Day 6 - French Cheese and Aligot : Lajo to Aumont Aubrac

The village of Lajo was very small, and our stay there was very peaceful.  However, one thing to note is that we had no cell service while there and could not connect to the internet.  The owner of the place we stayed in said that there is often no service in this sector (not just that town), sometimes for months at a time.  While this was a minor irritation in terms of writing this blog, it was a bit more of a problem for making reservations.  Rachel was absolutely wonderful to us, and phoned ahead to book our next set of accommodations for the busy weekend, but a lack of connectivity has been something we have struggled with since we arrived.

Anyway, we began today with a walk down a connecting trail, which joined up to GR4, and that took us back to GR65.  It was a lovely walk down a forested track, and once again the weather was great.

 

At first we were a little concerned about getting lost, but everything was well marked.  One of the things we have noticed is that GR65 and the Chemin Compostelle are marked very clearly and very well here.  The yellow arrows that are spray painted along the trail in Spain do not exist.  Instead, there are more discrete markings, and they are farther apart, but whenever there is a question about which way to go the correct option is clearly marked.

 

The first large town we came to was St Alban sur Limagnole.  This was a very nice looking town, and one of the larger ones we passed through.  There was a lovey church in the middle, and a very nice looking gite opposite.  If you have a chance to stay there, I think this town might have a lot to offer.  We stopped in a bakery and bought some cookies and some bread with dried fruit baked into it.  This was very tasty!

 

 

Our guidebook suggested that the walk today should be mostly downhill, but it seemed like a disproportionate amount of uphill for that description to be considered accurate.  Also, it was the first quite hot day we have had. 

 

 

We passed through the charming village of Les Estrets, and then stopped around 2pm for a picnic in the shade of an abandoned field-stone building in the hamlet of Bigose.  We enjoyed our baked goods and the shade enormously.

 

As we continued to climb later in the afternoon we came across a stretch of pine forest with a unique pilgrim shelter at the side of the trail.

 

 We started to see quite a few cows

 

And we watched a very welcome breeze blowing through wheat fields and looking like waves!

We finally arrived in Aumont Aubrac around 3pm, and received a very warm welcome from the proprietors of the Le 24 Chambre d'hotes.

We were offered water, and a drink made from berry cordial or mint cordial and water. The lady spoke fluent English, having taught French in the US for quite some years, and she was happy to tell us about the history of the region and the house, and her experiences as a former pilgrim on the way.  It was very interesting indeed.  We were also given the use of a wonderful grassy courtyard out behind the hotel, and provided with a detailed list of places eat.

We explored the town, visited the church, and eventually headed to Les Prunieres restaurant, which serves local delicacies.

We of course ordered Aligot, which is a regional dish made of mashed potatoes, garlic, butter, and Aubrac cheese.  Apparently it is a peasant dish, traditionally prepared and eaten by the cow herders when they were up on the plateau.  It was indeed delicious!

 

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Practical Information:
Distance: 25.7 km

Cumulative ascent:app. 478 m

Cumulative descent: 829 m

Max Temperature: 26˚C

Accommodations: Le 24