Walking Across Italy

Today was a tough day. We hiked about 14 miles (35,000 steps) in just under 5 hours, with a break for lunch in the middle of a field. The temperature for most of the day was 50 degrees and there was 90-100 humidity for most of the day. The hardest part of today’s hike was the first mile which was almost vertical. My Apple watch said we climbed 74 flights of stairs in that first ascent, and 124 flights for the entire day. That’s our highest number.

Leaving Conque

The morning began with a steep descent through the mid-evil village of Conque, down to the river. At the time, I thought this road is really steep and slippery. Little did I know that the ascent was going to be even worse.

At the bottom of the village, we found an ancient stone bridge that dates back 2,000 years to Roman times.

Immediately, on the other side of the bridge, we started our grueling climb. As you can see in the picture below, the path is narrow, muddy, rocky, steep, and wet. I was glad that this was happening first thing in the morning when my legs were fresh.

The climb lasted for almost an hour. There were a lot of hikers on the trail, many older than us. (Believe it or not.) But, they would kindly step aside when our fierce and fast team wanted to get by.

Much of the day was spent walking in the mist.

Since there were no restaurants along our path, we bought some sandwiches and chips for lunch today. The sandwich was a footlong piece of sliced french bread covered in butter, topped with ham and cheese, lettuce and tomato. OMG, it was good!

We stopped to eat lunch in a field with an abandoned tractor and flatbed trailer. It wasn’t pretty, but it allowed us to eat without sitting on the ground. (My tushy doesn’t like that.)

After lunch, we hiked to the town of Decazeville. Stephen told us that it was a coal mining town with some economic problems. Wow, was he right! Decanzeville is one of those town that looks charming from a distance, but pretty ugly up close. But we were exhausted and still had a couple of miles to go, so we stopped at a bar for a quick drink. I usually order ice tea because the 9 grams of sugar give me a boost. But today, I ordered a Coca-cola since it has 10 grams. And it worked! I was on fire climbing the last few hills.

We spent the night at a chateau B&B which had awful rooms and a shared bathroom, but great food for dinner and the morning breakfast.

The chateau is owned by a nice Dutch guy. He obviously wanted us to see his Maserati because he moved it closer to the house after we arrived. Stephen says that second hand Maserati’s are relatively cheap because “they don’t hold their value”. (Of course I knew that!)

Prior to dinner, Sir Squire and Lord Blenkinsopp engaged in a friendly game of pool. (Or so we thought)

And as fine British gentlemen do, there was only a mild display of victory by the winner.

Tomorrow is our last day. We have a lot of ground to cover (15 miles) so I need some good sleep. There is no heat in this place, so I’m heading deep under the comforter.

Buona Notte