• Day 13 Livinhac le Haut to Figeac

    September 18 in France ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    After a very festive night singing under the grapevine and the guitar playing of a very handsome young Frenchman plus a song or two by my handsome husband we went to bed.
    Had a terrible sleep on a bed with thick waterproofing rubber. The breakfast was very underwhelming with toasted dry bread but nice homemade jam plus the coffee was good. We farewelled Michelino and off we set on a misty cool morning. Soon the mist lifted and it was to be another pretty hot day. I would call today's walk an amble through rural areas and going through the back of farm sheds and cow sheds so many smells. I actually love the sweet smell of hay and silage. Unfortunately we had not banked on not many villages along the way but did stop for coffee and almond cake outside another romanesque church.
    That was the last food we found but luckily we had nuts and sweets in our bags.
    In the last couple of hours of the walk when the heat was intense Brian and I had run dry of water but luckily 4 chirpy French walkers came along and filled our bottles. All in the pilgrim spirit.
    The countryside was green and lush and lots of big trees especially chestnuts so nice to have a midday rest under them.
    We finally arrived in Figeac which looks to be a beautiful old city and very much an iconic pilgrim city. It was founded in 751 by Pepin the Short ( not a great name) who had just won a fierce battle and saw a flock of doves arise so decided to build here. It was taken over by Nazis in WW2 and many residents were sent off to concentration camps.
    Today there is another strike on and there seems quite a bit of noise out on the street. The hotel here is gorgeous with an outdoor garden and big clean rooms. Bliss!
    I couldn't help but think of the song mad dogs and English men out in the midday sun as we walked along today but we got here . 25 km today.
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