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A bit cooler today. On the road early to tackle the 4 big hills between here and Mende.
View from the first hill, on the way to St Laurent d'Olt
Today's scenery: lush and green and steep.
I wonder where these 2 huge rocks are headed.
At Montjézieu, after 2 of those hills, I found a bakery and very obliging Bar/Tabac for a large pot of Earl Grey. A leek quiche today, to ring the changes.
The last section wasn't very pleasant, simply on account of the weight of traffic to and around Mende. Wikipedia tells me that it has a population of 12,000, but it feels like a much bigger place on account of the big busy roads and the through traffic. It's the administrative capital of Lozère, France's least populous département
There's an impressive cathedral and historic centre, but it's a bit of a shock to the system.
I thought I was going to be leaving the Lot, but in fact it's still with me tonight in Mende, and the source is not far.
Mende sits in a steep basin, and after lunging down into the city from hill number 4, l rapidly located a glacier for a revitalising sorbet before proceeding to my campsite. Up out the other side of the basin along a busy main road, past a light industrial park and then a sawmill, with a huge lorry load of sawdust out front, adding to the choking effect of the hot breeze. To Camping de Sirvens. Fermé.
When the farmer suggested I try Camping Le Tivoli instead, I felt strangely certain of my intuition as I finished his sentence for him: "it's on the other side of town".
Tonight's apéro: a châtaigne kir. Followed by a beer from the familiar Jonte brewery of Lozère. I've made it to the Cévennes, I think?
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...
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
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