Chasing After Jess

Today was, without a doubt, my favorite day so far along the Via Podiensis. After long sleep with an early start in Corn, we set out in the cool, but sunny morning.

The track was mostly dry and in good condition. We sprayed our deet spray on ourselves for the first time this morning as started in a forest that followed the Cele River through the picturesque Cele Valley. I have attached some videos of the beauty!

While walking through the forest, we did see this sign! We tried to translate, but couldn’t figure it out. We took it as beware of this animal, but we are thinking it is a bit of an urban legend instead? If anyone does know the answer please leave a comment!

The bottom of the valley was stunning, surrounded by lush forests and vineyards, and flanked by towering limestone cliffs. Words can’t even capture the beauty of one of the little towns we passed through—Sainte Eulalie—and my photos certainly don’t do it justice.

On my friend Nicky’s guidebook, today was described as “strenuous” – so we were silently dreading what we anticipated would be some challenging hills. We started to ascend, but it wasn’t for long! The day mainly consisted of several ascents and descents of approximately 300m elevation at a time. The funny part is, I didn’t struggle at all today – and I think that was purely because I was absolutely in awe of my surroundings from the moment we ascended out of Saint Eualilie.

The path had climbed up to the stony cliff face and followed the ridge along the limestone, revealing the most spectacular rock formations and views of the valley. I truly did not want this part to end. Photos and videos will never do it justice, and I just hope I never forget the mental images I have from this days. Some of the most beautiful views in nature I have seen, it’s true that in life some of the best things are free.

At one of the points where we descended, we stopped at a bakery. There wasn’t much left bread wise, and I personally wouldn’t rate the service we received. I bought a croissant which I ate with my cereal for lunch, and bought a can of sprite for the road.

I would recommend stopping here to fill up your water bottles and buy some extra drinks, as we did run out of water about 3km before the end of the day. It was a hot day, so we were drinking a lot and I was lucky to have this sprite with me for an emergency. It was also hard to find water when we arrived at our stop for the night because the shops and gites were closed until about 3pm – just something to consider!

Despite the hot and long day, the walk was incredibly enjoyable and like I said, my favourite day and views yet! We started our descent into Marcilac-sur-Cele with the town on the horizon.

The town was beautiful, and even had some historical ruins. Although I don’t know the history because I had no internet and couldn’t use google translate!

Because today was hot, I took the opportunity to have my first swim (or ice plunge) on this route! So I swam in the Cele River. It was absolutely freezing cold but it felt good for my muscles. I follow the life mantra of “you’ll never regret a swim”.

We arrived at our charming Gîte on the Cele River, and were greeted by a very friendly host! I can’t remember the Gites name, but from looking at my stamp it might be ‘O Pieds Dans L Eau’. The Gite was beautiful and modern, and luckily although we had a shared room with 5 beds, our room was never filled and it essentially became a private room for me and Mum.

We were also fortunate to spend the night with a group of seven French ladies. One of whom, Joelle, spoke very good English! Joelle was very kind, and we became friends on Facebook so I was able to continue following their journey! Their friendship was really inspiring. They initially connected on a hike and have been meeting up every year to tackle sections of the track together. They were an absolute delight, and they invited us to join them while they sit together at the end of the night to do foot care. One of the ladies was very good, and showed everyone exactly how to do it properly. She even gave my mum a foot massage, which is so kind and something I would never do for a stranger, let alone a stranger who had been hiking for 14 days!

Our meal of roast duck, potato bake, green salad, cheese, and apple pie was one of the best. Our sleep in the luxurious French linen with warm duvets was deep and refreshing.

Today marked two full weeks of this incredible journey, covering over 300kms. The physical and mental challenges have been present, yet liberating not to worry about much other than where we have to stay that night and when the next cafe is. I was thankful today to wrap up two weeks with such beauty in the Cele Valley with the limestone cliffs.

My thoughts on the Cele Valley Variant can be summed up with the exert from a poem:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

– The Road Not Taken – by Robert Frost

Jess x