Today was long, very long. After the ascents and descents of yesterday, I was happy to have a more level route today, but it was long. 32.5km when I add up all the sections
I started out from Saugues shortly after 08:00, and was happy to be walking in the cool of the morning. The early part of the route is physically easy, going through the hamlet of le Pinet and the village of la Clauze, to reach le Falzet at 10km. There is a house there which provides refreshments for a modest price, and even though it was still morning, I was glad to have a beer.
Then it was on through le Villeret d’Apchier to Chazeaux at 15km, where another enterprising local also offered refreshments and another beer was gladly purchased. And then it was another 4.5km (19.5km in total to le Sauvage, where it was possible to purchase a full lunch.
Once refreshed, it was on to St. Roch. This saint is venerated in many places, but apparently especially so in this part of France. There is a local spring associated with him, and a nearby church.
From there, the route is mainly downhill, bypassing a number of villages until it comes to le Rouget, so named because of the red stone found in the area, and on then to St. Alban sur Limagnole. And that is where I am staying tonight in a local gite. I had dinner here. Even after having lunch, which is itself unusual, I was hungry and dinner was welcome.
It is worth commenting on a few aspects of today. First, it must be said that this route is comparatively busy. Last year, when walking from Geneva to Le Puy, there were relatively few walkers on the route, but this time there are many. Several groups were leaving Saugues at the same time that I was, but they get strung out and dispersed as the day progresses. I expect I will see many of the same people tomorrow and other days.
One of the other features on this part of the route is the number of stone crosses. They seem to be everywhere. Here are just a few. Note the red stone (Rouget) on the third one.
I said that today was long, so the step count is high:47827 steps ttoday
Walkingman 