For the first time in a week, I had breakfast. Well ok I had a glass of juice, a slice of brioche and half a cup of tea, sweetened, no milk. My bag was already packed, I just needed to pay, get stamped and get the hell out of here… Breakfast, pah, I don’t have time for breakfast. I have landscapes to cross.
(Obviously still had my vitamin pill and spirilina, goes without saying)
Setting off just after eight, the sun was already warm. I only had 4km to reach Nasbinals, it was just too far the night before.
From the quiet streets of Nasbinals I began to climb back up to the high plateau of the Aubrac, passing to my right the border of three departements – Cantal, Lozere & the Aveyron. (I should mention on Saturday after passing the Domaine du Sauvage I crossed from the Haute Loire departement into the Lozere). Now I was crossing into Aveyron. The way was very busy today, I must have come across 20 walkers, not all pilgrims, some just walking to Figeac (about 5 days walk).
After climbing to the highest point all around I then began my decent to Aubrac.
My feet and the chaffing were under control for now, so despite wanting an easy day, I decided to carry on walking to my planned stop for the night Saint-Chely-d’Aubrac, a further eight kilometres on.
See the thing is, going up is hard work, it’s tiring, I’m sweating, I just want to collapse in a heap. But downhill, jeez, if it says downhill it’s usually a stoney perilous pathway, so steep you need to take dolly steps and within half an hour your feet are burning up!?!
I arrive in Saint-Chely, 21km later, at a modest 1pm.
Being in France I keep forgetting, everything stops at twelve, until usually 3pm. So I stop in one gite, no one there until 3pm, now the really annoying thing is I saw a sign for another gite on the way down into the village, that’s right, I’m now walking back up a friggin hill to find it again! Done, and despite being closed I ring the doorbell, yay, they answer, I have a bed for the night.
Now all those downhill lethal paths have not been kind to my feet. Apart from that today has been stunning. I did however start talking to myself in a film noir third person kinda way, very disconcerting, especially as the green hairstreak was involved…
(it’s a butterfly)