Peggy’s passage for today, Psalm 5 Verse 11. We did feel the protection today.

You never know what to expect on a hiking trail. My experiences over the years always led me to understand that the road would be full of challenges. The good news is that the conditions and difficulties were overcome. We made our goal for today, Montbonnet, 15 kilometers from le Puy with a 500 meter climb. We both agreed that the day was easier than any on the Appalachian Trail. That is good news.

We reached the gite before 2 pm which includes time at a nice picnic on a table for pilgrims outside of the hamlet of Lic. Hot showers and a little laundry is in order. The Internet connection is shaky but we will give it a go. I will try to upload the pictures at one time. Anyway, back to the 15 km hike.

We left le Puy and climbed out of town on a steep road. The weather was cool and overcast. No rain. A little more wind than we would like. Almost perfect hiking weather. Started seeing pilgrim monuments almost immediately. Peggy did not get pictures of them all. To say that this path has been here a long time is a bit of an understatement. The stone walls are ancient to match the numerous crosses. The trail is clearly marked and easy to follow.

The worst part was a section between farmers pastures where the trail was basically a muddy stream. We had been told that it was bad form to walk in pastures so we got muddy. Finally, a large group of people, mostly Germans, passed us by walking in the pasture. We did not want to join the Deutsch, who always act like France is on loan to the French. Finally, we saw a few French people whom we had met the night before at the cathedral using the same approach as the Germans. We crawled over the rock wall and joined them. In the meantime my pants took a beating. They are currently drying after being washed.

The French people who we met have been very cordial. Once they see the pilgrim shell, you with the in crowd. We both were ready to stop when we reached our planned stop. We want to take it easy for a couple more days before hitting the 20 km pace. The gite is in an old rock barn. Showers hot and looking forward to a good meal. Other hikers are straggling in and they are circa our vintage. Looks like it will be an ear plug night as we are sleeping in a dorm with eight beds.

The last three pictures we of a 12th Century chapel that survived the Hundred Years War and the Wars of Religion and is doing well in the 21st. The horses had really big feet or hooves as the case may be.