Day 5: Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole to Aumont-Aubrac. 18.1km
A rolling hills kind of day. I left the gite, bought a sandwich then left Saint-Alban for the trees uphill. At the top of a hill there was an old stone cross overlooking the village below. Then the path led back downhill into a little village, or maybe it was a hamlet it was only small. There were some lovely houses.
The path then led up again, along a rough track and past a few cows. The Aubrac cows were quickly becoming a favourite thing to spot while walking, they were so sweet.
I ended up in a tiny village called Les Estrets, where I popped into the church for a look, before heading out again.
The landscape was pretty but not amazing, and some of the roads looked like washouts or 4wd tracks so I had to pay a lot of attention to my feet! The best thing about walking today was the smell – the sun hitting the leaves of the trees made them so fragrant, it was delicious.
As my first day back on the trail, I made sure I was drinking lots of water. And made sure I was eating enough food, I didn’t want a repeat of the other day. At lunch time, I had to keep walking on because there was nowhere good to stop for lunch – the French have a nose for sniffing out a good place to sit and eat! I finally found somewhere to eat my sandwich in the shade, then carried on.
I made it to the town fairly early: it was only 18km and I was pretty well rested. I had a wander around and looked at the church, but also chatted to some of my French friends along the way (sadly it was the last time I saw the siblings and sister-in-law). I walked up the hill and found a picnic area and texted my gite to see what time she opened. She was fine with me going now, which meant I was there at about 2:30pm.
The gite owner could not speak any English, however, so it was rather difficult to communicate. She also had a little baby who had broken something and was in a cast with her legs pointing out to the side - I have no idea what was the matter! The lady showed me to my room and I went to get ready and have a shower.
The people who had been self-sufficient in the gite last night turned up and annoyingly, they were put into my room. It was two couples and one had paid for a private room. So I asked the gite owner if I could move to the empty other room to give them some privacy. Thankfully she agreed. I kept asking her as well if other people were coming as I didn’t want her to bother cooking for me if she had no one else paying for food but she assured me that I wasn’t the only one.
I went out to wander around the town around sunset. It was a nice place but nothing special.
I wandered back to the gite around 6:30, as dinner is always at 7.
No one else who was eating showed up, so the poor lady had to provide food just for me. The other people who were self-sufficient were kind enough to pay her a little more and eat some of the food so it didn’t go to waste.
The made this excellent salad that was delicious, then I had chicken thighs that were cooked with peppers in the oven, and some rice. They were really nice. Then the lady brought me some cheese, then a giant slice of a portuguese tart! The other people also gave me some wine. I was absolutely stuffed after all of the food. It was really delicious but I felt so bad for the gite owner, who kept apologising to me. I was like no, you shouldn’t be apologising to me! I just felt sorry for her! I can eat by myself, it’s no drama, but she went to all the trouble. She was meant to have a group of 4 other people who never showed up. How rude.
Chez Pierrot. 7/10. Good food but not a lot of bathrooms for number of people.
