Foie Gras
& Friendships Forged - Cajarc to Cahors
Day 4: Cajarc to
Limogne-en-Quercy
21.12k (13.18 miles) /
Ascent = 606m / Descent = 437m
We had a somewhat
shorter day in store for today, but one which turned out to be very rural with
almost no villages except for Gaillac encountered along the way.
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| Narrow streets of old town Cajarc |
After the physical
demands of the previous two days, we set off a bit later than normal at about 9.00am.
As it's a bank holiday and a Monday, two reasons why shops in France don't open,
we were wondering about getting lunch stuff – would there be anywhere in Cajarc
to buy food?
Fortunately, we found
a boulangerie that was open and bought ham and cheese baguettes and two quiches
– enough lunch for two days with our exercise- and heat-suppressed appetites.
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| Looking back towards cajarc |
It was very quiet out
walking. We saw dolmen man (a chap we had first met at the dolmen yesterday) a
couple of times early on, who sped ahead but twice went the wrong way and
eventually disappeared altogether, but aside from there were few walkers about.
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| Nearing Gaillac |
The next village,
Gaillac, was equally quiet. We popped into the church which, besides being
cool, held a statue of St Jean Gabriel with an unusual Chinese styling. It
turns out he was a C19th French missionary who was brutally martyred in China
for failing to renounce his faith, and canonised as recently as 1996.
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| Statue of St Jean Gabriel, Gaillac |
Beyond Gaillac, we
followed a nice sun-dappled path rising through the trees. This landscape of
tree-covered limestone plateaux cut into gorges by the major rivers is known as
the Causses, and although we were grateful for the shade the dense woodland
offered up reduced views.
After a lengthy spell
of road walking, we picked up a path again and soon came upon an unusual sight.
Surrounded by a confetti of colourful scallop shells, we found a sort of
impromptu road-side café and stopped for drinks and a rest. There was no
mention of this stop in our guidebook, nor any advertising en route – at least as far as we saw. But this unexpected stop was
very welcome, especially given the lack of other food and drink stops.
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| Colourful drinks stop, near Mas del Pech |
Moving on, we followed
more stony tracks and walled lanes through a couple of tiny hamlets barely big
enough to warrant a name, and with around 5k still to go we took a break for
lunch.
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| Poppy field near Mas de Dalat |
Somewhere near Mas de
Dalat, we met Karen from the US via Paris, one of the first English-speaking
walkers we had met. With a chance to do so, we talked a lot, all the way to
Limogne-en-Quercy, and kept doing so over cold beers. It’s funny: we see hardly
anyone all day, then, come late afternoon, walkers inexorably migrate towards a
bar and a group coalesces.
We found our rooms in
a nice chambre d’hote nearby, and after a tidy-up pottered back round to the
bar for dinner. Our starter was a tiny bowl of asparagus soup, followed by a
large plate of salad, charcuterie, pate and the like, which was great.
Then,
expecting dessert, we were surprised to find an enormous plate of whole turkey
leg in a chorizo sauce set in front of us. It was no good – we couldn’t eat it
all! So, ready for lunch tomorrow, a whole turkey leg plus four slices of bread
were carefully secreted away, to be smuggled out later after our ice cream
desert.
Day 5: Limogne en
Quercy to Mas de Ceres
21.00k (13.10 miles) /
Ascent = 331m / Descent = 326m
Breakfast at the chambre d’hote was a communal affair,
with us plus four other French walkers enjoying coffee, jam, bread and fruit,
and Dolmen man outside preparing for the day ahead.
We set off about 8.20am.
Skies were overcast for practically the first time all week, and we left town
with the threat of rain in the air.
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| Walled track near Limogny-en-Quercy |
We joined a wide
walled track beneath trees, with a gentle descent that made for easy walking.
After about 15 minutes, we took a short detour to see another dolmen – this one
much smaller and more intimate than the previous one.
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| Small Dolmen |
The going was
straightforward and route finding simple, and we made good progress. The skies continued
to darken, and thunder rumbled away somewhere to our right. Just before the
rain hit we caught up with Karen, and walked for the next hour or so with her,
the conversation a distraction from the increasingly heavy rain.
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| Signpost, Bach |
We were reasonably
soaked by the time we reached Bach, but the rain had stopped and we were
beginning to dry off as we decided to stop for drinks. A rest was required: we
had completed almost 12k this morning without a stop or any food, so we enjoyed
the break.
Our next overnight stop
was some way off route – around 4K or so, in fact – so shortly after Bach we
bade farewell to Karen and struck off on our own. For the first time this week,
we were following the orange blazes instead of the usual red-and-white-striped
waymarkers. Passing through Veylats, we stopped for lunch at a handy picnic
bench, the mainstay of which was turkey sandwiches purloined from dinner last
night.
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| Mas de Ceres |
From Veylats, it was a
couple more kilometres to Mas de Ceres. It's a beautiful old
farmstead, right in the middle of nowhere. We got a nice welcome, and were asked
in for a cold drink and a brief chat, after which we popped to our room to rest
and clean up.
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| Lentil and terrine starter - delicious! |
Dinner featured a
starter of lentils and a delicious terrine, with a vegetable and herb omelette for
main course, bread and cheese and ice cream to follow and a cup of tea to
finish. Last night’s meal was good but a bit too big – according to our host,
that restaurant is renowned for its ample portions. This meal was simple, tasty
and manageable – and for us that meant it was perfect!
Day 6: Mas de Ceres to
Cahors
26.25k (16.25 miles) /
Ascent = 537m / Descent = 624m
Breakfast was simple
but delicious – homemade yoghurt, bread and jam, juice and coffee. These rural
stops may be a bit off the beaten track, but have proved to be a highlight of
the trip.
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| Leaving Mas de Ceres |
As we set off, rain
began again – steady at first, but increasing in persistence until it became
quite heavy. Our first challenge was to find our way back to the GR65, which we
did without too much trouble, and after about an hour we were passing through
Mas de Ver – the first named place on this section of the route.
Once again, we are in
sparsely populated countryside, with almost nowhere en route to buy food or drink all day. Because we were running
slightly behind those who overnighted elsewhere, we saw no familiar faces all
morning – in fact, we saw few people at all until Cahors.
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| A brief sunny spell |
Rain meant we trundled
on without a break, and it was close to midday, over three hours after setting
off, that we stopped for just a few minutes for pizza and apricots, sitting beside
a busy motorway junction.
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| Stony track on the way to La Quintade |
Each time the rain
abated, we thought we had seen the last of it. The sun would come out and the
temperature rise, and we’d have good weather for a while. However, some time
later we would catch another heavy shower that soaked us properly again.
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| Descent into Cahors, with rain sweeping in |
As we headed into
town, we crossed the Louis Philippe bridge over the Lot. At the end of the
bridge, in the old toll-booth, the L’Octroi provide support to pilgrims. We
were invited in for a cold drink and a passport stamp: chatting briefly, they
enquired politely if we were Julian and Claire? It seems that Karen had called
in earlier and asked them to look out for us – pilgrims looking out for one
another.
While we were there,
we met another pilgrim who had walked all the way from Geneva. As this is
something we have a mind to do in due course, we quizzed him a little about his
route. He said it was good, and confirmed that at least one proper route does
exist, which is encouraging news for our future plans.
As we passed through
town on the way to our hotel, the heavens opened. Amidst the heaviest rain of
the day, we sploshed through the streets and arrived at our hotel bedraggled
and dripping wet. It wasn't long before we were installed in our room, though, and
set about drying ourselves and our wet things.
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| A relaxing drink at the end of the day |
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| Unusual clock |
To help dinner settle,
we had a quick look round the old town before returning to the hotel. It looks
quite interesting, and on another occasion we might have been tempted to
explore further.
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