Following Linda and Russ: Monistrol d'Allier to La Clauze

This was a tiring day! The trail goes up and up from Monistrol - 500 metres in about 8 km, so it really gets the blood moving first thing in the morning! Fortunately the weather cooperated, and was cool and a bit foggy, but no rain. We stopped for lunch at Saugues, which is 11kms along, and we were more than ready for a break. The town has all the facilities needed, so we took advantage of the bank machine and pharmacy as well. On the way out of town we passed a grocery store that had green grapes from Italy sitting out front, and we couldn't resist picking up a few to munch as we walked. They were definitely as good as we had in Italy. Took several photos of rather strange sculptures in Saugues, all made out of wood, and obviously done by the same person.

The walk from Saugues to our destination of La Clauze was 7km, and felt like much further!! By noon the sun was out in full force, and there was no relief from it on the trail. The countryside was very green and beautiful, but were we so hot that we were just trudging along and trying to get there as quickly as possible. We do not do well in the afternoon heat! We arrived at La Clauze around 2pm, and were so thankful to be able to let ourselves into our gite (Gite-Chambres d'hôtes a la Ferme Au Repos d'Antan) where our hostess had thoughtfully left cold beer in the fridge for us! It's the little things....we also had a very nice private room & bath. After doing our mandatory laundry, we wandered around the village and took some photos. Met a couple of pilgrims from the UK who were resting in the shade before heading out to walk to the next town, which was 5 km away. We felt sorry for them, as they had not reserved accommodation far enough ahead, so ended up having to walk the extra distance in the heat. We immediately went back to our room and made two more bookings by phone (not as easy for us as it sounds!), so we are four nights ahead now. We have been told that things will quieten down after Conques, as lots of pilgrims end their walk there.

Dinner was communal, and again we ate with the French group we had met on our first night in Monbonnet. The hostess, Sonia, was amazing to watch - she not only produced dinner for twelve people, but cleaned up the dishes as we finished each course, put the dishes away, and was talking to the group while doing it! We had potato and zucchini soup, local ham, salad, and our first taste of aligot, a local specialty made from potatoes and several types of cheese. It was delicious. Dessert seemed to come in courses, with potted fresh cheese and rounds of hard cheese coming first, followed by baked custard made with fresh eggs and milk. We slept very well!

More soon....

Linda