Saturday, May 20
We had a great stay in Espalion last night. Our room was spacious and even better, had a clothes washer! We took advantage of that as our clothes were in dire need of a good washing. Another light dinner in the room and a good Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. In the morning, our host’s husband prepared fresh breakfast treats.
Sadly, our camino friend from the infamous dinner in Saugues is quite ill, suffering fever, chills, congestion, and fatigue, the typical Covid symptoms. We’ll be thinking of him today.
The entire route from Saint-Côme-d’Olt to Estaing is a UNESCO World Heritage Route so lots to see today. But first I’ll take a moment to decipher “Official Guide Speak”. When the Guide says, “After passing through a cluster of houses, join a footpath through woods (0.5km)”, it really means: “See the footpath that goes straight up? The one with rocks and dirt that even the French decided was too steep and added log terracing and wood chips? Take that. It’s only a 35% grade. By the end your Achilles tendons will be stretched as far as Nijinsky’s. If you’re a wicked fast bird with internal homing flying at 50,000 feet with the jet stream, you can fly directly and reach your destination after .5km. If you’re a plodding human, however, you’ll walk straight up for at least 1km, and then scare yourself to death descending a similar distance through muddy bogs, roots, and slippery rocks.” My takeaway? Read guidebooks skeptically!
To see the great sites along the way, watch Dave’s video – I was too busy watching where I put my feet to take pictures!
Around 2:30pm we arrived at Estaing, a beautiful medieval town on the Olt/Lot River. Our hotel was fortuitously situated across the main plaza from the 15th century Gothic Èglise Saint Fleuret.
Exhausted from our easy stroll thought the woods we ordered (drumroll please) salads. And look what arrived! Layered salad: cabbage, lettuce, corn, rice, carrots, tomatoes, cornichon, and olives with bread and eggs.
Which became…yummy!
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