Day 17 - Blessings and Challenges : Figeac to Lacapelle Marival

This morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast and a musical send-off, during which the gite volunteers serenaded us with the song Ultreia! It was a festive beginning to a beautiful day of hiking. We set out from Figeac on the GR6, which is the alternate route to Rocamadour.

As silly as it sounds, because each day brings something new anyway, it felt very strange to be leaving the familiar GR65. As we hiked, this new trail also seemed to have a different feel, although it is difficult to describe just why that was.

The way out of Figeac was along a treed road beside the river. The first stretch was relatively flat, and gave the feeling of being out in nature. The path soon began climbing gently, first through countryside with cows and sheep, and later through pine forests. The views were panoramic and spectacular.

Around 10:30 we arrived in the village of Cardaillac. The village is inside an old fort, which is complete with a tower. It has been very well maintained, each house with a gorgeous garden, and it seems to be a tourist attraction. We discovered on entering the first part of the village that today is a holiday in France, and everything is closed. We were therefore delighted to discover a cafe at the entrance to the fort which was open, and which served coffee and a wonderful apple tart.

Thus fortified we continued on the hike. Later in the afternoon we came to a small lake, where a few people were fishing and picnicking, which kind of reminded us of the provincial parks in Ontario. It was a peaceful and beautiful spot to take a short break before continuing our upward climb.

The rest of the day was passed pleasantly, walking mostly upwards through open countryside. At one spot we came across a family of baby foxes playing and chasing each other through a field. It was quite exciting, but they were too far away to be visible in a photo.

We arrived in the town of Lacapelle Marival around 3:00pm. Our English guidebook described it as an important crossroads, which was developed at the end of the 13^th century when Geraud de Cardillac built an imposing castle to defend the site.

When we arrived, everything in the town was closed, except the Le Chauffe bar. We found our accommodations, the Hotel Restaurant Glacier, which was also closed. A very nice man from across the road went and found the proprietor, who turned out to be a very, very old lady.

The seemed very nice, but didn't understand English, or my poor French, and proceeded to show us up to a room that likely saw its heyday in the 1960's. It was extremely unclean and ridden with bugs as well, but upon investigation this turned out to be the only one of the four establishments in this town with any available spaces. We reluctantly decided to make do, and unpacked as little as possible to avoid carrying away any pests in our gear.

When we went to go explore the town we discovered that the exterior door to the hotel remained locked, and the only way in or out was for the old lady, who remained sitting beside the entrance, to laboriously unlock the door for us. There was no way to leave the building without her key, and we were asked to leave our room key with her while away as well. There was a distinct odor to the place, so we decided to seek food elsewhere. We inquired at the only open establishment, the Le Chouffe bar, and the lady very kindly made us a huge cheese omelet and a salad, even though they weren't serving food on the holiday, and it was only 5:30 in any case. As so often happens on the way, we were saved by the random kindness of strangers ~ which in this case took the form of a kind hostess who was also a wonderful cook!  Small blessings change every moment and once again the Camino provides.

We explored the church, which was very large and impressive, and took a look at the castle. We then made another tour of the town, and found it to be a mixture of modern businesses and rather derelict buildings. As in some parts of Spain, this town feels like things are done up very nicely on the main stretch and along the trail, but just off the main drag conditions are much rougher.

On our second circuit we ran into Sophie, a fellow hiker who was in the same Gite as us last night, and had earlier decided to cancel her reservation in our hotel and move into another one with a friend. We sat with her and Corinne, from Switzerland at the bar for a bit, and then braved the return to our hotel. We managed to get back inside and pay for just our room (not the meals, which we did not request, but which they seemed to think we had). 

 

Grateful for a wonderful dinner but depressed by our current surroundings we made plans for tomorrow while again airing out the room and bed sheets.  We plan to visit the bakery when it opens in the morning (hopefully!) and then to make an early start. Although our accommodations are a little horrifying, it is a good reminder of how lucky we generally are, and that even in this situation, we really do have everything we need. 
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Practical Information:
Distance: 22.9 km

Max Temperature: 20˚C

Accommodations: Chambre-Restaurant le Glacier