Day 7: St. Alban-sur-Ligmagnole (950m) to Aumont-Aubrac (1050m) (75-89.5 km)

Dave: After breakfast, we began our walk out of town, with fine views of Saint-Alban behind us, going steadily uphill, twisting through a small village. Then across a D road, moving steeply uphill. We walked through  meadows and some forests, mostly on hard footpath.   We stopped in another small village for a snack and drink of water and then turned left, heading up a D road, where we were joined by a friendly guy from Quebec, Phil, and then a young man from St Etienne who had been at dinner last night. The four of us happily walked together, as the path veered off the D road onto a hard wide gravel and sand track.  Phil, Annie and I stopped in a tiny town for a  1 Euro coffee. 

Annie:  Breakfast was pretty slim – we have gotten spoiled by unlimited bread and home-made jams.  Leaving St. Alban was easier than getting into it.  It was a beautiful sunny morning walking through the fields.  The road was tricky:  it never looked like a steep incline, but the path would relentlessly continue upwards.

Dave:  AFter our coffee, Phil went on ahead of us (right after he took our picture!) and we continued uphill, through fine sunny fields. At about 1pm we found a shady spot and had lunch. At that point, we were already on the outskirts of Aumont-Aubrac, which we reached at 1:30pm

Annie:  It was an easy walk into Aumont-Aubrac after the picnic.  I’m glad we stopped there, because it is a delightful old town.  We stopped for a drink at a café, since our gîte wasn’t open yet.  Who was there but Phil, our québecois friend!  We checked into the gîte, showered, and washed some of our clothes.  The sun and wind made for a good drying day.  

Dinner was delicious, but so copious I had a hard time sleeping.  We had carrot salad and pâté, followed by aligot, sausage, salad, and a wonderful local dessert (sort of bread pudding with prunes). 

Dave: Aumont Aubrac is a charming littlle town with narrow winding streets, tidy houses and buildings with soft pastel colors.  There is a beautiful church with lovely stained windows.  Our gite, Les Sentir Fleuris, is on the main Place, across from a Bar Tabac. It's newly renovated, clean, bright and airy. The proprietors, a couple, were very friendly and cheerful. Monsieur could have been a stand up comedien – he had us all laughing at dinner (shared by about 15) as he showed us his aligot technique!  And Madame led us again in the pilgrim’s song! 

Day 6: Villeret-d’Apcher (54 km) to Saint-Alban-sur-Ligmagnole (76 km)

Villeret-d’Apcher 1134m to Saint-Alban-sur-Ligmagnole 950m 

Dave: We departed at 8:40am, and immediately went downhill steeply. We then had a very challenging ascent toward Chanaleilles.  It was sunny and clear; the air very cool (needed gloves). We had a nice view of a neighboring villages and its church in the distance.

Annie:  Breakfast was stellar – good coffee, many jams, cereal and fruit, along with a local brioche pastry (St. Genix).  We had very good walking weather.  The first part of the walk was challenging:  lots of ups and downs, including “summitting” the highest part of the Massif, “Le Sauvage,” at 1315m.                                                                              

The countryside was beautiful:  first pastures, then a foret départementale with nice, soft walking paths.  No cafés or buvettes, though.

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Dave: After 3-4 km, the path veered right through a broad, hilly grazing area toward “Le Sauvage” -- a gite which we later heard has terrific food. No place visible to buy coffee at Sauvage, so we turned right and continued on a wide dirt road steeply uphill, passing through some sadly clear cut forests, to                          Chapelle Saint Roch where we hungrily ate our lunch.  

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Then onward and mostly (for a change) on a gentle downward slope, through sunny picturesque fields of yellow gorse and cattle. By then it had warmed to the high 60s or even low 70s. The past 2 km were painful ones as we had to walk through the suburb of St Alban on hard, hot roads. 

about 7 km outside of St Albans 

 Annie: I have now become so used to the gite-pèlerin spirit that the abrupt transaction at the Hotel du Centre seemed odd.  We showered, checked our aching feet, then explored the little downtown.  Our room is no luxury spa, but it has a great view of the church, and we have sheets!  It’s a relief not to use the mummy bags.

Petanque tournament in St Alban

The view from our hotel room

Dave: We checked out the church and shared a beer with our friends from the Netherlands.  Dinner was no great shakes for food, but everyone sat together and we had a wonderful conversation.  We especially enjoyed talking with a disabled Swiss man who was doing the entire Camino (starting from Switzerland) on a partially motorized bicycle! 

Day 5: Saugues to Villeret-d’Apcher (42.5-54 km)

Saugues (960 m) to Villeret d'Apcher (1134 m)

There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth.

         Rumi

Annie: Annie:  Breakfast was phenomenal – a true “dégustation de confitures” – and “faisselles,” or little jars of fromage frais, made from the previous night’s milking.





Dave: Dave: Dave: After a nice breakfast (so many confitures!) and a visit to the farmer’s market. We set out on the D road, jagging left onto a wide dirt/gravel trail, passing a winding stream.

The path began gently climbing, cutting through farm fields and forests. Initially it was damp and chilly, but the walk was quite beautiful – it wasn’t exactly sunny but the air was so clean and clear.

Soon we reached Le Clauze where we stopped by some castle ruins for a snack. Now just 4 kms away or so away from our destination (today is a short walk – less than 15km).

Annie:  After a friendly welcome at the Auberge des Deux Pèlerins, the owner stunned us with the news that at 18h45, we would all gather together for an apéritif and we would sing “the pilgrims’ song”!

Dave: The Gite is newly renovated and very clean. They are devoted to ridding the pilgrim world of the punaise de lit (bed bug) and the owner showed us some of the literature for pilgrims that passionately makes a case for how best to do this (i.e., leave your boots and sac a dos outside of the sleeping quarters!).

Annie: Dinner was great, and a unique experience.  The owner strummed his guitar, and we all sang the “Chant des Pèlerins,” conveniently printed on our placemats.  There was a large group at dinner, so there was a strong chorus.  We sang the song two times.  

Singing the Pilgrim's song.

Maison de la Béate

After dinner the owner took us around the tiny hamlet.  We saw the “Maison de la Béate.”  Apparently in 19^th-century France there existed a non-clerical group of women, the béates, who taught village children their catechism and the 3 Rs.  Le Villeret had the last Béate in France, Maria Borel, who died in 1972. 

Day 4: Montrisol to Saugues

Montrisol to Saugues(30.4-42.5km)

Dave: A simple 7am breakfast and then completion of the new morning ritual of treating blisters. Then we are off. One of our friends at the Gites commented that it was 1 degree – just above freezing!. It did indeed feel cold. But it was very clear and beautiful. A string of pilgrims walked with energy across the bridge spanning the Allier river and then through the town. 

Circuit  des orgues

Annie:  On the way out, we stopped at the Bakery-Epicere for lunch material: 2 apples, demi baguette, croissant and Cheese – for 4 E 50!! Then it was time to climb: we got tangled up in different pilgrim groups, but nonetheless had a wonderful climb around the “Circuit  des orgues,” massive granite or volcanic rocks [shaped like organ pipes] and bluffs overlooking the Alliers. It was a tough walk to start with.

Chapelle Trogolodyte de la Madeleine

 One of the remarkable sights on this first part of the walk was a Chapelle Troglodyte,” a chapel carved into a cave. We couldn’t get in but were able to look in.

The path gradually became less steep and we ran into a nice French guy we had met at Montbonnet. The path took us through mostly open fields but the weather got cloudy and chilly. 

Escluzels, the end of our climb out of  Montrisol

The view from high above Montrisol

Dave:  Throughout the morning we followed a series of D roads, and wide dirt/gravel tracks, and the occasional footpath.   At one point we zig zagged on switchbacks through some woods – at a couple of clearings we had some fine views of Montrisol way below us.  Most of the walk was through open fields. We passed numerous farms, walked by two donkeys (!!), and walked through several tiny villages – some neat and tidy, others dirty with trash lying around.  

Potable water was available on most of the Chemin

We were on the look-out for a Buvette a little

snack bar type place,which supposedly served drinks and snacks. There were numerous homemade sings for it – “2 km.  Boissons froid et chaude.” But we never found it. Then we saw another sign that said we had in effect passed it. Scribbled beneath it in angry letters:   “Menteurs” Liars.  An angry pilgrim! We felt their pain.  We found another buvet a few kilometers after – a little shack in someone’s back yard, and there waving at us as approached was Penny.  She and Janine had left Montrisol before us and we had caught up with them here, having an omelette and hot chocolate.  We sat down to have a cup of coffee, and just then the three Brits, we had met at the Gites in Montbonnet, Jonathan, Jane and her friend. The 7 of us made a jolly group as we crowded in the little buvet talking, eating and drinking.

The path into Saugues

Annie: Then back on the road. A brisk wind had  kicked up in the meantime – back to the rain coat. We walked through more beautiful fields then down the road to Saugues where we said goodbye to Penny and Janine who were going another 5 km or so. They were good companions on the road. We probably won’t see them again.  

We cruised into the Gites a la Fermes,” where we had reservations, fairly early (1:30pm) so we had our lunch and left our backpacks and went to explore the town of Saugues.

Saugues has a marvelous small Romanesque church with a particularly fine Virge en Majeste. The church is called St Medard but it had a rather creepy reliquary of St Benilde [Dave: the relics were inside a lifelike body lying in repose, below a side altar – a very common way to store relics]. I turned around and who was there but the nice couple from Paris. She shared with me some ideas for pilgrimages with students. It was really nice to see the familiar faces.

Gites a la Fermes, on the outskirts of Saugues

Dinner was a real farm meal, although rather late at 20h. We had two kinds of soup, followed by a large salad. Then – surprise!! – Lentilles de Puy with sausage (home made). Then 3 fromages (Blue, St Nectaire and a home made one). Then a custard for dessert!  The conversation headed into bizarre topics as in how to slaughter rabbits and cock and cow fighting!!

Madame Martin, proprietor of our Gite

Day 3: Montbonnet to Monistrol d'Allier

Dave: As we awoke, Montbonnet was dark, wet and cold. We were warmed by some delicious coffee and bread, butter and nice jam. But we saw sheets of rain falling. By 8:15am the rain had stopped but it was cold enough for gloves, and we set out toward St Privat-d’Allier, about 7.2 km away. By then the rain had stopped. We walked through misty farm fields, with our 3 Montbonnet friends, Janine, Penny and Veronica a couple of hundred feet behind us. The climb grew steeper and they caught up with us as we took a breather. 

Annie: As we entered into a forested area, the mist moved around the mountains, letting a few rays of sun in. It was excellent walking weather, and the changing light made the landscape magical. We walked through first through a pine forest, then through fields and farm lands, until we hit our first stop St Privat. 

St Privat-d'Allier

Interior of Eglise St Privat

Dave and I climbed through the small village to the old church [fine views of the valley]. We read a little about the evil overlords of the area during the Wars of Religion. Then we climbed down into the little town. I bought a slice of flan at the Boulangerie and ordered a sandwich: jambon-buerre. Quelle surprise! We had a quick coffee at the Bar Tabac where we caught up with our friends. Then we set off again.

Dave: The 2 of us began the climb out town on a small D road. But soon we took a sharp left off that road onto a much narrower footpath that headed downhill through a meadow, over a brook which we had to ford, and then up into woods. Lots of up and down on the path which occasionally widened into a trail.   

View from Rochegude

Soon we had reached Rochegude:, a teeny village, with a rocky crag topped with castle ruin and tiny medieval chapel. Splendid views.

 Annie: By that time [close to 11:30] the rain started again in earnest. We were obliged to eat our petite sandwich in the dark, dreary chapel. Just as we finished up, a face appeared in the doorway: Veronica! She and the 2 Australians had caught up with us. The five of us finished the rest of walk together into Monistrol (about 4 km). The descent from Rochegude was rocky, muddy and very slick. But the path finally leveled off and opened up onto a field.

Dave: We walked through Pratclaux on a rare, relatively flat plain and it began clearing. We had one other steep descent through woods, this one was shorter. The final 1.5 km of the walk were downhill on a road. The 5 of us made it into Monistrol by about 2:30pm.

Annie: Our Gite, "Au Ricochet," was very different from last night. Dave and I basically have a private room, and there are 2 showers and bathrooms on our floor. We had a lovely dinner of carrot and lentil salads, sausage and a creamy potato dish and then Flan for dessert. After dinner, the pilgrims (about 16) had Tisanes and coffee in the loft, and just mixed . I spoke with a couple from Anger and a Dutch couple.

The hill outside of Monistrol we would have to climb the next day

Monistrol d'Allier