Simple breakfast after a noisy night where the plumbing trumpeted its presence. On our way for a longish day by 7.45am. Shortly after leaving town, a joke! The route is diverted through a tunnel under an Autoroute - known locally as the "St. Jacques-duct". OK, I never said it was funny. Generally the going today is flat other than what the guidebook of Alison Raju describes as "undulations". Most of the day we were up high among the alpine pastures. Our arrival at Nasbinals this weekend apparently coincides with the annual 'Transhumance' where the local cattle are moved with great celebrations up to the high pastures for 145 days of summer grazing. With ribbons on their horns they look very content as they go on their summer holidays. But economically this farming has to be fairly marginal and a prime beneficiary of the CAP. The local population has declined 70% in the past century.
Coffee was served Chez Regine at Les Quatre Chemins, a simple place surrounded by fields of wild jonquils
and narcissus and many other spring flowers on this rocky plateau. We stopped for lunch near Wolf Rock and by teatime had reached the Maison de Rosalie at Montgros, a hamlet up in the hills. This proved to be a charming 2** hotel (and bakery - wonderful sight of rows of the rising dough of bread). This could be a good alternative stop to Nasbinals.Nasbinals is heaving for the celebrations and the Hotel de la Route d'Argent is gloriously overbooked. The good news is that the English Cup Final is on the TV in the bar. The bad news is that Man.U. lose, to Clare's total grief.
Because of the crowds we have been assigned accommodation in the holiday home (tiny restored mews house) of M.& M. Delont nearby. It's fine and proves a lot more quiet than the hotel in these circumstances. No room in the dining room for supper but we hang onto our table in the bar for a meal that makes up in substance what it lacks in finesse: particularly 'Aligot' - mashed potato whipped up with large quantities of melted local cheese: very sticky but excellent fuel for a day's striding over mountains. After our long day we are ready for bed by 9pm and leave the merrymakers to it.
