Our Walk Along the Via Podiensis (GR 65)

Fruit Tarts and Festivals Via Podiensis Pilgrimage We awoke at 6:15 AM this morning after an evening of enjoying the cooling mountain air throughout the night, which was a welcome relief from yesterday's heat. After the usual breakfast of coffee, juice, baguettes and jam we headed out of Nasbinals around 7:30 AM.     It was another gorgeous day, and as the path left town we again found ourselves in the vast, open, rugged landscape of the Aubrac plateau. The first section of the trail was shaded by a mature beech grove, which was very beautiful and provided some welcome respite from the heat.    The rolling hills of the plateau were divided up with many stone walls, and we also spotted several cow herder's huts set amid fields dotted with white, yellow, purple, and pink spring flowers. Festival La Transhumance We reached the town of Aubrac around 10:30 AM and could see the Festival La Transhumance was in full swing. We saw quite a few weekend hikers in...

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...