Montbonnet to Monistrol d'Allier

First of all, my previous post had today's date on it, and should have been for Sep.8, which was yesterday. We had no wifi last night so I drafted the post ahead of time and published it today. Now I know that I need to change the date from the automatic setting!

Last night was very interesting at the gite, as we were invited to have a pre-dinner glass of wine with a large French group staying there. They were quite lively and entertaining, and only one man spoke any English, so he acted as our translator! Dinner was at a long communal table, and we got acquainted with our roommates, a retired couple who live near Paris and are walking for a few days. They spoke enough English that we were able to visit, which was nice. Dinner consisted of a lovely green tuna salad, local sausages and mashed potatoes, with dessert being a a selection of fresh cheese, and a fruit tart. And nice table wine of course! As the weather had deteriorated in late afternoon, there was much chitchat (mostly in French) about the forecast, and the possible poor conditions on one steep downhill section of the walk tomorrow. We were strongly advised by the gite owner to take the road rather than attempting that section, as the trail would be too dangerous when wet. That is what we decided to do, and when we set out this morning we were prepared for rain. The weather gods were good to us though, and it was beautiful for walking, cool and fresh and no precipitation! We stayed on the trail until St. Privat d'Allier then took the road from there to Monistrol d'Allier. The road walking was pleasant, as there was hardly any traffic, and the shoulders were soft grass to walk on, which really helps the feet! Scenery was lovely again....very pastoral and green. Lots of rock walls and houses that reminded me of Galicia in Spain.

We arrived at our destination today (Le Repos du Pelerin) at 11am, having just walked 13.6 km, and felt like we could keep going, but that would mean changing the reservations we had made for the next few days, so instead we sat outside the cafe and watched all the other pilgrims walk by on their way to Saugues. It was nice to see familiar faces, and we will likely connect with some of them further along. We had hoped to get out and take some photos this afternoon, but it is now raining again, so perhaps later.

Tomorrow is a longer distance for us (18.8 km), which we will enjoy. Here are a few photos that Russ took of the walk today. Bye for now!

Linda

 

Escargots on the trail

Saint-Privat d'Allier

 

Tourist Priest

 

River d'Allier in Monistrol-d'Allier

 

 

Posted with Blogsy