Day 1 • Figeac to Espagnac, 27 km

Today our walk begins.

Although we haven't walked the Cele Valley variant before, the walk to Espagnac began with a sense of familiarity, at least in parts. Let me explain. The Cele Valley walk is a variant of the Camino Le Puy - taking a different and longer path between Figeac and Cahors. It's a popular variant for those who have a little more time to explore the Cele Valley. Another is the Rocamadour variant - maybe we will walk that one day.

The first 12 kms of today's walk was on the 'usual' Camino path, before splitting off just before the village of Beduer. As we made the climb out of Figeac, The French and I talked about how we had both walked this section before, but not together. It was way back in April 2014. The French had started from Le Puy on 1 April, and I began three days later. We worked out that by the time we were walking this section, we were two days apart. Strange to consider that a chance meeting in little more than a week's time would change both our lives. ❤️

We soon came across a delightful couple from Paris, who were making their way slowly up the hill. They apologised for their slow walking - we didn't mind - but explained that they had caught the overnight bus from Paris to Figeac and only arrived in Figeac at 6am. They had breakfast and then started walking. At first I thought I couldn't imagine walking after that 8 hour overnight bus ride. But then I realised that a few hours walk in the fresh air would in fact be an ideal way to stretch the legs.

We fell into an easy pattern and enjoyed a delightful hour and more chatting and exchanging stories. Fortunately for me, although I stumbled along in French, I spoke mostly with the lady and she spoke excellent English. She told me that, while she was born and raised in France, her grandmother was English and she had always had an interest in the language. She had spent a year on a student exchange in the US, staying with a family. I'd say they were older than The French and I by a few years - so my rough calculations made me think that her time living in the US was probably in the 60s. What an adventure. It was a delightful interlude and, as often happens, with conversation the kilometres fly by. We eventually bid them 'bon chemin' at Feycelles, as they were stopping soon after and we had many hours ahead of us.

About an hour later we came to the split in the paths - the 'usual' Camino le Puy path on the left. And the Cele Variant slightly to the right but more or less straight ahead. It struck me then that it could be easy to miss. If you were daydreaming, as I often am, the natural inclination would be to continue straight on, thereby missing the main path. With that thought in mind, it was funny to see a sign a little further on (photo below) saying 'Itineraire GR 651 Vallée du Célé. ATTENTION. vous n'etes plus sur le GR 65!' The last part meaning - You are no longer on the GR 65! There was another a little further along, in case you missed this first one. I'm sure there have been many walkers over the years grateful this 'gentle reminder'.

By way of explanation, most of the major hiking paths in France (including Camino paths) are denoted by a GR number GR stands for Grande Randonnée - translates to 'Great (as in long) Hike' ). Smaller paths are PRs - petits randonnées. The GR 65 is the Camino le Puy path; the Cele Valley Variant is the GR 651.

By the time we arrived at Beduer, we were almost halfway and thankfully we were able to have a coffee and something to eat. It was a great start to our Cele Valley walk. 😎Okumaya devam et