It rained overnight and it looked like more rain was on the way when we left Decazeville this morning. It held off for the first five kilometres, then it  was “poncho-on-poncho-off” for much of our 21 kilometre walk to Saint-Felix. There was sunshine, distant thunder, downpours, sunshine, sprinkles, and more sunshine – a little bit of everything. Sometimes it was hard to tell if the raindrops were coming from the sky or from trees overhead. It was cool the whole way – a perfect temperature for a five, six, or seven hour walk. We really have nothing to complain about, because this is the first day of rain in almost two weeks.

There was a steep decline into Decazeville yesterday so naturally there was a steep ascent leaving the city this morning. The same thing happened hiking into and out of Livinhac-en-Haut. The ups and downs weren’t nearly as dramatic as the climb out of Conques yesterday and that was a doozie! The views before the rain started were lovely with wispy, low-lying cloud drifting about. There wasn’t much on our walk that attracted a lot of attention today other than the weather and the Chapel of Guirande which was built in the 12th and 13th centuries. We could have spent more time learning about the meanings behind the paintings on the ceiling but wanted to reach our destination sooner rather than later.

Last week I had to backtrack because I left my hiking poles at a cafe. Today it was Dave’s turn. He left his hat back at the cafe where we stopped for coffee adding three kilometres to his 21 kilometre day. What a bummer! 🙁

We are staying at Gite Chez Thierry Denecker In Saint-Felix tonight. It will be our host’s last season after hosting pilgrims/travellers 24/7 for six months a year for ten hard-working years. (Someone translated what he said at dinner last night and hopes she got this right.)