Chasing After Jess

Today was an interesting day and had some very unexpected events. With the first thing being, we caught a bus making today a very short day! Something I said I would never do.

Okay to start – the unthinkable had occurred. What is the one sickness you really would not be wanting while on a long hike? Yep. Diarrhea. My insane stomach pain and nausea the other day may have been telling me something, because let’s just say, things weren’t going great for me lol.

For all those people that say everything happens for a reason, please explain the reason for me getting diarrhea on a part of the trail with minimal toilets! (although, I am one of those people that says everything happens for a reason lol)

But – something you all should know is I am incredibly determined and stubborn. So giving up is not really an option for me.

Last year when I walked the Camino Frances, I was debilitated and had 15 blisters at once. Me and some friends walked past Santiago and to get to Finisterre, an extra ~100km ish. We walked two 36km ish days in a row, and on the very last day, paired with the blisters, I had injured my thigh and could barely walk. I almost caught a taxi, but my friend Raj carried my back on the front for 15km while I rested my thigh walking without a load. I walked without my pack during that time, and also had a swim in freezing water which was great for my muscles, and then we stopped for a 2 hour rest. I was able to carry my pack the rest of the way and finish. I was so proud that I never gave up.

Anyway. Today I did decide to catch a bus. There were too many things going wrong and I still don’t really regret that I did. I do regret not seeing the full Cele Valley Variant, but I think I would have been miserable if I had of – anyway, back to the story!

We woke up that day, after several bouts of diarrhea I was apprehensive but had been taking Gastrostop / Loperamide and prayed for a miracle. I felt a little sick in the stomach, but fine enough to walk.

We were unsure about many things. We had accomodation booked in Pasturat and that was our intended stop. However, these were the issues we were facing:

1. We could not figure out for the life of us how long today was supposed to be. Everyone we spoke to had a different opinion with some people saying it was only 8km to Pasturat, some people saying it was 30km! We didn’t have a guide book and were very unsure.

2. We could not figure out what the best route was to take. There were apparently over 19 different routes you could take for today. The path hooked and did a loop into Saint Cirq Lapoppie, which was a beautiful town but apparently could be skipped to save kilometres, and then the path went up into the hills. Apparently the hills part was very tough terrain with lots of bugs, and could also be skipped.

3. We reached out for help on the facebook group, and we did get lots of help – but still felt unsure what the best path to take was. People spoke about an abandoned train line you could climb up to, but apparently it was hard to locate, and get to with people complaining of cuts and scrapes. A lot of people said the short cut was not worth it.

4. I obviously had diarrhea, and this was a touch and go event! We weren’t sure how I would feel, how long the day would be and if I would be able to finish the day well.

5. The weather was HORRIBLE today. It was super cold and super wet.

I have detailed on this map the route for today to help with confusion:

With our uncertainty, we decided make some back up plans. Firstly we messaged the lovely Gite owner in Pasturat and let them know that I had a stomach bug and that it wasn’t appropriate for me to stay in a Gite tonight. I am grateful for their understanding. We messaged our friend Nicky, who let us know that there was a bus leaving from Saint Cirq Lapoppie and Bouziers at both 10am and 2pm. Our plan was to go to Saint Cirq Lapoppie, look around (because it was stunning) and then depending on how I feel, either keep going or sight see in Saint Cirq La Poppie and catch the 2pm bus to Cahors.

Anyway, we set off for the day from our cozy beds to face cold and wet weather. But first stopped at an amazing bakery just near our hotel to stock up on some food.

The mountains and valleys were shrouded in mist, and the paths were slippery again. We climbed back into the mountains, rain gear on, and soon our boots and socks were soaked through.

Sadly the Grotto de Pech Merle, one of the most famous caves in a France, was not open at the time we passed – but this would be a great place to try book into and do a cave tour. We wish we had known!

We walked and ended up just out of Bouzier, once you get to Bouzier, you turn and do the loop to Saint Cirq Lapoppie.

We walked across an abandoned rail way bridge (not the one discussed above, this was a different one) and the views were amazing!

We arrived at the end of the railway bridge just outside of Bouziers. We began to walk to Saint Cirq Lapoppie but just as we did so it started BUCKETING down with rain. This was the heaviest and wettest rain we had on the entire GR65.

In that moment I just knew it was all over. Even if Saint Cirq Lapoppie was beautiful, I wouldn’t enjoy it in rain this heavy, and I would hate sitting for 4 hours waiting for a bus in the rain. I asked Mum what the time was, it was 9:52. We had 8 minutes to make it to the bus stop (which we didn’t know the location of in Bouzier) if we wanted to make the bus to Cahors.

We started to SPRINT, knowing the next bus was 4 hours later. We got to Bouzier and asked many people where the bus stop was with no luck. We had 3 minutes until the bus at this point. I asked a lady who ran a shop, she couldn’t speak English but pointed across the bridge. Not even knowing where we were going we SPRINTED in the pouring rain across the bridge. With 1 minute to go, I saw the bus stop on the side of the road. I made it just as the bus came around the corner and hailed it stop. I stalled the driver just for long enough for Mum to catch up and we both paid our €2 fare and sat down, soaking wet, ready to enjoy the scenic ride to Cahors.

We waited until we got to Cahors to book accomodation. We ended up going to the Best Western, which was a beautiful hotel and a bit of a splurge. It was right on the path out of Cahors with an amazing view of the river! They were amazing, having a room ready for us on our arrival at 11am, so we were able to get warm and dry before setting out to do some sight seeing and shopping!

We set out to explore, and enjoyed the most amazing lunch (and an amazing cookie for dessert).

We also got to look around the beautiful town and visit the beautiful Cathédrale Saint-Étienne – a national monument.

And of course, you can’t go through a big town without stopping at the Carrefour to add kilos to your backpacks. Cahors would be an excellent place to do a rest day – unfortunately we did not have much time and had to keep going!

We spent the afternoon planning our next steps and booking our accomodation for the next few days, while sitting in our comfy beds and relaxing in preparation for the days ahead.

Jess x