Richardson Rambles

Tuesday, May 16 – Day 4

The proprietors of the Château prepared a lovely breakfast for us (their only guests) to fuel our travels.

As we wound our way over the 10 miles from St.-Alban-sur-Limagnole to Aumont-Aubrac, the weather continued to disappoint; cold, windy, and cloudy.  Having gotten a late start, we had a late lunch and just snacked for dinner.

Wednesday, May 17 – Day 5 on the Chemin du Puy

Another late start and another 10 miles.  That seems to be our sweet spot.  The hike across the Aubrac plateau was magnificent, but the winds were really fierce.  The terrain began to change as we crossed vast plains with large boulders and tons of rock walls, built by ingenious farmers who needed to move the rocks anyway to utilize the land.  There were also several boggy areas that we traversed via boardwalks.  Arriving in Nasbinals, we stopped for our typical afternoon pick-me-up.  I have to say I’ve been quite impressed with the region’s white wines, and Dave has discovered Affligem blonde au pression (Affligem blonde beer on tap).  He even knows how to order it in a 500ml glass!

Nasbinals, a town of 2,500 people is one of the prettiest we’ve seen.

However, to our surprise we were booked into the most humble lodging this magnificent town had to offer!  Oh well, we enjoyed a picnic dinner in our room, slept quite comfortably in our teeny room, and had a simple breakfast the following morning.

Thursday, May 18 – Day 6 on the Chemin du Puy

Today was our final day on the Aubrac plateau.  Our guidebook mentioned only good things about the plateau, but when we arrived at the end of it, after passing high, wind-swept expanses of land and hiking over several rises known for their great snow-shoeing trails (!) we discovered a sign welcoming weary pilgrims to “the end of Hell”.  Apparently, French guardians of the Chemin felt that honesty was the best policy – at least after the “horror” of the previous eight miles.  Both quotes are their words, not mine.  I actually didn’t think it was that bad.  A two-mile rocky descent into St. Chély d’Aubrac followed, and we were blessed with some sun finally.

While we saw no chickens crossing the road, we did see a couple of these rare creatures:

European Weasel (une belette)