Day 7 - St Chely to Espalion (21 km - 240m ascent - 720m descent)

A cloud band passed by overnight, shedding a few drops of rain, but that did not stop us waking to another fine morning. It was an interesting breakfast - we were starting to notice a pattern, in that the first conversation of the day in gîtes communal turns around who snored and how loudly, and so on. Breakfast over, we set off for the last longish stage of this walk, descending the cobbled streets of St Chely to cross the Boralde River on the old stone Pont des Pelerins.

Although the day would involve a large loss of altitude to reach the Lot River, it started with a climb. Once over the bridge we found ourselves zig-zagging up the sealed road high above the village. Eventually, we left it to follow a footpath leading through dense forest. It was very pleasant traversing the slope on a bed of soft dry dead leaves, with the new growth of the current year forming a bright green canopy, from where the sweet sounds of invisible songbirds wafted across the air.

It was a good break before commencing the descent once again. This time a stony track led us slowly down beneath a shady canopy of chestnuts. The forest thickened even more as we descended an eroded track once again into the valley of the Boralde, though this time much closer to its junction with the Lot.

Unfortunately, rapid descents into valleys usually mean steep climbs out and such was the case today, as we trudged slowly up a rough gravel track to reach La Roziere. Here, the shady terrace of an auberge overlooking the green hills beyond invited us for lunch - we accepted.

While we were eating, the clouds that had begun to appear discretely in the west were now building up into menacing billows of grey - it was time to head on, descending once again past fields of poppies to reach the village of St Come d'Olt - rightfully proud of officially being one of the "plus beaux villages de France".

We only just made it - large drops began to fall as we hurried through the narrow cobbled streets to reach the 16th century church with its curiously twisted bell-tower. With several other randonneurs, we took shelter in the church while the heavy rain fell outside - time to sit and admire its magnificent stained-glass windows.

The sun returned and the rain left (in that order) and we set out again, heading out of St Come to cross the bridge over the Lot - turning back to admire one last time the setting of this village on the river. The GR65 turned westward almost immediately to follow the Lot along a quiet sealed road - after the rain the humidity was up and it almost felt tropical.

Meanwhile, the grey clouds had regrouped and soon heavy drops began to fall again, forcing us into the shelter of a cypress arch at the entry to a local farm.

Fifteen minutes later, we resumed again in sunshine, walking quickly along the steaming road until we reached a junction in the track - we could either take the high road up a slippery track to the ridge above the river or continue along the sealed road that followed the Lot. The threat of more rain made the choice easy and, despite our aversion to road-walking, we enjoyed the stroll alongside the stone-rippling waters of this tree-lined river.

After checking into our gîte, we spent a very pleasant hour or two wandering through the old streets, sitting on the banks of the Lot and contemplating the reflections of bridge and old houses, enjoying an ice-cold beer while watching the locals play boules or the ancient game of quilles a huit.

Without a doubt, Espalion is a very pleasant place to wind down after a long, hard day on the Chemin de Saint Jacques.

Eventually, we were off, crossing the old bridge over the Lot and swinging westward to follow its bank out of town. Not long after we turned away from the river to follow a sealed road along the river flats that led us to the pretty village of Bessuéjouls and its romanesque church.

An old domain at Bessuéjols

Patches of sun broke through as we wandered through fields of wheat and rye, before descending once again along a narrow muddy path, first between a thick hedgerow and then back through the forest. This track emerged at Tredou, back on the river flats.

From Tredou, we crossed a mosaic of rich red soils and green fields before passing through the village of Verrieres, situated on a bend of the Lot. The hills here had closed in to form a small green-walled gorge. A narrow footpath took us up and over a forested spur of this gorge, and a small section of road-walking led us to the splendid setting of Estaing - yet another "plus beaux village de France".

The Pont des Pelerins at Estaing

Recrossing the bridge, we rejoined the GR65, following a quiet sealed road along the southern bank of the Lot, as it took a large sweeping curve through a second gorge, the verdant walls reflecting in the deep dark green pools of the river.

Last view of the Lot before heading inland

Soon after we left the gorge, our path turned inland, crossing a sidestream of the Lot, before the start of an unrelenting 4km climb, partly on the road and partly on steep footpaths that cut out the long corners. Reaching a grassy rise at Montegude, we thought the climb was over, but the road continued up - like the last climb of a mountain stage in the Tour de France, every bend seemed to lead to another climb until eventually we crested the hill to reach Fontveille and the gîte rural where we had booked to spend the night.

It was a great setting, "en plein campagne" as the French say, with views extending way back to the Aubrac Plateau. It was good to see just how far we had come in the past few days.

The church of St Martin at Golinhac

A tranquil forest stream

Passing through Golinhac, on its hilltop balcony overlooking the Lot Valley, we continued westward on quiet roads, some sealed, some gravel, to reach the village of Albusquies - time for a bit of chocolate and orange to boost the energy levels. As we ate, we noticed the sky beginning to fill with dark grey clouds - it was time to head on.

Storm clouds to the east

Descending a narrow path and crossing a stream, we pushed on through the fields and tree groves of this undulating plateau. The storm seemed more interested in raining on pilgrims to the east of us, so our pace dropped back to a steadier rhythm again.

A couple of narrow footpaths then led us away from the road to descend more steeply through a forest and alongside a babbling stream. Crossing the stream on a little iron bridge, we reversed direction on the other side to traverse along an old stone-walled terrace that led us into Espeyrac, perched on a rocky promontory on the side of the valley.

Suddenly we emerged from the forest and the village of Conques, yet another of the "plus beaux villages de France", lay ahead - a magnificent setting of lauze-roofed cottages, clinging to the steep side of the valley at the confluence of the Dourdou and Ouche Rivers, and dominated by the towers of Sainte Foy de Conques - its magnificent 12th century abbey. This was a fitting place to end a long walk.

We were able to eat at the gite of the Abbaye Ste Foy that night, thanks to an invitation from one of our fellow pilgrims. Only then, as we shared a meal with over 100 others in the old monks' quarters, did we realise how many people actually make this pilgrimage.