day 02 - draft
Thursday,  7 April 2016
Saint-Privat d'Allier to Le Falzet
030 km today - 052 km to date

Left Saint-Privat at 08h to Rochegude and an open chapel where I leave a prayer request.  On leaving Rochegude, we are directed straight down a rocky path festooned with tree roots: anyone coming down on Wednesday when the ground would have been still sodden or on Tuesday with persistent rain would have had their work cut out to stay safe.  My hostess of Tuesday had told me no money machines until Saugeso so no stopping at Monistroll dAllier, a large village with a main line railway station.  Here  I was at 600 metres (1,900 feet) above sea level and within 40 minutes I was over 1,000 m (3,400 ft) asl. More gentle climbing followed till the village of Rognac where I stopped for  a rest and lunch.  During my 10 minutes stop Vanessa (London), Lynda (Brighton) and Paul (London) stopped for a chat and carried on.

On leaving Rognac I passed my first small cluster of cattle beasts at close quarters and soon after caught up with the London trio and all four of us entered the largish town of Sauges together.  I found a money machine and traced back to the church only to encounter the London trio having their pilgrim credentials stamped. The small lady on duty was an entertainment and, on learning I was from New Zealand showed me a photo of a NZ couple and a photo book from which I selected some to show of the country to the assembly.
Shortly after leaving Sauges I caught up with another Swiss woman, this time from the German sector near Zurich.  We fell into step for about 5 km., chatting some of the time or  (I hope) in companionable silence.  I stopped for a rest at the village before my intended stop point as my right little toe was playing up.

I was the first to my gite but four more arrived in quick succession: Martina from Rouen, Henrif from Lille and two 18 year olds, Emma and Carolina from Bonn (?) on the Rhine, who had just finished school  and were having  a gap year.

And so to bed.