Oct 22, Day 16: Labastide-Murat to Vers (27.5 km)

Tough!  Seven hours of walking almost non-stop.  Who said that this was a good idea?  Why do people subject themselves to this torture?  All day I dream of not walking.  Sitting, lying down, standing still, just no walking.

A day of 26 km is too much, walking 28 km is way too much, and suffering through 30 km is torture.

Dog and cat trying to help us get out.
We had a very silly start to the day.  We could not open the main door to the building we were sleeping in.  We tried banging on the door and yelling out the window.  Finally René climbed out of the window.  We learned that the door is sticky and we had needed to push on it really hard.  The owners' dog and cat were trying to help us but could not reach the door handle...


We ate breakfast back in the dining room with the two hosts and the two guests from last night.  Coffee, croissants, slices of baguette, butter and homemade jam; all delicious, but we ate quickly because we knew we had a long day ahead of us, and we were already late.


The rain was spitting a little bit as we began but not enough to put on the ponchos.  We walked past farmers fields until we reached the only little town along the way, then all along the valley.  Some of the time were were walking on the river bed which was now dried up and grown over.  There were even some very recent houses being built on the grassy river bed.


It was past noon and we needed to stop and eat.  One of the customs which I hold sacred, even while walking in the rain in the middle of nowhere, is to sit while eating.  I like to take off the pack, get out the food, sit somewhere, take a break, enjoy the food and be thankful for it, and then continue.  There was not a bench nor a table nor shelter from the rain.  The GR6 and the GR46, which we were now on, are very different from the GR65, the main pilgrim route, and we were making comparisons along the way.  There are many more conveniences along the GR65: towns, stores, gîtes, benches, WCs, and shelters.

Finally at 13h00 I was getting cranky and frustrated and we decided we would settle for anything.  On the side of the path there were a couple of old fallen tree trunks still wet from the rain.  I had a plastic shopping bag which I cut in half and spread over the wet, we took off the packs and placed them on the gravel path and ate lunch.  Cheese, baguette, and four squares of chocolate to help the spirits.

The afternoon was exhausting and never ending.  The route took us over many pebbly paths with pebbles just the right size to make me have very sore feet.  We finally arrived in Vers (pronounce the "s") at La Truite Dorée, where we had supper and breakfast included.

Soupe de poissons maison et sa garniture.

Susan is so tired, but the food is so good.
Hours and hours of walking forces a person to think.  I had been analyzing the daily patterns of difficult and joyful events.  I noticed that a day's difficult event was accompanied by a joyful event.  I was also noticing that the extent of the difficult event was matched by a joyful event of similar but opposite strength.  Today the walk was long and exhausting.  Supper was delicious joyfulness.

We got to order from the €27 menu.  We had fish soup with croutons, rouille and grated cheese, then a steak with scalloped potatoes and ratatouille.  For dessert, I had the tart with ice cream, and René had profiteroles.  It was so good and we were stuffed.

The restaurant was very full for a Thursday night.  We figured that most of the people must have driven from Cahors for the evening.  We would not be in Cahors before another whole day of walking.

Also at dinner we received a nice surprise in the form of a note from Catherine, Christelle, and Phillippe.  They were wishing us well and they signed the note "les rescapés" (the survivors).


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