Our Walk Along the Via Podiensis (GR 65)

We spent last night in a four person room with two Australian roommates. We all got up around 6:40am, at which point we discovered that the laundry we washed last night had yet to dry. We put it in the dryer, and while downstairs discovered that breakfast was being delivered to the Gite from down the street. Sean went foraging, and we soon had a breakfast of coffee, orange juice, baguettes and jams. We ate in the communal room downstairs, which soon became a bit chaotic due to everyone re-packing their bags. This was the first Gite in France where we had been asked to leave our backpacks downstairs to reduce the likelihood of bedbugs. We said goodbye to our Australian roommates, and the couple from Calgary we had met at breakfast, and headed out around 7:30. Thankfully this morning was cloudy, which gave us some relief during the steep climb out of Estaing. Some of the climb out of the valley was along paved roads, but periodically the path would divert to cut across the switch...

Today began very early, when the abbey bells woke us up at 5:00am. We got up and went to Vigils in the church at 5:30, which was sung by six nuns. The church was very simple, and it had amazing acoustics! It was a magical experience to sit in the church and watch the sun rise through the windows behind the alter. The entire abbey had such an air of peace and quiet, it was difficult to leave. Though I have to admit to being somewhat unnerved at having to remain completely silent throughout our stay and the services. We were given breakfast by ourselves in the abbey, which was the usual baguettes and jam, but it was accompanied by the most amazing drinking chocolate I have ever tasted!  After this we began the hike back out of the valley.  The fantastic views and the cool morning air made walking quite enjoyable, and we took the feeling of peace from the abbey with us. We reached Espalion around 9:30, and stopped to mail some chocolate to my grandmother (who supported our ...