Day 3 - Monistrol to La Clauze. 23.93km
A very difficult day for me.
I started early in the morning, heading out into the cool air.
The first port of call was walking up a giant hill out of Monistrol. There was a weird rock about halfway up that had metal eyelets all over it. I didn’t see anyone climbing it, but apparently other people did, as I heard about it later on. It would have been a tough climb, it was basically straight up.
Right above the town of Monistrol, the path veered off the road and head up a dirt track past this church that was built into the cliff face. It was quite an achievement. Sadly the church wasn’t open but it was pretty stunning.
Up and up and up I climbed, past orchards and through forests until finally I ended up at the top, where the village of Roziers stood, and thankfully there was a water refill point. It was getting warm. In the village, there was a tiny boulangerie – just a baker who had opened up a little front in her small industrial kitchen to serve people. She had a few treats on offer and made me a sandwich. I bought a cookie as well. While I waited for my sandwich to be made, I watched these kittens playing nearby. They were so little and so cute.
It was a really hot day. I only had one 1.5L bottle of water which was significantly more than most of the other pilgrims, but still not enough for me.
There were some cows and I walked past fields and farms, including one where the sheep wore bells. There were also loads of signs about dogs who protected the sheep, which was nice! There were a lot of giant, red pumpkins around in people’s gardens too.
I then started descending into the village of Saugues. I walked past the sculptures of candles that I’d seen in my guidebook, they were really nice. Then down into the village. I got there then sat in one of the churches for a while. The good thing about churches is that they are usually lovely and cool in the heat, and I needed to cool down. I was struggling with the heat today.
I was there for about 15 minutes, then went to find the water tap, and the Carrefour. I filled up my water and while I did that, two girls came up to say hello in French. I replied that I couldn’t speak French and they said “Oh you’re the Australian”... the Camino Radio was obviously in full effect. It’s really funny when people know who you are when you’ve never met them before. This gossip-machine gave me lots of laughs over the next few weeks, as news of the Australian walking alone filtered through.
I then walked down the hill to the supermarket, where I bought apples, biscuits, and another bottle of water. Then walked back up the hill to rejoin the trail.
It was really hot. And I was drinking a lot. It was hard work. I walked along the path for a bit then it veered off again into a small dirt road before going uphill again. Maybe I should have stayed in Saugues like a lot of people, but I’d tried to break my days so I didn’t have such a long day the day after. I saw the brother, sister and sister-in-law again and said hi to them, but continued on, as they were sitting in the shade. I had to keep stopping many times, as the sun was relentless and there wasn't a lot of shade over the road.
I finally made it to my accommodation and it was SO unclear where I was supposed to go. I walked in the first door I saw and said bonjour and took my shoes off. Waiting for the host to come downstairs, but no one was there.
So I walked out, confused. I couldn’t ask the three ladies who were there what the go was, so I just looked confused and they came over helped me. Turns out that there were two separate places and I was in the upstairs part of the building, which I hadn't noticed. I was in a 2-bed room with one other lady, Helene.
The room was lovely but odd, there was a shower/toilet walled off section right in the middle of the room, with only a curtain for privacy.
I was there before Helene showed up so I took a shower and changed in the relative privacy then went out to hang out with the brother and sister and sister-in-law (gosh I wish I knew their names!).
I was drinking a lot of water as I had a headache. I’d also eaten some lollies from home after my shower as I thought I felt a bit off. So I was sitting there and talking to them and after about an hour I had to excuse myself and go and lie down. Helene had already come in and had a shower, so that I wasn’t disturbing her, but I didn’t feel very well.
I lay there for about an hour or so then decided that I needed to go down and talk to the hosts who were preparing dinner and ask them not to make me much, if any.
The hosts couldn’t speak English, so I explained my condition as best as I could. The man gave me some peach juice, convinced that I just needed some sugar, and it did make me feel better for a bit but not for long. His wife then came in and tried some reiki healing on me while everyone else filtered in and wondered what she was doing.
I paid for the night and thanked them both but said I didn’t want any dinner and that I just wanted to go up to sleep. So I went back to my room and fell asleep almost immediately.
A little later I was woken up by the lady host who came to check on me and gave me 10 euros back for the dinner I didn’t eat. She insisted that I shouldn’t walk tomorrow and arranged a taxi for me. I didn’t really want to do that because then I would be missing a stage and it was apparently a good one, but it was the right decision for my body. So we booked the cab for 8:30 the next morning and I fell back to sleep and didn’t wake up until my alarm went off.
Gite et Chambres d'Hôtes au Repos d’Antan. 9/10. Lovely hosts. Good breakfast. Little confusing to find your room.