There was no clothes line at the hotel last night so since I was in a fair size town decided to find a laundromat to dry everything off and promptly melted a pair of polyester undies! This meant I started late this morning, leaving the Pont Valentré at the edge of Cahors at 10:30am -- took wrong turn-offs twice today (daydreaming!) -- and arrived in Lhospitalet at 4:30pm about 13 klms later.
It was a clear hot day with a fair amount of ups and downs so I was grateful for the cool spring breezes. Stopped every 90 minutes or so for a rest and, in the heat of the midday, actually stopped for an hour and read my book in the shade. Feeling stronger and no longer need to use ice packs at night.
The Pont Valentré built in the early 1300s. A German man I walked with told me that the yore of the bridge is that its builder did a deal with the devil in which the devil would get the bridge when it was finished -- so the builder never put the final stone in.
A couple of days later someone told me about this little devil at the top of the west tower so I went back to photograph it.
A couple of days later someone told me about this little devil at the top of the west tower so I went back to photograph it.
View leaving Cahors. The hill on the far right is the one I descended yesterday on the way in to town.
Just outside Cahors, one of the rare places the trail was near a highway.
Next to the gite at Les Mathieux.
Church at Labastide-Marnhac.
Labastide-Marnhac -- roses. As usual, all windows are shuttered against the heat from about 11am to 4pm.
Coming in to Lhospitalet. The woman from my B&B came and picked me up at the church tower ahead. Most of the B&B's more than 500 metres off the trail offer the same service -- but you need a mobile phone to take advantage of it.
Church in Lhospitalet -- and that's Joan of Arc on the right.
My bedroom at Les Tuileries. Another wonderful homemade meal tonight: salad composé with duck paté and radishes followed by duck legs on a bed of beans flavoured with tarragon followed by a plate of local Rocamadour cheese and homemade tiramassou. And bought a sandwhich for the road the next morning before being driven to the church in Lhospitalet.
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