Lauzerte to Durfort-Lacapelette: The Penultimate Leg

It's about 12 degrees as we leave the Hotel du Quercy. That same liberating feeling of just walking out of the hotel with a backpack sets in. We stop at a local shop just 5 minutes from the hotel and buy some sheep's cheese and some sort of meat to go with our bread and butter from the hotel. The path out of the village is via a steep descending path of loose gravel. We have 6 hours to cover 12km, so we can afford to take our time. We soon emerge onto a quiet country road that starts to ascend, and we see a sign

alerting us to a 2,000-metre ascent ahead. We’ve learned that reaching the top of anything only means a steep descent is coming, and reaching the bottom means you'll soon be going up again. Somewhere near the top of that ascent, we stop and take one last look at Lauzerte, now across a valley of sunflowers.

Today's path takes us past rolling fields of sunflowers and sorghum. We pass several farmhouses; one has a pot of hot coffee on a table with some paper cups, and a sign welcoming walkers to help themselves. It was a welcome offering on this cold morning. A little further along, there’s a small table on the edge of the track with a box of grapes. We alternate between walking through woods and along the edges of or through fields. In the woods, narrow paths take you between lines of trees covered in ivy, as well as green and yellow moss. Wildflowers dot the path, and regularly there is an explosion of red or yellow berries.

We are walking alone today and don't see any other walkers until we reach our destination. There are fewer dogs today, but we do pass a couple of curious donkeys and a chicken that accepts Robyn's offer of some grapes. We pass many fields of sunflowers, sorghum, some vineyards, fruit orchards,

and very unexpectedly, an orchard of kiwifruit. At the 8km mark, we find a nice-sized concrete block to stop, sit, and enjoy our lunch. It's at the top of one of those ascents, so we have the most commanding view for lunch.

After lunch, we trek into Durfort-Lacapelette, guided by the red and white stripes on trees and poles. It’s been overcast and cool all day—perfect walking weather. Dark clouds appear on the horizon during the final stretch, but we avoid any rain. We're staying at the Moulin de Salazar, a restored 1901 mill, about 8 km off the path. Our host will pick us up at the post office at 4 p.m., but we arrive just before 2:30 p.m. after our 12 km walk, which took about four and a half hours.

We reward ourselves with cold beer at the only restaurant nearby and notify our host, who reschedules pickup to 3:30 p.m.

The Moulin de Salazar is one of the great surprises of the trip. It's just like the majestic châteaux we've been passing on the walk for the past six days. Marie-Pierre, our host, is very welcoming and shows us the mill room. The mill still functions, although it has been disabled. Water can be heard rushing beneath us. Marie-Pierre then shows us to our room; we're always amazed at how well people can renovate old buildings into luxurious living spaces. This is the nicest room so far. After settling in, we brave the outdoors to use the jacuzzi we were invited to try. It's about 15 degrees out,

and steam is rising from the water. It's a very fancy jacuzzi with a Bluetooth sound system, so we rejuvenate our weary muscles to the sound of Édith Piaf.

Our dinner is a 4-course private banquet in the mill with beer and wine, prepared by Marie-Pierre. Among the highlights were the wild boar pate, frush butternut pumpkin soup, beef bourguignon and local mushrooms. Maire-Pierre is the perfect host and the evening is punctuated with interesting converation and laughter. It's an extra special evenig

Our final day of walking will be a 16k trek into Moissac, we're excited as it's a very old traditon that on entering Moissac, one must enjoy a glass of Malbec, thereby book-ending the journey with the inky black wine.

Next stop Moissac....