Oct 21, Day 15: Rocamadour to Labastide-Murat (28 km)

Morning in Rocamadour.
René on the empty streets of Rocamadour.
We decided to treat ourselves to the breakfast buffet at the Best Western.  We knew that the Best Western breakfast buffets in Europe were good.  The scrambled eggs were wonderful, we ate ham and cheese, croissants, bread, butter, fig jam, juice, café au lait and hot chocolate.  We were not embarrassed by the large quantity of food as we were walking 29 km and we had few lunch supplies.  We were full but we had a long day ahead.

Looking back at Rocamadour.
Walking over to another valley.
We walked straight up out of Rocamadour.  It was not as strenuous as the walk out of Conques and we had beautiful views of the valley.  We were now on the GR46. Using the profile of the walk I had counted seven hills to climb and I was trying to count them as we walked.  Mid-morning we passed Catherine, Phillippe and Christelle taking a break and we stopped to talk.

As we were walking I was thinking about how much I had enjoyed walking into and out of Conques and Rocamadour.  Both towns are very touristy and many people drive in for the day or are using a tour bus service.  The view that one gets driving into a town is very different than the experience of walking into the town.  On foot the town slowly reveals itself, through the trees and in the distance.  The exertion required to walk makes getting to the town very satisfying.  I think a hiker or a pilgrim has a different appreciation of the food and accommodation services available in a touristy town than someone who drove there.

Beautiful sunny day.
We saw no other pilgrims the rest of the day.  We also saw very few other people, cyclists, farmers or cars.  We walked along small roads and some farm paths.  We walked 29 km, which was pretty long, but the differences in elevation were not as pronounced as the section before Conques.

Bridge over highway.
We had a small lunch of an apple and some peanuts while sitting on the side of the path.

We were staying at a chambre d'hôtes (bed and breakfast) just a little way outside of Labastide-Murat.  We had supper and breakfast included, but we stopped at the large Carrefour grocery store on the way to the gîte to purchase tomorrow's lunch: apple, Cantal cheese, and baguette.

The owners of the gîte were from the Netherlands.  Over supper of salad, stew and dessert, they told us of the region and how they ended up in France.  We were dining with another French couple, and the conversation turned again to how cold it is in Canada, and how much better the economic situation is, and how much more generous the pension plan is.  We were glad to dissuade them of some of the misconceptions of Canada.  We talked late into the evening and we were glad to get to bed.


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