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Another 7am start on account of the heat. I'd made up my mind to skip the initial 400m climb to Ginhac to the south of the Lot and take the main road on the north following the river down to Estaing. But even early in the morning there were big trucks passing by and I found myself crossing back over the Lot and winding my way up and up...
At Golinhac I started seeing a lot of walkers, or I should say pilgrims.
For a few days my route has been phasing in and out with the Chemin de Saint Jacques. I may have missed my chance to ask why every single one has been coming away from Santiago de Compostella rather than towards it. Perhaps there's some other "camino"?
An upmarket gîte
At Estaing I was able to stock up for lunch.
Then on to Saint-Côme d'Olt where I made just a brief pause to fuel and steel myself for the 10 km climb to Lassouts, my second visit of the day to around 700m.
90 mins later I was just in time to check out the village shop before closing and found this pruneaux pastry, rich and not too sweet.
From here it was a long refreshing descent to a picnic spot at St-Eulalie d'Olt and then on to St-Géniez d'Olt.
At the Intermarché I bought a bottle of 95 proof 'cleaning alcohol' which I think I can use in my Trangia spirit stove for tea-making. I'm sure it's a denatured ethanol, so essentially the same as meths?
Tonight's apéro: Thé d'Aubac
As I'd already climbed over the hills from Figeac to the Lot yesterday, today was an easy journey along the north bank of the Lot river to where the Truyère joins its forces.
Steep green hills on both sides. The river widens and narrows several times along the route.
An interesting roof:
I was on the road at 7am as the forecast was for temperatures over 30°C and indeed the afternoon was boiling. But I got to Entraygues before noon and before the heat.
A very cycle-friendly municipal campsite just across a footbridge from the town. They have a clean modern cabin for walkers and cyclists to shelter and cook and a well equipped bike repair stand.
I took the opportunity on this hot lazy afternoon to shorten my chain. My bike has a hub gear with an "eccentric " (elliptical) bottom bracket to tension the chain. Before leaving Bristol I wasn't sure that the chain was sufficiently worn (long) to allow me to remove a link, so I anticipated having to do this on the road. And indeed yesterday the slack chain jumped off the rear socket on a bumpy patch.
After adjusting the eccentric to its slackest position (closest to the hub) I satisfied myself that I could afford to lose a link before applying the chain-breaker.
After mulling over the options, I decided on a campsite on the Lot, close to tomorrow's route, and cutting off a fair corner of it.
The only problem: getting over a couple of sets of hills to reach the Lot. Including some 20% gradients. I had to get out of the saddle for long hot stretches (rouler en danseuse).
View back towards Figeac
It was worth the effort to get to the Lot
The final 5 km was along a tiny bike path on the quiet south side of the river. Dinner at the friendly Camping de Roquelongue, overlooking the Lot.
Thinking back to my time in the square before lunch, I was reading Richard Holmes' "Footsteps: Adventures of a Romantic Biographer" (1985). It's based on the author's experiences in 1964 when at the age of 18 he followed in the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous "Travels in the Cévennes with a Donkey". He considers how RLS wrote that he travels to:
get down off this feather bed of civilisation and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints
Romantic stuff for sure, but those flints do make the foie gras and the river view sweet.
This was going to be a short and easy half-day today, but it turned out to include a tough afternoon.
All the way to beyond Reyrevignes was rolling lanes, no-one about, real back lanes.
My route took me past the remains and memorial to the Nazi massacre and destruction of the hamlet of Gabaudet in June 1944, where 50 people were killed and 71 deported, mainly to Dachau.
It's heartening that an important memorial like this is so well maintained. We need all the help we an get to remember where belligerent extremism leads.
At the general store at Assier I was able to stock up for lunch, and then continued on to climb over the ridge and down to Figeac. All by lunchtime. So far so good.
I made a little tour of this pretty town and had a little pre-picnic refreshment in the Place Champollion, watching the world go by, and anticipating a leisurely lunch and an afternoon nap.
Wrong! It turned out the campsite I'd identified just outside the town was in fact closed for the season. Some local picnicers I questioned thought there must be some technical problem with standards ("les normes" ).
But first things first. Lunch. Simple pleasures: cheese, tomato, foie gras...
Woke up this morning to a heavy mist all over the Dordogne valley. It was very cool in the damp, but I'd seen that the day was forecast to turn out hot - - and so it did.
Today was a short stage, 55km all in but with over 1,000 m of climbing. Most of that was in 3 long stretches, with correspondingly long descents.
After the first hill to Calès, the terrain seemed changed. Not only did sun replace mist, but coming over the ridge seemed to shift into a different microclimate. There were cherries on trees, wild strawberries in the verge, and a darker, more silvery green on the oak leaves.
The scenery also shifted a gear: wilder, more rugged, bigger hills.
Rocamadour l'Hospitalet is a breathtaking medieval hilltop town, partly built into the rock.
The photographer of this next one, a local man and seasoned cycle tourist reviewed my toute and assured me that some parts would be "durs" (hard) .
At Gramat I spent quite a bit of time and effort locating a campsite after my first choice turned out to be in a very poor state, virtually abandoned. Plan B (Camping Reflets de Ferme) Is simple and quiet and civilised. And has hot water.
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
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