Day 13 - Climb, Descend, Repeat x 3 (Espagnac-Sainte-Eulalie à Marcilhac-sur-Célé 17 km)
You are probably going to get tired of me telling you how great each day is along this journey but I will accept that risk and continue with my descriptions.
After a great sleep in the tower, the standard French breakfast was enjoyed by all five of us while a light rain shower freshened the air for our hike. And once again, we started the day with a strenuous, steep climb out of the valley. This was the first of three challenging ascents and descents for the day - a ‘short’ 17 km day but one which certainly gave us a good workout. The initial views of our valley looking back towards our castle were spectacular and foreshadowed the rest of the day.
Shortly after we crested our first climb, we viewed majestic cliffs which we headed for along a narrow path with a steep drop off to the left. Built into the first cliff was a 12th century structure that is now inaccessible except to view from below. The hike along the bottom of the cliffs was beautiful with the path often going under rocky overhangs.
After the next camel's hump, we came upon the village of Saint-Sulpice which had several dwellings built into the side of the cliffs - very impressive.
The descent from the final hump brought us to our destination of Sainte-Eulalie. The gîte was closed for a couple more hours so into the river we went to wash the sweat off. The cool water was very refreshing and we lingered in and out of the river, chatting and making plans for the next couple of days. When we did check into the gîte, we found out that we were the only ones so we planned to have another family meal with Chef Lucie. The five of us had a fantastic time in the evening talking, eating and laughing. We only have a couple more days with Clément and Lucie before they have to depart so we are making the best of it. Delicious food and amazing company made for a wonderful evening.
Yes indeed. Life is good.
