Day 15: Sainte-Eulalie to Marcilhac-sur-Célé (18 kms)

Dinner last night

Our dinner last night included two French couples who were touring on motorcycles. We all sat down at 7:30 for a delicious meal. It started with a glass of a French version of limoncello (homemade and quite good), then it was quiche followed by shepherd's pie, again with a French twist, duck confit instead of ground beef, then goat cheese, and coffee. Red wine, from Cahors, was served with dinner. Everything was terrific. Our hostess is a great cook. The duck confit shepherd's pie was a big hit (no leftovers). The following morning we breakfasted at 8:00 and hit the Chemin just before 9:00. It was a warm morning with low hanging mists filling the valley. But, you just knew it wasn't going to last long. So, we started our walk wearing t shirts and that proved to be sufficient. The temperatures went from about 55 F to 70 F over the course of the day. The cloud cover stayed with us most of the day and made walking that much easier. The initial part of the walk from St. Eulalie to Espagnac was along the river under a canopy of trees. At Espagnac Garda and Klara, our Icelandic friends, stayed on the GR651, while Robin and I walked the road (D41) into Brengues. At Bregues we eased past a funeral at the church, stopped for a coffee and a sandwich to go, and rejoined the GR651 to Saint Sulpice and then on into Marcilhac. The most stunning scenery by far was found as we descended into Saint Sulpice. Here we found distant views of another village clinging to a cliff face, with a more recent village clustered in the valley below. It was quite a sight. We stopped for a roadside sandwich, and the set off once again through lush green wheat fields with waist high plants swaying to the vagueries of the valley winds. It was soon out of Eden as we climbed steep rocky trails to reach the ridge above the valley floor. Once on the ridge we set course for Marcilhac along the GR651. We plodded along this section, as it offered little in the way interesting views. The trail was flat for a good portion, but then we had a rocky descent, to match the equally rocky ascent, down onto the road. We followed this road beyond where the GR 651 split off as we were searching for our lodging for the night, the Chambre d'Hòte (B&B) Le Mas del Cap. Finally, after checking with a neighbor we got ourselves sorted out and ambled, hot and thirsty, into the Mas del Cap around 3:00. As is our routine, we have now done the wash, hung it out, and are now enjoying a cold beer as this blog post comes together. Robin is doing something similar for her Facebook group. Our hostess has dinner set for 7:00, so Robin and I will just unwind a bit and watch the chickens, reminding ourselves to be thankful for these peaceful moments in the French countryside as we walk this memorable pilgrim road.

The 10th century pilgrim church in the morning mists

Down the rabbit hole and onto the GR651

Church at Espagnac

Santiago us just through here

Saint Sulpice

Another rocky trail

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