Day 23 - Camping...er Glamping .... on the Camino : Cahors to Lascabanes

Breakfast was laid out at the gite, enabling us to serve ourselves and therefore depart at whatever time we wanted to. We decided to get up early, as did everyone else seemingly.

We were on our way around 6:15, heading out across the Valentre Bridge, and then climbing a very steep set of natural rock steps on the other side, which gave us a wonderful view back over the beautiful city of Cahors.

Once we climbed out of Cahors and reached the plateau above, the landscape changed once again. It turned to oak savanna with scrub, which was very beautiful and different from anything we have seen so far. It was very hot today, and at times the white gravel tracks were very bright. However, for most of the day there was some shade on the path, contradicting what our maps seemed to suggest.

Around 8:30 we arrived at a gite in the woods on the outskirts of Labastide Manhac. A sign outside said it was paired with the gite in Orrison, and there was a stone statue of Saint James outside, as well as elevation charts similar to those provided in Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port. Even though it was early Sunday morning, the gite was open and offering cold drinks.

We decided to press on to get as far as we could before the heat really hit, and not too far past that gite was the first stone marker with a blue and yellow shell symbol on it, similar to those seen all across Spain. All of a sudden, GR65 felt a lot more like the Camino de Santiago in Spain!

When we reached the small town of Labastide Manhac we found another general store, bar, and post office operator open. We stopped for a cold orange juice and a pastry. There was also a functioning water fountain with potable water in the town, and we realized that now that we are back on the GR65 there are once again more amenities available.

When we arrived in Lascabanes we discovered it was a very beautiful but small town. Again, we found a very nice cafe open, and stopped for sandwiches and a cold drink. It was a very simple setup, with tables outside in the shade of a tree and the kitchen in a converted garage, but it was very charming, and full of local couples enjoying their lunches and several bottles of wine. We also ran into two fellow pilgrims, but both were continuing on for another 8.8 km.

After our impromptu lunch we headed up the hill in the stifling heat to find our accommodations for the night, which the guidebook suggested were 500m past the church at the center of town. We had decided to try something different, and booked a yurt for the night. We were informed that the yurts were actually full, but that a safari lodge was available instead. This turned out to be a tent, albeit a fancy one with beds, carpets, lamps, and a view over the valley.

The place we are staying is really beautiful, and could be used for an Ikea add. There is a little standalone building for breakfast, with a sofa, large dining table, and kitchen inside. There is another standalone cedar building with a composting toilet and very modern looking shower. Then there are three yurts and our tent, spread out across a large grassy property. All of it has a wonderful view over the valley, and is very quiet and peaceful. Unfortunately, when we arrived the tent was in full sun and extremely hot inside. This did not endear some of us to it. However, we sat in the shade of a tree, had an ice cold shower, did our laundry, which dried extremely fast in the heat, and decided to clean and air all our stuff out to reduce the eau-de-pelerin.

As the afternoon progressed, and we continued to roast in the shade of our tree, seven other hikers showed up, and almost immediately got into the swimming pool. Thus the afternoon passed. When dinner was served, it was at a large table outside the main house, with a beautiful view of the valley. The dinner was wonderful! It began with cold melon and ham (with couscous salad substituted for the vegetarians), then lasagne (with a salad, couscous, and a very tasty tarte aux legumes for the vegetarians), and finished with vanilla ice cream with peanuts and raspberry sauce on top. The whole thing was served with quite a lot of local Cahors wine, and it finished with a shot of very strong local liquor. The food and the company were good, and the view was fantastic.

As we sit here in the cool of the evening, and enjoy the complete quiet and peacefulness of the valley, all seems well with the world. We plan to make an early start again tomorrow, which is supposed to be even hotter than today (34 degrees).

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Practical Information:
Distance: 23.5 km

Cumulative ascent: 652 m

Cumulative descent: 590 m

Max Temperature: 34˚C

Accommodations: Gite en Yourte Sabatier