Montcuq to Lauzerte: Hitting our Stride

We leave Montcuq at 9am There is such a liberating feeling in walking out of your hotel and out of the village with just your backpacks. Our legs are thankful for the day of rest in Montcuq. Yesterday, we had muscle pain in areas we didn’t even know we had muscles. We are only on a sealed road for a few hundred metres before we turn off onto a track through the forest. It's quite a steep incline over loose stones that takes a lot of concentration to navigate, but it’s through rural France, so it’s such a treat. Gnarly old tree roots crossing the path present a potential hazard to our ankles. While we have 14 km to cover, we are in no real hurry and walk at a leisurely and cautious pace. The path changes from stones to hard clay and back, often covered with autumn leaf litter.

Today there are other groups of pilgrims on the path. We can tell if they are in front or behind by the sound of dogs barking as they pass the many farmhouses. Most of the morning is overcast and cool, yet we quickly build

up a sweat tackling the first steep incline. We pass through lots of forest, then the path leads us past fields of some sort of crop—possibly sorghum. We enjoy the isolation and spend time recalling funny anecdotes from past holidays.

We pass several small groups of walkers who have stopped on grassy patches for lunch. We have some fresh bread and cheese Yolande gave us, along with our duck sausage from the Cahors market. We decide to wait until we come across a picnic area where we can

use a table. However, a table didn't appear before our hunger got the better of us. We emerge from the forest and come to a very narrow bitumen road to cross. The grass on either side hasn’t had the benefit of the day’s sun yet and is still damp. We take our backpacks off and very slowly lower ourselves to the road. Once down, we hope no cars come, as getting back up may take some time, and we have our picnic on the road, hoping other pilgrims don’t see us in this ridiculous position.

We continue on our path past more sunflower fields, then sorghum fields, and back into dense forest. The terrain alternates between rocky, steep descents and ascents, and flat, hard clay. On the flat sections, we can make up time by hastening our stride. We then emerge on the edge of an open field, and there in front of us, high on top of a hill, is the medieval village of Lauzerte. It's about 1 km away, but up a very steep incline, and our last 1 km takes us over half an hour. Once up in the village, it's very quiet, and we head for the first bar we see for some beers. It's the end of the tourist season and very quiet in the village. After our beer, we head for our accommodation, which, as it turns out, is at the bottom on the other side of the village center. We put into practice our steep descent gait, which involves bending the knees and landing on the heels. This takes a lot of stress off the knees but makes you look about 10 years older.

We're staying at the Hotel du Quercy, a basic but very charming small hotel. After checking in, taking a short rest, and applying some deep heat to the calves and knees, we head back to the village center to explore. This means walking back up that steep ascent. However, it's worth the effort. It's a very small village with many small art galleries and other artisans to visit. We come across a charity store and take a look around. Surprisingly, everything is free, now that's charity! Robyn picks up a couple of scarves, and I score an amazing lined corduroy jacket. One of the gallerists we talk to is an Australian who has been living in Lauzerte for 8 years and in France for 30. It seems there are a lot of expats living in southern France. We ask her where we should go for dinner, and her recommendations take us back down that steep decline. So, we bend the knees and hobble back down like 70-year-olds. We find an amazing Italian restaurant (international dining tonight) and have a relatively early night in preparation for tomorrow's 12km trek.

Next stop Durfort-Lacapelette....