The hill we walked up in the rain had a fine chateau in walled grounds at the top. The views were excellent from the road but if the vineyard advertised at the gates to the chateau was anywhere near by it was not on our side of the wall. We still see mainly livestock farming in this area with a bit of wheat and oats thrown in for good measure.
Placemarks 101 to 103 on our map are relevant to this stage.
Camino Day 38 mardi 11/5/10 - Le Chatelet to La Chatre
Set off in the pouring rain again but today I used the umbrella – and my jacket seemed a bit better after Ian washed it last night. We avoided “Herbu” paths to try and keep Ian’s feet a bit drier and so managed to miss a wrong turning suggested by the chemin signs. We saw the two Germans leave the town, passing our window before us and on the road were passed by some pilgrim-looking cyclists.
We stopped for a coffee at a tabac in Chateumaillant. After we left there was a biggish hill. There we met the worst rain so far. Almost hail in intensity and rivers of water running down the road as we tried to walk up it.
The umbrella made me a lot happier, however! A bit later we were crossing a ridge under some pylons/overhead high tension cables and my umbrella began to buzz. I thought I had an insect trapped in it so shook the umbrella about a bit. The buzzing stopped and we saw 2 deer run across the field next to us. The buzzing started again as we went under the second set of wires and we realised it was electricity and not insects!!!
The rain stopped again and we had lunch on a bench at Neret.
The afternoon felt very long with threatening rain (though none really arrived there were big black clouds overhead and we could see walls of rain across the valley and at various places around us as we walked). Both of us had very wet feet from the heavy rain earlier.
We had another sit down on a bench in Lacs (the auberge and the church were both closed) and then headed into La Chatre. We intended to go to the Youth Hostel but missed the road and ended up passing the presbytery. We went in and got our books stamped but they couldn’t really help with accommodation or the Youth Hostel (they didn’t know about it – too far away perhaps?). Next we found the office of tourism and asked for directions only to be told that the hostel was closed. So we’re in a cheap, very central hotel over a bar (should be E40) and have just had an indoor picnic.
Have just heard that Gordon Brown has definitely resigned. Looks like a Tory/LibDem coalition to run the country....
Also made a ‘phone call to book our places in Cluis tomorrow and it all worked!
La Chatre is an interesting little town with a large market square in the centre (where our hotel was located). However, we shopped at the local supermarket as the market was not there when we arrived (wrong day, wrong time). We had a couple of tubs of salad (couscous and one in mayo with potatoes, eggs, gherkins, onions and herbs) some rillettes and goat’s cheese, some tomatoes and fresh bread – plus a bottle of the local red wine. We also bought another saucisson for our lunch, a couple of pain au raisins and a carton of grapefruit juice for breakfast. Most days we tended to have bread and saucisson (I would use my Swiss Army knife to cut slices) with some tomatoes and the diluted remains of our breakfast grapefruit juice. The sausage is easy to carry, durable and tasty.
We watched the limited French TV on the rooms TV set – just terrestrial channels. The room was small and simple with folding louvered doors to the bathroom but the shower worked and it was more than adequate for our needs. The window looked out onto the square and I watched various people go about their daily routines as Alison took her shower. I saw a cafe and a bar closing and all of the tables and chairs being gathered in. Both places had young women doing that heavy work. I watched a garbage truck scoot around the square collecting the day’s rubbish from the shops – interesting to see that done in the early evening... Two florists and a newsagents closed up after gathering in their displays and stands. And a small bar opened, their awning was wound out and a couple of tables and chairs were brought out. Within minutes of the chairs coming out, two older men with cloth caps and pipes sat down and lit up waiting for their early evening drinks.
When we went down stairs for an early evening beer in the hotel’s bar we discovered Yves and Bernard sitting at a table enjoying their evening meal.
Here are some photos to give you a feel of today’s journey.
Just setting off up the road next to our gite.
We found ourselves on very quiet roads
It had been raining hard for so long now that the lower land was all like this. We were lucky the flooding didn't affect our route.
We knew that another bout of rain was on its way.... we just didn't know how hard it was going to fall!
We walked in the middle of the road to avoid the rivers pouring down either side of the road...
Alison used this pic as her facebook image for a while during the walk.
We kept seeing more squalls of rain as they charged across the countryside but they managed to drift past us most of the time, thank goodness...
When there is no where else to sit for lunch, we often found a bench in a park or on a main street gave us the space we needed. Sadly, in such bad weather it was difficult to do much with your ailing feet in these circusmstances. I woulod just take the boots off and air them while I sat.
We only got off the roads when we were confident the path's surface was reasonable and relatively dry...
This was one of our first "Napoleonic Roads" - we were glad it was not too windy and that the rain remained at bay.
This was a puzzling sight:
The town in sight - they all tend to be on the top of hills!
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