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| René and Susan. |
Day three and we were beginning to get into a morning routine: wake up early, stuff everything we had spread out into the packs, brush teeth, and get dressed. We set off from La Margeride to find breakfast and lunch. We found a small bakery for coffee and a croissant, a small grocery for yogurt and apples, and a boulangerie for a pain complete.
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| Typical view |
We walked out of town and then walked uphill. We passed some people and behind us we saw the large group of French hikers from day 1. We caught up with the sisters. This was their last day of hiking. They were sad to be leaving, but they had decided that they definitely would be back to continue walking. They had made arrangements with a baggage service to be picked up and driven to the train station. They were walking with great determination to be able to make it to just past Sauvage for mid-afternoon.
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| Overcast all day. |
The walk was through forests and farmers fields and through little villages. It was overcast and quite chilly during the day. We were down to shorts and a t-shirt for most of the day, taking the fleece on and off. It was a tough day even though it was short.
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| Lunch |
We had our mid-morning snack of nuts and raisins, and lunch was bread, yogurt and an apple. The lunch spot was a cute picnic area with three tables, some benches and a WC! The WC had toilet paper, a toilet seat, a sink and it was clean! I was so grateful. We ate lunch accompanied by a farm dog who had followed us. He looked at us as if he wanted to be fed, and it seemed like he had been fed by pilgrims at this spot before. We were worried that the dog would continue to follow us, but as we walked up the hill out of town, the dog stopped at some invisible border, and turned and walked back.
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| Sign for Auberge du Sauvage en Gevaudan at the edge of the property |
The walk into
Domaine du Sauvage was very tough uphill climb. We then we came to a clearing and saw a long winding path which seemed to lead to a group of buildings. We saw the sisters on the path and finally caught up to them as we got to the buildings and they were leaving. They had precious time to be able to make it to their pickup and couldn't stop and talk.
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| One of the buildings |
We had a private double room with toilet and shower across the hall. It was very clean, but very spare. We spent the late afternoon showering, washing clothes, and napping.
Dinner was back in the main hall. The large group of French hikers were present for supper. We sat with a group of 9 men who were testing hiking boots. They were walking 1000 kms. Supper was family style: vegetable soup, potatoes and beef, cheese and an apple tart, all homemade all with local products. At the end of the meal the server, who was an farmer, gave the history of the property and the farm. The local farmers had formed a cooperative, renovated the farm buildings as lodging for hikers and formed an outlet for their local products. The meat, milk, cheese, butter, jams and honey were used in the meals served and were for purchase at the little store. Their story of combining agriculture with tourism was one which we would hear again.
We walked outside back to our room. It was dark and humid and cold.
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