Continue walking past Faycelles and into Béduer. We walked pass dry-stoned walls and stone shepherds huts. The landscape here is quite wild and we eat lots of black berries along the way. It seems that each bush of blackberries has a different flavor, but they all have one thing in common: they are very sweet. Very very sweet and we just can’t have enough of those berries.

We took a break for lunch. It’s been 2 weeks now since we started the camino Le Puy. We are now completely immersed in the French way of eating fresh and local and artisanal way of making everything. We buy bread from the local bakery. Buy cheese from the village cheese maker. Fruits from the fruit store. To prepare for today’s walk, yesterday night we went into a larger super market, we bought everything in one same store. When we finally got to a shaded spot and sat down for our usual picnic lunch, we found out the real sad story about buying non local artisanal food for our picnic. First the baguette is terrible. We are in France, we should not have to endure bad baguette! Next the cheese. Seriously, they are not all equal. They are like a piece of tasteless chewy I don’t quite know what it is! It’s not the usual yummy fresh cheese we usually eat! The dry package sausage also a failure. The only thing we still love is the two fresh flat peaches and a whole bunch of green gage plums.

We suffer at lunch today. Not yummy as usual.

The trail today is unusually “calm”. Not too much ups and downs. We put in the mileage quickly. It’s true it’s seems after Figeac the trail is easier.

The only bad thing today: the whole of France is hit with a heat wave. The weather Chanel this morning put on a red sun straight across all of France. I think the red is especially severe in our area as the heat was unbearable! Ed splashes himself as much as he can when ever he see a fountain of fresh water. We drank as much as we could all day long trying to stay hydrated.

We arrive into Cajarc, a village that sits on the edge of the River Lot and that rose to fame due to barges that took spices, wine, wood and saffron along the river.

Cajarc is the birth town of Francoise Sagan, the famous French novelist. “Bonjour tristesse” was her claim to fame when she was 19 years old. This is also the town of ex president of France, George Pompidou. Carjac itself is a lovely little village which sits on the banks of Le Lot river.

The site of the town has been occupied since the roman period, with the fortified village we now see dating from the 12th century onwards when the town prospered thanks to its port on the river.

The historic centre of Cajarc is enclosed by wide boulevards which are in the position of the original defensive walls of the town.

The centre contains a good number of interesting medieval buildings. Narrow alleys to the sides of the main streets provide glimpses of a town unchanged with the centuries, while part of the original 13th century castle can still be seen in the main street through the centre.

On the edge of the town the Lot River is crossed by a 19th century suspension bridge (which replaced a medieval stone bridge destroyed during the Wars of religion) and has a large ‘plan d’eau’ – a section of the river where boating and other activities are popular.

Extending for several kilometres along the river, it is the largest area of this type in the Midi-Pyrenees. There are also some medieval buildings along the river front.

From our bedroom window we can watch the Sunday crowd playing and getting in and out of the river on their water crafts. Some on kayaks, some on canoes. It’s a lot of fun for children and adults in a nice warm sunny Sunday afternoon.

For tomorrow’s walk, it seems we will have a long stretch of walk with no place to stop to buy provision. It’s Sunday afternoon and tomorrow is Monday which means all stores are closed. Just our luck!

We are not sure yet how we can get something to eat on the way to Limoge en quercy tomorrow. We are in need of another miracle!