Cahor to Lascabes 23k

With Elisabeth as a companion we started out with a quick photo shoot at the bridge We had a quick climb up the ‘Sportif’ route.

I always knew that after the initial view the scenery was going to be grim, mixed with the heavy showers and an introduction to muddy paths that are going to be my constant companion until the end of my journey. The stony tracks had gone and to a certain extent Cahors was the last steep climb. The mixture of the rain, clay and a 100 people a week passing on the tracks made them miserable as well as potentially messy pathways…..enough to drive you to tarmac.

We reached Labastride- Marnhac not expecting anything, so we were not disappointed, no shops, no bar, church closed, but toilets provided. So Elisabeth and I sat on the seat by the church and eat our lunch. After this it was out into the showers and the stunted oaks that were the scenery until just before we reached the Gîte

Arriving at ‘Happy Cool Teur’ (apparently means happy bee keeper) we investigated the fridge and there was a load of different beer. One sort being a French version of English ale. The rain had disappeared so we sank a couple of these sitting in the late afternoon sun swapping mildly irreverent jokes. The difference between a 30k walk and a 24k walk is there is time for a sit…and indeed time to drink a beer.

The evening meal was different in that it was taken with the family who had a 5 year old daughter called Sarah ..... Sarah was 100% ‘ON’ smiling, talking, and all action....great fun, she wasn't even worried that we spoke different languages.