Day 12: Conques to Livinhac-le-Haut. 24.92km
I woke up after the best sleep of my whole trip – don’t know how I did it but it was great. I was almost the first one up so I was trying my best to be quiet and didn’t turn on my light until most people were up and moving around. I’d packed away some things last night but my clothes were still damp so I’d left them out. They were almost dry this morning so I hung my socks and undies on my bag and packed everything away. I left my bag in the dorm and went down to breakfast.
The breakfast in the Abbey was the absolute best breakfast of the whole camino! Bea was there and so we had our last breakfast together – I said goodbye to a lot of people that morning. She was so sweet – I’d been saying that I missed having eggs for breakfast so she brought me one of the boiled eggs they had so I could take it with me. There was so much variety in this breakfast, from eggs, fruit, yoghurt and muesli to bread, of course, coffee and tea.
I went back to the dorm to grab my bag and brush my teeth then it was time to head off. I remembered my walking poles this time, and managed to find my shoes again amongst over 90 pairs of shoes. I said goodbye to everyone and then left.
Conques looked extremely beautiful today, as it was foggy and I was out pretty early. It's such an amazing place.
The way out of Conques was to walk down this very steep and slippery cobbled road so it was very slow going for me. It was weird continuing on – the people who passed me were not people I recognised, as some were starting FROM Conques, or had caught up or taken their time so I met a whole new group of pilgrims. I finally made it down the bottom of the hill, crossed the bridge, and then began the walk uphill, probably the hardest uphill of the whole walk. It was so steep and gnarly that I had to stop often. At 500m of elevation there was this tiny church, the Chapelle Saint-Foy, where you could ring the bell as you went.
At the top of the hill, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of clouds that had settled into the valley and were waiting to be burnt off. The countryside was also really nice up there.
I took the road to Noailhac, stopping at a cafe there. I don’t usually do this but today I really felt like stopping for morning tea. I bought a cup of tea and a madeleine from these two girls who must have run the shop and baked the pastries. It was very cute - vintage furniture, proper tea cups and they even sold chips and snacks to take with you.
I got back on the road again and walked up another hill to the Chapelle Saint-Roch, which had some very nice modern stained glass. I really needed to fill up my water bottle and I’d noticed that after we left Conques there were less water points and toilets along the way.
We had to walk along a road side for a while so that was a bit boring, but I did spot two donkeys in a field who were quite curious about me.
We walked downhill into Decazeville. I had planned on going to buy some snacks but it was such a depressing place that I decided to push on. The hill out of there though was so steep again, it must have been almost 30% gradient.
I passed the second Chapelle Saint-Roch of the day, but the rest of the way wasn’t very interesting. I walked into Livinhac-le-Haut needing the loo, hungry, tired and thirsty.
I found my gite, and went inside the door to be greeted by Corinne. She did the typical French thing of saying she could only speak a little English, but it was enough to get by and I appreciated it. The gite itself was a real gem, I’d chosen well here! It was so lovely. She showed me to my room with two beds, and unless anyone else came, I was there by myself.
There were two showers in the bathroom, two toilets and the room was really lovely and cosy with a great view over the garden.
I did my washing then went to hang it out in the garden, and planned my next few days on my bed for a while.
They made me an aperitif before dinner. There was another couple there but they didn’t drink apparently. And the hosts had been expecting three German men too but their train had been delayed – they were picking up from their last walk here and continuing on for a few days but were going to turn up between 9-10pm. Dinner was pork steaks and potatoes, which was delicious, and the dessert was mascarpone with melon which was so good. They were lovely and gracious hosts and it was a very enjoyable meal.
The bed was warm and comfortable too and it was a great night’s sleep
Gîte Un Pas Vers Soi: 10/10. Good food, good company, some English spoken. Absolutely beautiful location.