FRIDAY: Aumont-Aubrac to Nasbisnals (26.5 Kms)
A miracle on the Camino…Whether it was the intervention of St Jacques or more likely, that lovely bottle of Corbieres Red last night, my blisters subsided sufficiently to allow me to walk. Painfully, especially the last few kilometers, but I made it to Nasbinals. Les was convinced she would be walking alone, but I showed her. And what a gorgeous walk it was. Crisp, clear day for walking across the Plateau d’Aubrac – landscape that reminds one of Connemara in Western Ireland. Empty, vast land, rolling hills strewn with rocks…few places for shelter. Pleasant walking territory, at least when the weather is fine…
We are generally staying at places that provide demi-pension – lodging, dinner & breakfast. Costs run around 100 Euro for the both of us. You can do this walk for a lot less by staying in Gites which would run around 12 Euro per person for a bed in a communal room. Can cook your own food or go out to eat. 3 or 4 course menus are about 15- 20 Euro. But since I am known as a big spender J, and we wanted to stay in nicer places – we opted for these, small, simple two-star hotels. At about $150 dollars a day for two, it ain’t bad. It would cost twice as much if you did the same walk through an agency – of which there are a lot choices on the Internet…..
The meals are always enormous and good. The house wine is always cheap – a pichet of the local Chateau Plonk at Nasbinals was 6 Euro. The hotels will amend their menus for non-meat eaters, so tonight instead of meat stuff tomatoes for entrée, they gave Les a large compost salad. Instead of beef “stew” (which was great), Les got an omellette (probably 4 eggs). Thereafter a big platter of cheese placed on the table (take all you want), and then dessert, and those calories walked off during the day are quickly replenished.
Speaking of food, the specialty of the Aubrac is aligot. It is on all the menus. Tomme fraiche, potatoes and garlic. Pureed together into this smooth, gooey paste – it is delicious, even if Les thinks it is too plain…..

SATURDAY: Nasbinals to St.Chely-Aubrac (17kms)
So much for the miracle. The right foot is very painful, but I limped my way into the next village. Hopefully, no permanent or temporary damage done. Another beautiful day, the first half finishing the Plateau while walking hills and skirting cows with horns. We have seen a lot of vaches on the walk – nice healthy looking ones. After the quaint village of Aubrac, where some noble built a hospital for the pilgrims in the 12th Century, it was an uncomfortable two hour walk downhill on very rocky paths to our destination. In by 2:30pm today….I could walk no further. One more day.
Guess I can”t complain too much. We have met folks who have dropped out because of foot problems. One young couple who we met on the second day had to stop today because the woman’s tendons were so painful. We keep bumping into a lone woman walker whose husband stopped after the second day because of blisters.. What a wooz!… We immigrants come from hardier stock!
Another lovely small hotel tonight – Hotel de la Valle. The hotels rated by the Logis folks seem the nicest. A bit more elegant dinner…..Since we did not want a full bottle of wine (well, Les didn’t) we ask for a demi. They countered with 500cl..fine by me. To the table comes the bottle of house wine, with a bit poured out (saved I’m sure) to that it is close to 500cl. You’ll never see that in the States.

SUNDAY: St. Chely-Aubrac-Espalion (22Kms).
Finished! 160 kms. Do it again in a flash. In fact it would be quite easy just to keep walking. One gets into a routine and it is quite enjoyable. Keep the feet healthy and you can walk to the ends of the Earth…or at least to Santiago de Compostela.
We left the Aubrac today and walked downhill into the Lot region. Much more lush countryside….Sundays in France are very quite. Even in a larger town like Espalion (6000 inhabitants) just about everything is closed. We will get a bite to eat later and try and find the bus tmr morning to Rodez and then on to the Canal du Midi…..The Hotel is a bit of a dump, but inexpensive – 24 Euros for a lumpy bed in dark room. But who cares…

We said good-bye to the remaining walkers who we have been sharing the occasional “my feet hurt” conversations on the walk…Among then, the French retired couple who are walking for two more weeks, and the friendly Dutch couple that loved to eat (we found out this last evening that the Dutch couple live in the same town that an old friend from Berkeley days used to live in. I have lost touch with Paul. The man said he would try to look him up for me)...The fact is that everyone stops to eat at 1PM – I actually think it is genetic with the French…We always were the last to leave our Hotel and the first to arrive at our destination, passing folks having their “picnic” on the side of the path (where they found those goodies to eat I’ll never know)….
One of the things about travelling with my partner of all these years is that she always seems to develop a sense of humor once she leaves Sacramento… Her latest observations on life are the pronounciation of the oft seen French words “poussez” and “pneus” – push and tires in Anglais. I’ll leave it at that…

PART TWO: Canal-du-Midi...upcoming