Oct 13, Day 8: Espalion to Massip (25.9 km)

Breakfast with a view (Espalion)
We awoke and packed.  It was dark both because the sun rose at about 8h00 and because it was overcast.  We found coffee at the bar next door to the hotel, lunch supplies and breakfast yogurt at a little grocery and I stayed with the packs as René went off in the light rain to find croissants.

Susan struggling through blister pain.



Today was a bit of a blur, because it was so tough. I thought that the worst had been days five and seven, but today was far worse.  It was all climbs up and down.  I was still struggling with a blister on my little toe, and I was tired from a week of walking 8 hours a day

What?  Susan is smiling?
Mid-morning we came across a church and wandered inside.  We discovered that there was a staircase to the top of the church so we climbed the tower, without backpacks, and got a good view. Outside the church we met Tilman, a German pilgrim, who was trying to reserve accommodation for the night.  We happily shared the name of our reservation for the night and asked if he needed some help with French.
Backpacks discarded for walk up to church.
A little later we walked up to another tiny church, and had a short visit.  Soon after I had a tumble down a rocky path and I scraped both shins.  There was more blood than what the scrapes really signified and we spent some time using tissues and water to get the dirt and blood off my legs.

View of Estaing from across the river at our lunch spot.
The plan had been to cross to Estaing and visit the village, but after the fall, and with the pain from my blister and the exhaustion, all I wanted to do was stop walking.  We decided to have lunch across from Estaing.  Lunch was cheese, bread and cookies.

A hanging spot for our packs while we took a break.
The afternoon was more of a blur.  It was really tough mentally and physically.  René was trying to stay optimistic for me, yet he was worried about my ability to walk the whole way.  There were many challenging hills in the afternoon.  At a point we came across a sign describing the crosses marking the path, and counted seven until our destination.  Each cross had a description, date and distance statistics and a literary text, either a poem or a piece of philosophical prose.  We decided to take a break at each cross.

This was the day that I truly understood what all of the blogs had described about making the first step.  I was so physically sore and tired and I just wanted to stop walking.  We would stop at each cross, and I would be grateful for just standing still.  I would pause for a long while, longer than René would have stopped.  We would eventually have to move on, and it took all of my mental strength to get to the point of just taking one step.  I knew I could do it because I knew that the second step was a tiny bit easier, and the third even easier and then I would be walking again through the pain.  The physical body would take over from the mind.  But the first step was all mental exertion.

Spare but exceptionally clean room.
We arrived l'Orée du Chemin in the tiny hamlet of Le Massip.  There was a chalkboard welcome and instructions for room assignments and supper (for the two of us and Tilman)

Dessert of fromage blanc with jam and apple tart.
In the communal dining room we met the owner Stephan and his mother Françoise.  We were served a wonderfully delicious and filling supper.  Served family style we ate vegetable soup with croutons and cheese, then pasta with a stew of pork and chestnuts, then fromage blanc with jam, and an apple tart and wine.  The hosts were friendly and welcoming and told us a few stories about the farm and the lodging which we translated for Tilman.

Long communal table at l'Orée du Chemin 
After supper, Tilman, René and I sat and contemplated the walk the next day.  We realized that we would be passing the 200 km point during the day, and Tilman promised that he would mark the spot in some way.  I also came across a copy of "Marcher pour apprendre à aimer" by Gérard Trèves on the coffee table.  In it he suggests to walk the Le Puy-en-Velay to Conques route in 10 to 15 days. We were going to be walking into Conques tomorrow, day 9, and I was surprised to know that we would be walking in fewer days than the recommendation.


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