Said good bye to the Australians that we had been traveling with and the Americans from Berkeley that we met at the Gite. They were the first US folks and it figures that they would be from Northern California. She was a retired librarian and he was a retired Professor of Library Science. Did not really get to know them. They had been hiking for a little more than a week and were shooting for St. Jean, the last stop in France.
I forgot to mention that we finally passed some French hikers yesterday. I was excited until I realized that both ladies were in their late 80s.
We had an excellent dinner last night with the young family who were the hosts at the Gite and managed to talk until 9pm. We rose and left the Gite by 8 and headed out on our own. Since both of us had seen Cahors, we used a variant trail to bypass Cahors. Kind of risky since we were using a trail for which we had no detailed maps or guides. The guide books merely said it was marked with orange trail markers.
We saw no other walkers all day until we reached the Gite. Just us and the birds. It was overcast and cold.
Now going cross country in France is not like in North Carolina or California. The trail used farm roads and short sections on secondary roads. Not terribly interesting but efficient. Did have a few interesting moments crossing over railroads and toll highways. Used overpasses in both cases. Seems strange to see people moving so fast when your world moves at walking speed. Only a few stretches of actual trail and we ran into mud for a while. No big problem.
Followed orange all day. Orange that was sometimes sprayed with enthusiasm on bushes and road barriers. It worked and we reached our Ferme Gite by 2 and settled in. Have a private room with a half bath. Showers down the hall. The proprietor seemed gruff at first but quickly helped us get oriented. Showed me where the wine was located.
It started to rain around 4pm and hopefully it will peter out by morning. Still going strong at almost seven.
Will need to get familiar with a new group of pilgrims. I will upload this blog and last nights when I reach a wifi connection. We will be more than half way through the French portion of the Camino tomorrow.
sierraridge's Blog 
I imagine you guys will be still hiking when you are in your 80’s! Maybe, even, your 90’s.
It’s been really fun following you guys on the map.
I’m laughing about passing the French hikers. The French and Germans are formidable! I’d say you’re moving right along, even to pass ones in their 80s!
glad to catch up on what has been happening to you. Dave and Leslie are coming up for four days next week. Goldie and I will be glad to be with them. I think Goldie really likes being an outside cat again. I like my hearing aids.
Hi Mark and Peggy We are glad you made your way overland avoiding Cahors. It was a long and tortuous day getting there and fully understood why you both didn’t visit it again. I was keen to see the Resistance museum. It was a grim experience.
Briefly we travelled by foot to Auvillar where Rogers plantar fascia forced him to stop. We went to Bayonne, Madrid, Portugal Greece and islands London. We cruised home via USA Panama Hawaii arriving home on 2nd Sept.
I love your blog and home page – very easy to access and beautifully done. I’m so impressed I will certainly consider attempting it too. Now I’m going to read more of your travels and great photos.
Regards Helen and Roger Blethyn
Nice to hear from you. We took your advice about stopping in Valcarlos. Too bad about the feet, we managed to escape those issues for the most part except for the French mud sprains. Spain was a piece of cake – comparatively. We were home by July and have been doing house stuff and some writing. I am currently working on family history before we venture off again in October. We are doing a Mediterranean cruise starting in Barcelona. We will be stopping at many places that I never been to like Malta before tackling the Adriatic and then spending five days in Istanbul. I guess we have the travel bug. We will be hiking the California Coast in the spring. Not as historic as the Camino but every bit as beautiful. Thanks for the kind words. Mark and Peggy