Day 7 September 2 Nasbinals to Saint
Chely-d’Aubrac
Breakfast didn’t start until 7:30am, the store didn’t open until 8:30am, and it was going to be a relatively short day today, so we weren’t in a big rush to get going.
The three amigos from France were in the same hotel, and we had our parting best wishes to all at breakfast. They were going to be doing more sightseeing before heading home. They were impressed we were going all the way to St Jean Pied de Port. I told them the first week was the hardest, after that it was just routine. Bridgette was supposed to be at our hotel too, but we never saw her.
It seemed like almost all the guests, as well the staff, had dogs. They were everywhere. Very well behaved though.
I was drinking the local water at Nasbinals all day yesterday, which was very nice, but the different minerals etc in the water than I am used to upset my stomach, and it wasn’t very happy. I just had yogurt and fruit for breakfast. It was a lovely buffet with everything you could expect at breakfast, except cereal.
Our hotel was about 1.5 km from the village centre. The church was open when we went past, so we stopped in to look around. They were preparing for a funeral at 10am.
When we left we passed by the Hotel Argent restaurant and there was the German couple, Michael and Enga, and the French couple Danielle and Luther. We don’t often see the German couple at breakfast. I think they don’t like to get up too early. We all waved.
We were at the store just when it opened, bought some more water and headed off.
The section of the Chemins de Saint Jacques de Compostelle from Nasbinals to Saint Chely d’Aubrac is classed as natural heritage by UNESCO, for its authenticity and landscape.
The trail was ascending virtually the entire way for the first 10 km. Although the total ascent today doesn’t sound incredibly challenging, it was actually very difficult. Partly because it was always upward, but more because there were several stretches which were extremely steep. For a change today, we were always in a procession of pilgrims, and at the top of all the really steep ascents, there was always several groups of companions that would stop and sit and have a rest. Russell and I didn’t stop until we got to Aubrac, which had a lovely bar and was maybe 1 km past the peak. We each had a beautiful, cold Perrier. They had this wonderful berry flan which everyone was admiring. The pieces were huge and cost 6.50 euro, so there didn’t seem to be any takers. I was actually quite hungry, because I didn’t have any cereal at breakfast.
We met two ladies from Australia at the bar who seemed to be very intelligent and connected to various universities, including the University of Alberta. The nurse arrived too while we were there and we asked how her blister was doing. She was now up to 10 blisters she was nursing, and was wearing sandals. We offered some suggestions but she had everything for blisters and knew what to do. It wouldn’t seem so, now would it, under the circumstances.
Although it was nice to sleep in a bit, it was getting very hot. I have a bit of a sunburn which I was trying to keep covered up, but gave in to the heat instead and uncovered everything! We are going to buy some heavy duty sunscreen this afternoon.
We were pretty much walking through cow pastures, in with the cows this time, or through the woods, all day. The views were magnificent and the direction of the view at the various lookouts varied as we progressed. I started to wonder if the farmers in France all have their maternity pastures along the Camino to impress the pilgrims with how well they treat their cows!
We’re not concerned about running into a procession of cows anymore or being fenced in the field with them. They are very uninterested in the pilgrims. I found this surprising because whenever I visit the Solvason homestead farm in Saskatchewan, when you go into the field with the cows they all come over to you right away. I guess the cows in France can tell the difference between a pilgrim and someone who has a treat for them.
Part way down the mighty descent I felt like I was going to be sick – hungry was the problem. Granola bar from home to the rescue. I felt a bit better after that and we stopped for lunch shortly after at the picnic place provided by either the friends of the Camino, or the citizens of Belvezet.
Belvezet was the high point, from a tourist point of view today. A puy of perfect basalt columns with a fortress on top.
The puy dates back to 18.7 million years ago – a volcanic eruption. Not too sure when the fortress was built. There were lovely information plaques all along the route today, in French, which we really couldn’t understand.
We got to our hotel today at 1:15pm, just at the beginning of siesta time. Luckily it has a bar/ restaurant, so we were able to get into our room. It is another very nice accommodation. We are in a separate condo, and the room has a kitchenette, with fridge, and we have our own private deck/patio – complete with astro turf!
The German couple arrived around 4pm and are staying in the same condo complex as we are. We had dinner with them tonight. The dinner was excellent. I had salad, Russell had a cheese tarte as an appetizer, we both had white fish for the main course, he had a sort of scalloped potato with his and I had vegetables. We each had rhubarb apple crisp for dessert-very yummy.
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