At Roquefort

This town is nothing to do with cheese! Fortunately we found out yesterday so we didn’t walk in expecting to have delicious Roquefort cheese on tap! It was an easy 15 km walk, still mostly flat and still in the pine forest, with many sections of young trees, and lots of heather covering the ground. Very pretty. And we came back on to another section of the ex railway track, so that continued flat on a raised path and we didn’t have to go down and up in a few valleys.

Last night’s dinner at the chambres d’hôtes was really fun. Because Bourriot is so small everyone walking seemed to be staying there and it was full - there were 9 of us - the 2 French women (Anne and Michelle) that we had the last 2 nights with, another pair of French women that we had seen on and off for the last few days, a Dutch couple and a lone German man. And the hosts were a lovely friendly and warm couple, who made and served a delicious dinner. There was lots of camaraderie - we spoke English with the Dutch, whose French was much like ours, French with the French and the Dutch spoke German with the German man as he had been brought up in East Germany and had only been taught Russian in school! A fun dinner. The 4 French women would all be in their seventies I think, and they are all carrying full packs, not having bags sent on like us….very tough!

We arrived quite early in this town, about 12.30, and had our lunch on a bench and then went to a bar for coffee/chocolate and then went to find the hotel. Got there and found a sign saying that reception was closed from 12 - 5…about to go and find somewhere to sit and wait and a car pulled up and a girl said “madame Marzouk?” and it was the hotel people come to let us in as they were expecting us!! So nice, and lovely couple. We have a gorgeous huge room, with a little circular room on one corner, and when you look at the building there are pointy bits like a fairy castle, and this is one of those bits!

So we are very happy, and just a little while ago we had a knock at the door and there was Anne - she and Michelle had come to have an aperitif with us! So we went down and had a local aperitif - floc - and have arranged to meet them again on Saturday in Mont de Marsan to do it again. We enjoy them a lot, and practising our French…Dinner tonight at the hotel.Read more