Idyllic walk to La Coquille

Today was maybe the most beautiful walk yet! We were glad to leave our weird and rather seedy hotel this morning….neither of us slept very well - I did sleep in my silk sheet which is never relaxing really, and we left the light on as bedbugs come out in the dark…there may have been none at all, but I wasn’t prepared to risk it!! Dinner last night was ok….not a normal (to us) French experience…but the food was fine. It was like we had another time, buffet entrées, buffet dessert, and you ordered your main. I had kidneys in a Madeira sauce, and Amr had sausages…the guy who runs the place is nice enough - a bit of a slob, but friendly - Amr asked him what his background was and it turns out his family was Jewish living in Spain originally. They left centuries ago when Spain banished the Jews and his family changed their name and went to Tunisia where he was born but he has now left as the Middle East not a Jew friendly place. The setup a little weird - he has a much younger wife and a small child - he is about Amr’s age Amr reckons. The hotel is really a truckie eatery, and was quite busy for dinner, but the hotel part is not his forte!

So we set off quite early this morning in the very cool air - about 10°, and it remained comfortably cool most of the day. Another cloudless day. But we walked all day through the most gorgeous scenery. We are now in the green Périgord, and where we walked is a Parc Naturel - a huge area of park, with farms and little hamlets tucked in sometimes. We walked through countless tree tunnels, mostly chestnuts, between fields of sheep and cattle, and it was fairly level….no steep inclines, though we did come up to La Coquille. It was just pure beauty…

And am happy to say that we are at a very nice hotel tonight!! Our bags arrived and we feel back to normal after last night, and should sleep well…dinner is here, so it is all easy. We have a nice room with a bathroom - not a room with the bathroom in the bedroom, and no silk sleeping sheet tonight.

To continue the hat saga - I forgot to mention that the hat Amr is lending me is the Tilley hat that they (the Tilley people) replaced when he lost his hat in a train in Lyon 6 years ago! I remember that he got sympathy (especially from Simon and Peter) for that loss…and he has now unpacked his old Borsalino and wore it today - it looks rather battered and makes him look a bit like a hobo, but it protects his scalp - and I think it is straightening out!Read more