day 09 - draft
Thursday, 15 April 2016
Livinhac-le-Haut to Beduer
38 km today - 268 km to date

Breakfast is also a communal affair and starts at 7 am, so it is not until after 8 that I can get on the road.  As the six from Nice are beginning their return home today there are farewells all round.

To start I use the designated track from Livinhac to get to the top of the hill, but as soon as I reach a sealed road I stay on that for the next 15 km or so to Figeac. The two chapels and one church I pass are open.

Shortly after passing Saint Jean Mirabel, I catch up with a couple.  It turns out they had just stopped for the day as they were to turn around and go back to their campervan.  So I can hear them better I go slightly past them and turn around myself to face them as we talk.  During the chat I look up and notice the hills I was on top of not all that long ago.  I try a photo but they are about 60 km away.

The entrance into Figeac is low key.  Less than 100 metres after crossing the River Cele I encounter a restaurant doing a good lunch time trade.  As it overlooks the river I enter and have my first steak in a very, very  long time.  An hour later, and with the wait staff having made a booking for that night's stop for me, I am off.  Now that I am away from the hills I am finding the hard way this is not a good time of day to walk, with a cloudless sky the heat of the day is too much.  I gratefully accept another passing motorists offer to take me the last 4 km to Beduer.

This gite seems to be a converted loft space with 5 beds. When I arrive I am the only one but am joined about an hour later by a young German speaking Swiss woman, Marlene (as in Dietrich).

I wash my smalls and put them out to dry.  I have opted to not have an evening meal with my hosts as I had a large meal in the middle of the day, nor breakfast in the morning as they don't want to do this early.

And so to bed.