Chasing After Jess

After a very comfortable stay and wonderful sleep we left Livinhac-le-Haute at 7:25am under subtle mist and eventually clear skies. It was a magical day, with blue sky and sun shine. We were at peace, and enjoyed walking through lush countryside along scenic paths. The wildflowers were spectacular.

We stopped at a lovely cafe in Montredan, and was overwhelmed by the kindness of the owner, enjoying coffee and taking away some cookies and boiled eggs for our journey ahead. This would have also been a very lovely place to stay had we walked a bit further the day before, the gite was modern and we loved talking with the host – who spoke good English! We sat in the Gite having a snack while we tried to plan our next few days along the Cele Variant. In true ‘us’ fashion, we left things to the last minute and couldn’t find accomodation on either the main route or the Cele Valley for the following night- so we decided to take a rest day and spend 2 nights in Figeac as it was larger town and we had booked a nice hotel. The host even helped us by phoning the hotel to book another night onto our reservation for us.

We connected with other pilgrims who had become friends on this journey including John from Holland and Leo from Ireland. I found the day easy and walked in good spirits. It was a much needed day compared to some of the few we had recently!

We descended early into the beautiful town of Figeac, full of stone buildings and stunning architecture. We had booked to stay at the Hotel Mercure, and thankfully we did not have to wait too long before our room was ready. This hotel was beautiful, and had a comfortable luxury feel. However we found the room to be quite hot, and with the window open and the hotel being centrally located we had troubles sleeping with the sound of restaurants open late at night and the clock tower.

Thankfully, there was a Carrefour in town and I was excited to stock up on some of my favourite comfort foods and some more Special K cereal which I eat for a late breakfast on the go with milk powder. Amazingly, there was a self serve pizza machine in the Carrefour, so I also treated myself to a pizza before heading back to the hotel to relax for the afternoon!

As far as rest days go, I definitely recommend Figeac as a place to have one!

Jess x