Mixed bag day. Since there was a forecast for thunderstorms, we decided to make it a short day and book a Gite not too far down the road. We could walk through some showers but slogging through storms is miserable. We had a nice community breakfast at Pierre's and got underway. We needed to grab some food for the trek and we were blessed to be in Cahors on Market Day! We love market days with all the fresh goods. Got some great fig bread, cheese, fresh fruit and a "Jesuit" pastry. Stopped by the tourist office and asked them to book a place for tomorrow night. Finally started walking around 9:30, a bit later than usual. Crossed the Pont Valentre, a massive, ancient, cobblestoned bridge that goes over the Lot River as we left town and did a steep ascent up the mountain overlooking the city. What we found on the trail today was interesting. For over a week, since we left Conques, we have seen almost no pelerins as we walk during the day. We only see them at our destination towns. Today we saw tons of walkers, many in groups. On the narrow paths, it makes for tough passage, especially with their "batons" flailing about. I suppose we have been spoiled with the serenity for so long. The rain was mostly sprinkles here and there although once we did stop under some trees and let the showers pass. We continued on and upon reaching our destination, we hoped there would be a shelter as we knew we were arriving earlier than when they receive guests. We were then unceremoniously greeted by a large barking dog and a host that was quite displeased with our early arrival. We weren't sure we would stay but he said we should stay and allowed us into the Gite. His attitude was very disturbing to us as we have been shown such great compassion and hospitality in France. The other pelerins staying there were all French. It had quite a different vibe there than other places we had stayed.
Gite d'etape a la ferme Trigodina. Nice set up with kitchen, dining and sitting area down stairs and clean 2-3 person rooms upstairs with 3 showers and a toilette. Host provided food and pelerins cooked and cleaned. Very nice except for the rude owner...not family run, just a man.
