Day 12 - Variety is the Spice of Life (Figeac à Espagnac-Sainte-Eulalie 29 km)
It rained last night. Hard. Fortunately we were quite comfortable in our apartment after a wonderful evening so we were not affected. However, the rain seemed to wake up the city and freshen the air for the day.
After we packed up and left our building, we headed to an épicerie and a boulangerie to pick up some food for the long day ahead of us. I wish I could adequately describe the beautiful smell of the freshly baked bread wafting throughout the neighbourhood. Incredible!
The streets were still wet but the sun was pushing through the remaining clouds as we left the busy city and climbed into the hills along back roads. The rain greatly enhanced the colours and scents of the forest and made the long walk quite a bit more pleasant.
From city streets to quiet back roads, narrow forest paths, farmers’ fields and riverside trails, we traversed a wide variety of areas today. And although we had many kilometres to cover, we stopped to smell the roses often.
We ran into Santamaria and Matilda who are always a pleasure to chat with. There did not seem to be as many pilgrims on the road today and even fewer after we took the GR 651 variant trail off the main GR 65 route. The GR 651 runs through the beautiful Cele Valley and through some incredibly scenic villages.
After our initial descent into the valley, we walked through corn fields - many corn fields. Nothing but the tallest corn I've ever seen as some stalks were over 10 feet. All five of us met up mid-afternoon and we walked together for the last couple of hours. Just short of our destination, we went for a very refreshing dip in the river. Heaven!
Our gîte for the night is in an old castle that was built before the 15th century and our room was in the top floor of the tower. Very neat!
In addition to great appetizers and dessert, dinner included Spanish rice and Texas chili prepared as Nd served by a Brit… in a French castle. A unique experience.
After dinner we visited Clément and Lucie at their campsite just a few meters away and had a great chat as darkness came. Another large day.
