Our Walk Along the Via Podiensis (GR 65)

Crossing the Aubrac Plateau  Via Podiensis GR65 Hike We dubbed today Cow Day!  We left the chambre d'hotes around 7:30 AM this morning, after a delicious breakfast of coffee, bread, homemade jams, apricots, and homemade green madeline pastries.  At first, we walked through the outskirts of Aumont Aubrac, mostly on shaded paved roads.  It was a nice sunny day again, with a cool breeze. The path wound through a forested area with a few grazing horses, and then we began the climb up onto the Aubrac plateau. La Chaze de Payre After a rather steep part, we came to the village of La Chaze de Payre, where we stopped and had an orange juice in the company of a very friendly dog.  Much of this stretch of the walk was on relatively busy roads and highways.  It is possible that these roads were extra busy due to the festival and the weekend, but nevertheless, it was the busiest and fastest stretch of traffic we have yet encountered on the trail.  A few kilomet...

Aligot and Cuisine on GR65 Via Podiensis Pilgrimage 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. Departing Lajo France 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 ab...