Day 47 – Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole to Roc de Loups (35,4km) – Wednesday 16.08.2023
Since the supermarket didn’t open until 8:30 a.m., I stayed in my tent until 7:30 a.m. Then I packed everything up and left the campsite shortly after 8am.
First I had to walk back 1 km. The first pilgrims came towards me. I bought something in the supermarket both before the morning and straight away for the evening.
After that I finally started running. I quickly overtook several pilgrims and met one or two of them from yesterday. Actually we went through meadows all day. Sometimes there were also cattle on them. The landscape looked a bit like something out of a western. Endless cow pastures lined up one after the other.
Even though I started so late, I made quick progress and covered a lot of ground in a short space of time. At a viewing point I had a fellow pilgrim take a picture of me and then we continued again.
In a small town I bought a small snack from the bakery and ate it on a bench. I also drank an ice-cold cola, which was a real relief given the temperatures that had now prevailed. As I started walking again, I met some of the pilgrims from yesterday in a bar. There they relaxed and drank their beer while I walked past in the hot sun. If I hadn’t just taken a break, I probably would have sat with them for a while.
I continued walking alone. I kept passing through small towns and then leaving them again to walk through meadows. Despite the heat, I quickly covered a few kilometers.
By now it was not only very hot, but it was also time to look for a place to sleep. I kept walking and first looked for a watering hole to replenish my reserves for the evening. Unfortunately, I didn’t come across any suitable watering holes for the next 7km. In the seemingly endless meadows there was either no water at all or there was a small pond with stagnant water, which was mostly full of cow shit. I didn’t want to fill up my reserves despite the filter.
At some point I passed a pilgrim cafe in the middle of nowhere. A woman sold homemade items on her farm. There was a sign on the side of the path that, in addition to pizza and small snacks, there was also salad and fruit. Since I had always eaten ready-made food, pizza or burgers in the last few days, I decided to eat a salad there and fill up my water. So when I asked for a salad, the woman explained to me that unfortunately everything was already sold out. But she still had one last piece of pizza for me. So while I was filling up my water reserves, the woman brought me a piece of pizza and I once again didn’t eat a healthy salad.
Afterwards I continue my hike with full bottles. It went up the mountain again. A car driving by stopped briefly and the driver handed me a bowl of cookies so I could take one. I thanked him and happily continued uphill with my cookie in my mouth.
At the highest point of the mountain there was a small work of art where you could admire the setting sun in a circle. Since the next places were a few kilometers away and I didn’t have to expect any pilgrims or other people here, I decided to set up my tent right at the highest point. The landscape was wonderful and apart from a few cattle there was nothing to be seen but meadows far and wide.
Before I set up my tent, I made myself a quick dinner. In keeping with the landscape, this consisted of white beans and meat. In fact, it almost felt like one of those westerns where the cowboys ate their food alone in endless grasslands.
Later, when I had set up my tent, I relaxed and watched the sunset. Then I lay down in my sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep.
Day 48 – Roc de Loups to L’Estrade (33,7km) – Thursday 17.08.2023
Today I got up shortly after 6 a.m. and packed up my tent in the dark. With my headlamp on my head, I packed everything in my backpack and quickly made myself a coffee and some cereal. While I ate this, I enjoyed the rising sun.
Then I made my way back down. The meadows were beautifully illuminated by the still low sun and I had an impressive morning.
For a long time I walked through a beautiful landscape, which was still characterized by meadows and cattle.
When I came to the first town after almost 9km, I bought a sandwich in a bakery and immediately bought myself some food for the evening. Afterwards I walked through the market that was currently taking place. Interestingly, there were not only cheese and sausage stalls, but also cattle for sale. There were probably a few dozen cattle on the market place that were being offered for sale. Traders kept coming and walking through the rows with the animals. Every now and then some of the animals were sold and transported away in wagons. I watched the whole spectacle for a few minutes and then left the place again.
Afterwards we continued through meadows with lots of cattle and now and then briefly through the forest. You could always tell that the area here was characterized by livestock farming. I probably haven’t seen as many cattle as I’ve seen in the last two days in a whole year.
After a short descent I passed a small town. There were a few cafes there and, like many other pilgrims, I sat down at one of the cafes. I bought a lemonade to cool down and an espresso.
After the small town, things went downhill for a long time. Most of the time we went through shady forest, which made it very pleasant despite the heat. By now it was already afternoon again and I had been out for a while. Pilgrims repeatedly turned off in one of the small towns to head for their pilgrim accommodation. However, I kept walking and looking for a suitable place for my tent.
At one of the places I briefly filled up my water and crossed a pilgrim bridge. I didn’t really understand why it should be a special bridge, but at least it looked nice with its old stones.
Then I ran up a steep slope. Once we reached the top, we continued on a rather flat path through the forest. After I left the forest, there were again meadows with cattle.
I kept walking until I came across a meadow where the entrance was open and no animals were grazing on it. I turned and walked a little way back in the unused pasture so that I couldn’t be seen from the path. I first rested there in the shade of a tree before setting up my tent later in the day.
Just as I was brushing my teeth, a man came running towards me on the lawn. This was the first time I was caught wild camping on my trip. The young hunter, who was out with his gun, quickly made it clear to me that I was welcome to stay here and that he thought it was good. With his little English he explained to me that the meadow belonged to him or his parents and they had no objection to me camping here. Then he tried to explain to me what he wanted to shoot today. I didn’t quite understand it, but it was something with antlers. I assume he wanted to hunt deer.
After a few minutes of conversation, he continued running up the meadow and eventually disappeared further up. I relaxed again and lay down on my sleeping mat next to the tent and read a book for a bit while I enjoyed the last rays of sunshine.
Afterwards I watched the sunset again and then quickly went to sleep.
Day 49 – L’Estrade to Espalion (20,9km) – Friday 18.08.2023
Since I couldn’t be seen from the meadow and the owner didn’t mind a tent, I stayed a little longer today. Shortly before 7 a.m. I took down my tent and set off for today’s stage.
After just a few minutes we went downhill through the forest. I sat down in a place with a view and seating and made myself breakfast. While my sister was probably descending from the Ortler, I was sitting here somewhere in the middle of nowhere and enjoying my coffee with the view of smaller mountains, which didn’t exactly have the majestic features of huge peaks, but were somehow still a beautiful sight.
As I was walking through the forest again, a pilgrim asked me at some point whether the following path should be beautiful or not. Apparently she had seen that part of the route could be canoed and was wondering whether she should do that or not. Since I hadn’t planned my route, I didn’t know what the route was like. But since the pilgrim at least spoke good English and was at my pace, we hiked together for about 20 minutes and talked about our previous routes. She has already been on the Way of St. James in Spain once and apparently hikes often as well. However, she had never been on the road for as long as I had and she congratulated me on starting from home. After a long climb, during which she quickly got out of breath, she said goodbye to me because she needed a break to drink. After that I continued walking alone again.
Soon I passed a place where I first visited the beautifully illuminated church. Afterwards I bought something in a bakery and admired the beautiful houses. I walked over a bridge and first along a river for a bit.
After that, surprisingly, things went up again. It went steeply up narrow paths. After a while I passed a quarry. A little later I reached the summit. From there I had a nice view of the previous town, but I could also see the town of Espalion on the other side. After a few pictures I left the summit and descended.
Shortly before the city I passed a Roman-Persian church from the 19th century, which was impressive with its construction and ceiling paintings.
From there we went along the river again. I actually quickly saw some people canoeing and wondered if the pilgrim from this morning was among them.
Since I had spent the last two weeks completely in the tent and hadn’t showered for almost 3 days, I booked a place in the hotel. Once the room was booked, I went out for something to eat and took a closer look at the city.
I walked across the city’s old bridge and later came across a small pilgrimage museum.
After a while I sat on a bench by the river and watched the people canoeing. Some were able to do it quite well and for others it looked more like they were doing it for the first time. It was always funny to see how two people didn’t really coordinate with each other and then drove more or less in circles or got stuck in the reeds.
At around 5 p.m. I made my way to the hotel. It took a while until someone finally showed up at reception and I could check in. In the meantime, I sat in the lounge and wrote on my blog.
When I was finally able to go to my room, I recharged all the batteries and took a little rest. Afterwards I went to the supermarket next door and bought a little something to snack on for the evening. When I got back to the room, I finally took the long-awaited shower to wash off the sweat and dirt of the last few days.
Freshly showered, I sat down on the soft bed with my tablet and actually wanted to watch the opening game of the Bundesliga. Since the internet in the hotel was so bad, I gave up on this plan and preferred reading the news and checking my emails. Later I fell asleep in my soft bed.
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