The weather was dry though the skies were grey as I stepped off the night train at Cahors this morning. I wasted no time but made straight for where the GR65 route crosses the river on the Pont Valentré. The bridge is a medieval structure granted UNESCO heritage status, and it is easy to see why as you go across. The candelabra blossoms on the chestnut trees offered hope of warmer days to come. I was still wearing a jacket, though it would come off later as the day warmed up.
From the bridge, the route ascends steeply into the hill beyond, and close to the top it turns left, going south. In the course of the ascent, there is a last chance to look back at the bridge and the town. Once the route turns south, it also flattens out. It followed a mixture of forest tracks and roads as it went through the woods of Quercy towards la Roziére.
The route does not go into la Roziére, but skirts the northern and eastern parts of that village on its way south
After that, the route definitely did not follow the guidebook. The guidebook says that it is 5km for la Roziére to the village of La Bastide-Marnhac, but my step counter reckons it to be more like 8km. And the leatures of the landscape do not match the route shown in the guidebook. But in spite of the confusion this caused, I still reached La Bastide-Marnhac shortly after 10:30, which was perfect time for my first beer of the day.
From La Bastide-Marnhac, the route goes in a south-westerly direction, mostly through featurelsss scrub land for about 10km to reach Lascabanes. That scrubland is still mostly oak, but there are few grand trees, and many seem more like bushes than real trees. But approaching Lascabanes, there are fields, and the village itself is quite pretty. It had a little temporary snack bar, a caravan that sold bier and pizza, so even though it was after 2pm, it was still a good place to stop and have lunch.
From Lascabanes, the route goes on in a generally westerly direction. It soon comes the La Chappelle St. Jean, a small wayside church.
And from there, it continues on to Montcuq. Montcuq is a small town, pretty, but not exceptional, and I had arracnged accommodation there for the night.
There were several instances today when I was reminded that this is a pilgrimage route, with either statues of St. James, or scallop shell decorations in evidence.
Part of why I like to walk in May is that this is flowering season. I recognized the red poppies which were abundant along the way. The oil seed rape in this area is not quite at its most yellow, but it is still able to decorate the landscape. And then there are other flowers that I am not familiar with. And I am sure there will be more of those in the days to come.
The total step count for the day was 55292.
Walkingman 