We woke up this morning at 6 am and was ready at breakfast table by 7 am.

The owner of the farm served a nice breakfast with coffee for Ed, Chocolate for me and fresh baked bread with assorted jam and jelly.

Ed was an incredible sleeper on this trip. No jetlag is bothering him. He just hit the bed and he would sleep away. That’s very nice. A good way to recover from all the long journey from the U.S. to France. I figured since yesterday, between the nap during the day and the early night full night sleep he must have put in like 20 hours of sound sleep. I mean snoring sleep. Train wreck snoring sleep. He must have been very very tired. He has such a great restful and refreshed look this morning. I am glad for him. I still wake up from 2 am to 5 am tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep but I try to just close my eyes to rest up.

Before we set out on our way, the owner told us to pack some bread along. There is nothing until St Privat she said. Ed and I both are trying to stay gluten free but it’s hard to stay away from the French baguette in French. They are delicious. We did not want to pack more bread but I took 2 peaches and after some thoughts I also packed in 4 thin slices of bread.

We said goodbye to all the guests and our wonderful hostess and set out for the day’s walk.

The walk today begins at the door of the farm, right on the Camino, and as we follow the trail, we started to see wonderful views over the whole area. This morning we crossed the Velay, an area famous for its lentils and black sheep. We made our way to the hamlet of Montbonnet, walking along trails that wind through farms and atmospheric woodlands. We got to Montbonnet, both of us were very hungry. We found the one and only bar du st Jacques, thoughts of cappuccino and chocolate and pastries start dancing in our head. We walked the steps to the bar, tried to open the door but it was closed!!!! WOW, what a big let down! Sunday afternoons and Mondays are tough as a lot of shops are closed!

We walked on. Our next destination is St Privat d’Allier, 7.5 km away. A few minutes after we left Montbonnet, I started to feel very very hungry. One thing at home, where I can get food as much as I want, where the fridge is always full and the pantry has all kinds of snacks, I never ft this kind of hunger. Latterly on the walk I have been feeling this strange hunger that is ravenous! Like I am going to faint from famine. Or as though I have not eaten in 40 days. I told Ed “I am going to have a piece of bread” “me too” he said. We took out the bread. 4 meager thin slices! I wished I had packed the whole loaf of bread! We ate our slices in 5 seconds. Then out come the 2 peaches, which were extra fresh and sweet, down in another 5 seconds. That way it. The end of our food supply!

I must admit we have not figure out this food supply system quite adequately just yet this trip. We decided from now on after breakfast we have to pack a few croissant and some bread and some other things for snacks. This hunger is not helping me with my walking.

We started a big climb 6 km before st Privat, then followed of course by a nasty, steep, slippery wet and rocky descent. The descent was relentless. We pass the hamlet of Le Chier, no food, no rest, so we kept on going knowing we can get something to eat at St Privat. The descend continued and our toes hurt badly inside our shoes. Thank goodness for walking sticks. They saved the day today.

The trail is very beautiful through dense forested areas but quite difficult as it is a steep rocky descent.
We finally got into town.

Located en Velay, in the south of Auvergne, overlooking the exceptional site of the Allier gorges, Saint-Privat is a small village 875 meters above sea level with 428 inhabitants. It is picturesque, quiet and relaxing.

The first shop we found, we got ourself some cured meat and cheese. That’s for tomorrow. And we found ourselves a few minutes later sitting down at the only restaurant in town called La vielle auberge. The food was excellent. As Ed always says: hunger is the best sauce! We devoured our meals. Inhaled it faster than we could count to three! It was a well deserving meal after the nasty descent into town.

There are many many gites in town where pilgrims can stay the night. This is the preferred stop for most pilgrims on their way to st Jacques de compostella starting out of Le Puy. The town is very beautiful as it is perched on a rock outcropping, overlooking the gorge d’Allier.

We took a short rest and finished our day heading for Monistrol d’Allier 7 km away where we will spend the night.

Monistrol d’Allier is on the pilgrimage way between Le Puy and Conques. The first section of the Camino Le Puy. This section crosses the river Allier at the village of Monistrol d’Allier before going into the plateau of the Margeride. In ancient time, there was no bridge across the river. The pilgrims must cross the river with raft or simple canoe. It was a very dangerous passage. Those who made it safely pass the river were offered free shelter at the hospitals and monasteries nearby. The Abbey Chaise Dieu, gave shelter to most pilgrims in the old time, who then would go on to take the next stop at the chapel of sainte Madeleine before they get into Saugues. That will be our next stop tomorrow, as we too will be Harding that way ending our day at Saugues. It looks like we are following the authentic Camino de st Jacques de compostella so far, minus all the dangers of river crossing without a bridge but we did have to face a extremely nasty rocky descent and of course an extreme hunger due to the fact that the bar in Montbonnet was closed for business today!

Today we also passed the beautiful chapel of St Roch. The chapel has a very rich history. In the 12 th century a hospital dedicated to St James was built to take care of sick pilgrims. When the hospital later was falling apart, the stones were collected to build the chapel which was originally dedicated to st James but later was dedicated to St Roch. St Roch was a pilgrim on his way to Italie but he contacted the plague. To avoid contaminating the population of the region he hid in the forest. He was taken care of by an angel and fed by a dog. His miraculous recovery from the plague allowed him to get back on his way to finish his pilgrimage. He became a patron saint for the pilgrims and also named as an anti -plague saint. The cult of St Roch is very strong in this region of the Velay. His statue is often represented with a pilgrim outfit, his scallop shell, his stick and often accompanied by a dog.

When we arrived into Monistrol d’Allier, we got ourself a room and as soon as Ed sees the bed, he laid himself down, no shower, no changing clothing, no saying anything nice to his wife, he just laid himself down, closed his eyes and crashed into deep sleep again. It was such a deep sleep it’s can’t be described.

He took a nap for a couple of hours and woke up to work. He has 3 telephone consults today at 4pm, 5 pm and 6 pm. I did the laundry like usual.

We head down to a sumptuous dinner at 7 pm. The Frenxh cooks are the best. Room is cheap, food is cheap, wine is also cheap. Tonight Ed tried the verveine liquor after dinner as a digestif. It is a liquor made of a plant grown in the Velay region. It is a delicious liquor. We found out verveine is good for inflammation, asthma, whooping cough, all of which Ed said is good for him. I think he’s going to get used to a small glass of verveine every night to help him with his aches and pain of the day’s walk.

Tomorrow is going to be a very exciting day as we are heading over to Saugues. The region here is picturesque, beautiful and mystic. Mountains mist in the early morning and afternoon. Tales of wild beast and fancy stories of wild animals in the forest awaits our walk tomorrow. If we make it to Saugues in one piece we promise you a very fancy story of “The Beast of Gevaudan”, a man eating wolf-beast that terrorized the region in the old days …..

Until tomorrow

Bon chemin!