Day 18 Cahors to Moncuq

Very simple plan today – walk 11kms from Cahors to La Bastide-Marnhac for coffee, walk 11kms from there to Lascabanes for lunch and then walk 10kms from there to Moncuq! I’m glad to say, it all went perfectly according to plan, with the best tracks and therefore the best time we’ve made all trip!

We left the hotel fairly early, just after 7:30am prepared for a fairly long day. We had a bit of a cheat coming out of Cahors, taking the road up the first hill instead of the steep and rocky trail. The result was much better for the feet but we did miss the view back into Cahors, only catching the outer suburbs.

After walking on at times fairly busy roads we through small farms and hamlets, including La Roziere where you can see the small chapel, we hit the trails and a thunderstorm before arriving into Marnhac (as far as I can make out la bastide means walled town) about 10am – great time for just under 11kms – a little bit wet but none the worse for it.

After Marnhac, and in fact all the way to Moncuq, we were on a limestone ridge with valleys on both sides, again passing through small farms – wheat, sheep, corn, sunflowers and other crops – on a good track that led us into Lascabanes about 1:30pm. We had our lunch on the bench in front of the Mairie before moving to a little rest stop for a coffee – we could have bought food at both places we stopped but we are a bit gun shy having not had many places to stop over the last week or so! We stayed in Lascabanes for just under an hour in total before heading out for Moncuq passing the small Chappelle St Jean and the cassell in the photo. The cassell roofs are self supporting – really ingenious! We’ve also been amazed at the huge number of church’s, chapels and cathedrals in France – they’re in every town large, tiny or in between and in some instances, just in the countryside!

We made it into Moncuq just before 5pm, another amazing old town, had a beer and then found our accommodation which is a four room chambre d’hote in a renovated 15 century house – absolutely stunning! Back off to the town centre soon for another beer and dinner!

I reckon we passed half way around 12 noon today at around about 367 kms. In any event we got through 32 1/2 kms today to bring us to just over 383kms in total.