Last day in France

Since we are about to head out on another adventure, I thought I should finish the last one.


The morning was foggy and cool.  So far the trail has been well marked.  So much so that we don't even need to check the maps on our phone.  I can't tell you how nice it is to just walk and not worry about getting lost.  Getting lost in Southern France wouldn't  be too bad though.  The sky cleared around noon.  Just as we walked into the cute town of Flavingnac.  The only place to eat was the local pub mostly full of blue collar workers having lunch.  It's easy ordering here because most places have a menu of the day.  I have to say that this menu of the day was the best meal we have had in France!  Roasted duck leg with eggplant and buttery noodles.  Yum!  Dessert was a giant cheese plate.  I guess they trusted you to only take what you needed, because the waitress moved the same tray from table to table.  We rolled out of town stuffed.  Neither of us expected to have such good food in a pub.  

Guard Goat

Picnic in Town

By the afternoon the small paved country roads turned to old dirt roads through the woods.  That was a nice relief on our feet.  Just before dinner we rolled into the town of Chalus.  Shadow spotted what looked to be a fancy hotel in town.  Hotel de Ville was written on the front just below the French flag.  I thought it would be too expensive, but walked in anyways to ask.  Shadow likes to splurge on hotels, I like to splurge on food.  I walked in and asked a gentleman about a room for the night in broken French.  The man started chuckling uncontrollably.  From what we gathered this historic building was once a hotel, but is now a government office.  Stupid tourist...

Only one motel was open and we were lucky to get a room.  Dinner was by reservations only which seems to be common this time of year.  We followed the owner upstairs to our room.  At a threshold down the hallway, she pointed to the ceiling for us to mind our heads which we did.  

As I started to unpack my bag, I noticed an awful stench.  Like a dead animal.  I searched and searched, but found nothing out of the ordinary.  It soon dawned on me that it could be the cheese and salami in my food bag.  Sure enough, that was it.  I'm not sure which, but the combination was disgusting.  I am already toying with the idea of becoming a vegetarian again so this is not helping.

After dinner at the only restaurant open in town, Shadow hit his head on the concrete threshold.  I eased his pain by finding a carafe of red wine sitting in the common area near our room.  He snuck down the hall to grab it and hit his head again!  Ouch!   3 times total he whacked his head on the same doorway.  Poor guy.

Today was pretty uneventful.  Rain clouds haunted us most of the day, but we only had a few drops.  Just after lunch we walked through an apple orchard.  The owner was taking a walk and offered us a sample of a new variety.   We found an open campground at the end of the day which was perfect.  They even sold local wine!  Shadow and I sat overlooking a pond eating bread, cheese, curry ramen, and sipped wine.  Our dinner conversation was more lively than usual arguing if Anime was the same as cartoons.  

Around 7pm it started to rain and continued throughout the night.  Not a big deal other than our tent was pitched on a perfectly flat dirt camper site, which is now a mud pit.  Seriously.  I got out to pee this morning and my flip flop sank in the mud.  There was enough of a break in the rain to pack up camp and start walking.  A steady drizzle fell until lunch.  Which is when we found a sign for a restaurant.  Perfect!  

We feasted on wine, duck, lamb, desserts, and coffee before waggling back on the trail.  All that plus a salad buffet for 13 euros each.  The afternoon was pleasant walking into Bergerac, France.  Today is our last day on the trail.  It's a good place to end the hike since there's a train station.  

With less than 2 weeks left on our Europe trip we wanted to see some of Spain.  Where in Spain?  Well, that's a good question.  Our plane tickets have us departing from Madrid.  We Googled a train route from where we are in France to Madrid and the town of Bilboa popped up for a layover.  Looks like this will be our first stop.