Distance: 12 miles. elevation gain: 759 feet

After a leisurely start to the day, again, we enjoyed our breakfast of two types of bread, butter, jam, yogurt, orange juice, an apple and tea and coffee. This is a lot of bread! We have been eating it for lunches along the way, but it’s still a lot of bread…

The path today was good with a mix of flat and hills, but not as steep as the last couple days. The weather was gorgeous but was rather warm after Noon.

We arrived at our destination around 3 pm and were welcomed at Le Chat Botté Chambres et Table d’hôte sur réservation. Isn’t that a long name?

We were warmly welcomed and shown to our room. It really is beautiful. However…

What I didn’t mention above was the unique private bathroom we have in our room. Yes we have a full bath but there is no door. Instead we have a 3-section room divider with lots of peek a boo decorative holes in it. So I added my rain poncho to beef up the privacy. It doesn’t quite “cover” the room but it’s better than nothing!

Tracie’s turn to shower so I went outside to see what I could find. We both needed money and would love to find a cold drink. I found an open boulangerie and though I wasn’t hungry at all, was hoping they might have coffee. I saw espresso cups and a machine so figured I was in luck. When my turn came I asked for an espresso and she said in very good English that she had just cleaned the machine and wasn’t serving coffee. I ordered an Orangina instead along with a Madeline cookie. She said to me “only one, not two? I said one please and she gave me two and charged me for one. This is how nice everyone has been.

Tracie met me after her shower and just as she was sitting down, a young woman walked out of the boulangerie with a cake and a coffee! I asked her nicely how she was able to get a coffee and apparently the woman behind the counter was feeling guilty about so many people wanting coffee that she turned the machine back on! I ordered an espresso for myself and an Orangina for Tracie.

Maria, the woman with the coffee, joined us while we sipped our drinks and she finished hers. She’s Swiss, doesn’t speak much French but understands more than I do. She’s around 25, just finished her bachelor program and is going to work on her masters in a field that involves scuba diving. We didn’t get into specifics but she has a job waiting for her after 4 months off, so she’s hoping to walk from Moissac to Finistere. Moissac is maybe 50 km further/longer than where we began. She was very cute.

Dinner was next. Oh my what a meal. First was Swiss cheese cubes and smoked Cheetos (most interesting appetizer ever!), next a most delicious omelette with spinach and crème fraiche, then cacciatore chicken and veggies with a side of potatoes and finally dessert poached pear and ice cream in a vanilla sauce. Wowza! Good thing we burn so many calories daily…

Our bedtime reminders have gone off and I must be finished with this post. Good night!

#GR65inFrance #viaPodiensis