumont but, again, it was closer to 4.5km!
I know it probably sounds like an unnecessary whinge but by this time we’d been on our feet for over 12km and 3 plus hours so we needed to either find somewhere to sit (see previous paragraph!) or get to Aumont!
Anyway, we eventually made it into Aumont after just over 17km of walking without a break (14.5km according to the book) and found a place to stop, have some food and drink and wind down a bit before trying to find our accommodation. After a good break we set off in search of our hotel, stopping on the way to buy the French guide book, Miam Miam Dodo, which Alison already says is better than the one we’ve been using (even though it’s in French!)
We’re here for two nights with a very welcome rest day tomorrow to get our washing done and let things dry out. We’re booked at a Michelin star restaurant tonight so not doing it too hard!
18.5km today by the time we got to the hotel (we got slightly lost again!) so we’ve cracked the tonne, 100.5 in total…
steelewalking 