Day 3 August 29– Monistrol d’Allier to Sauges

17km 687m ascent 228m descent 5hr. 29⁰ C

We got up in time for breakfast at 7:00am, and already people were smoking at the bar/restaurant below. But it was just too hot already to close the windows.

We had decided to forgo the 6km massive/dangerous descent getting here, which was a good thing because our ride back to Saint Privat-d’Allier was still sleeping! As I always say, I’d rather walk up a hill any day, rather than walking down.

At breakfast we noticed the German couple we had met at the pilgrim meet and greet. They too are travelling with Le Pelgrine in France (the company Macs subcontracts to in France).

The gorge was absolutely beautiful. There was a grand puy right outside our bedroom window that we kept seeing during the day. It was a very steep, 423 m climb out of the Gorge de l”Allier. Peter had told us there was a debate over whether the river Loire or Allier was more important. Overlooking the gorge near the top was the Chappelle de la Madeleine built into the rock. Very nice. 

There was also basalt columns in the mountain, evidence of the volcanic activity in the area. Shortly after, we went through a lovely woods between Escluzels and Montaure. We often find ourselves walking on a ridge, with magnificent views all around.

We have to say that we see lots of cows, horses, sheep, dogs and cats. The cows, most in abundance, are very fat, contented, and well groomed, at least in part because they are living their lives in the pasture.

Coming in to Saugues, there were the most delightful wooden sculptures along the way.  

Someone in the town is obviously very talented. The most famous is the monument of the huge Beast of Gevaudan, which derives from a legend a few centuries back. 

Local children were found dead, having been dreadfully mauled. It was decided that this was the work of wolves, and a bounty was placed on them. Finally, a huge wolf was killed and the killings stopped.  Apparently there are still wolves in the area.

We found our hotel with a sign saying someone would be there at 3pm. It was 12:30pm and we hadn’t had lunch, so rather than eating our picnic lunch we went to a restaurant and ordered a pizza. The lady brought two identical pizzas, which I instantly objected to, but she just shrugged. We only touched one of them, but ended up paying for two. I was very annoyed, and felt we had been taken advantage of. Do most people in France eat a whole pizza themselves for lunch? Worse, I didn’t even like the pizza. It had emmental cheese, which was awful.

We went back to the hotel patio to just sit and wait for it to open, but the fellow was there already. He was very nice and helped us with our phones. It seems you have to send in an identity card to register you service within two weeks, which we hadn’t done, and the phone is ‘locked’ until they receive them. We filled in the cards, with his help, and he said he’d mail them.

Later in the afternoon we went sightseeing and visited the Anglais Tower, which had a display of really nice art work (photographs), then visited the church, and wandered around.

Because it was Monday, the hotel did not do dinner, so we went to another restaurant down the street. We recognized a pilgrim from France, Bridgette, a grouping of three pilgrims from France, two women and one man, and the German couple. We all waved at each other.

The dinner was excellent: salad with ham, cheese, tomatoes, boston lettuce etc; pork chop, rice and mushrooms, cheese, and crème caramel.

The hotel was also very nice, and we both had an excellent sleep.