How can each day be more scenic than the day before? It’s true! There aren’t enough superlatives to describe the beautiful and unique landscape between Les Quatre-Chemins and Aubrac. Cows were grazing in extensive meadows with just small villages, chapels, crosses, and stone walls all along the way. Huge stones dotted the landscape as a result of glacial radicals deposited thousands of years ago.

Another thing they have here are footprint toilets.🤪 Interesting! We avoided using the first one but not the second since there seemed to be no alternative. We did okay in spite of our lack of experience, but what we couldn’t figure out was the reason for the chair?!

By the time we reached Nasbinals close to noon, we were starting to run out of steam. Full sun and rising temperatures didn’t help. We liked Nasbinals and would have stayed there except we had a reservation at La Colonie in Aubrac. We wanted to find out from the tourist office in Nasbinals about  bus schedules or taking a taxi, but the woman there was quite adamant when she said, “If you have to skip a section, don’t skip this section!” She stressed how gorgeous it is and that it is a World Heritage Site!!! So we took her advice and walked on after grabbing a bite to eat and buying lots of water. Ultreia!  

Although the scenery was spectacular, we would have appreciated it better if we’d hiked it in smaller chunks. We were on our feet for eight hours and walked more than 26 kilometres. We should have kept to our preferred 18 kilometre a day average. Over every hill and around every curve in the trail for the last five kilometres, we hoped to see Aubrac, our final destination for the day. Occasionally we’d see another hiker far off in the distance and feel dismayed that we had to walk at least that much further. How can you fully appreciate what you’re seeing when you are feeling that way?

We are tweaking tomorrow’s plan so we don’t make the same mistake again. It will be a beautiful 16 kilometre day. Our feet will be so happy. 👣 👣 😃