Chasing After Jess

The night at the renowned Abbey Le Foy dormitory in Conques was a great experience. However it was anything but restful, thanks to a champion snorer with a blocked nose, who kept the whole dormitory wide awake. Even with my AirPods on noise cancelling mode, with full volume white noise, I could still hear him!

This wasn’t so much the problem, as usually I can sleep through snoring – but everyone else was awake, on their phones shuffling all night long because of it. On the top bunk, there was a man next to me on his phone almost all night with the screen brightness on full which shone in my eyes! This was almost more annoying than the snoring. I guess this is to be expected when you share a dormitory room with 18 fatigued people, although I have had my fair share of nights in hostels in my life and this was at the top of the worst sleeps I’ve ever had in one!

With the break of dawn and lots of people frustrated and awake, we joined the eager early risers.

The walk out of Conques was incredibly beautiful, just as the walk into Conques had been the day before. We said farewell to the mist-shrouded monastery and started the challenging climb out of the valley.

To add to our luck, our washing had not dried overnight, making our backpacks heavier and our feet soggy as we were walking in wet socks!

The rocky climb tested our balance in some spots and slowed our progress, but unexpectedly we came upon the Le Foy Chapel tucked into the mountainside which was a beautiful sight during this hard climb.

Once we cleared the mountaintop, the path wound through lush farmlands and sleepy villages. Soon our spirits had lifted with the joy of the beauty and peaceful feeling around us. The path had thinned out, with many people ending their journey in Conques.

The day became HOT, unfortunately a wrong turn before the descent into Decazeville in the afternoon brought us down the mountain into an industrial area, adding an unexpected detour to the very long day. Looking at the map, we knew the road we had found ourselves on would eventually connect back with the GR65, and we began a 2km slog in the heat through this industrial area. We decided to stop, apply sunscreen and take our boots and socks off to swap into our hiking sandals – a decision that felt amazing at the time but would later come with severe consequences.

We had thought that Decazeville would be a large town with lots of cafes. We are unsure if it was the time of day, or if it was the detour we took, but we found ourselves not finding a place to stop for a drink and lunch at all. This made the final push into Livinhac was sheer test of endurance, especially because we found out we were about 5km from Livinhac rather than the 2km we had thought. The only thing that saved me was a cookie I had forgot I had.

We began what was actually a really nice and empowering climb out of Decazeville, I felt strong and enjoyed the warm sun on my skin while walking through this residential section. We finished the ascent, and were happy knowing we only had about 2km left and it was all downhill, however this was the beginning of a lot of issues for me.

Wearing our Teva hiking sandals was a grave mistake, as we soon descended out of the residential area and into an area of thick thick mud. By the time I realised what was going on it was too late, as my feet had begun to get muddy, and there was no where for me to take off my bag, and put my hiking boots back on without getting everything covered in mud. I decided to carry on in my sandals, which I still don’t know whether this was the right decision or not, as they were soon submerged in the thick mud. My foot was completely buried up to my mid shin, and the mud was so thick I struggled to get my foot out of the mud. The rest of the descent was so tricky as my foot was slipping out of my sandals and I was desperate to clean them.

The worst part was, we had booked an apartment run by a private host tonight on booking.com – and I did not want to show up dirty at a ladies house covered in mud! I was frantically trying to plan what to do, and ended up walking down to the Lot river and rinsing my legs and shoes at the riverbed. They were still significantly dirty. On my walk into town, I saw a man water blasting his driveway. With broken french and gestures, I asked him to pressure hose my feet and sandals which he thankfully did! Somehow my feet and sandals were STILL dirty. It took so long for the mud to truly come out of the sandals, even after a cycle in the washing machine. I felt dirty for days!

Despite the physical toll, the sight of our home for the night – a lovely apartment perched atop a stone house opposite the cathedral – brought a sense of relief and welcome comfort. The owner was a lovely woman, and I would absolutely recommend staying with her. The apartment was separate to the house, had a lounge, bathroom, and very clean comfy sheets. She even warmed up some food for me in her kitchen, and did our washing for us!

After a steak dinner at a local restaurant, in my soft warm bed, I fell into a deep sleep, begging morning not to creep in too soon. I seemed to have survived the motivational crisis of yesterday, but I couldn’t help wondering what the next day may bring.

Jess x