11.07.08  Friday

Set off this morning from La Romieu, up early but had failed to note time of opening of boulangerie, still making interesting noises and smells at 07:05 so went on our way without breakfast, chocolate bars essential after one and a half hours.  La Romieu has an old Abbey we could not go round, but tours are arranged and there is a local legend about a cat woman that we could not understand but several houses are decorated with stone cats.

We are heading for Lectoure and then just south to a campsite called Three Valleys, this is a point from which we can reach Fleurance tomorrow morning to meet Rhona and her friends heading north after their visit to the Tour de France. The weather is thankfully cooler today and we make good progress into Lectoure by late morning where a market is in full swing. we got trout for later and then a meal in a cafe (breakfast and lunch).

We wandered into the old cathedral there - many church buildings around here date from 14th and 15th centuries and the establishment of the Bastide towns by the rival French and English royal houses.

The reason you have more than one picture is that we are on the worlds most expensive campsite, it is charging about ten times that of our cheapest municipal, we would have walked on but were told the next site had closed down. However internet access is inclusive, so taking advantage of it. It does have everything one could possibly require but it's a bit like a campsite for people who don't really like camping.

This is a post for those who have not experienced walking along the great range of French foot paths, in the hope that it may be useful to someone.

These waymarks are intended to guide a walker or mountain biker, VTT Velos Tous Terrain in French on a given route cross country. I will cover some of the mountain biking ones later. First the walking ones.

The waymarks for the GR network or Grande Randonnees (long distance footpaths across from one area to another) are red and white and the standard mark that says "yes, carry straight on" is a horizontal bar, or 2 in this case. These are usually painted on a tree, rock or post where ever handy BUT there may be nowhere handy for some distance.

The next is a cross to say don’t go this way, often at a junction there will be one or more of these on some ways forward and only one with the horizontal bar.

This may be confusing if two GR paths diverge at a point and this may be seen, indicating that this is the way for one GR but not the GR48, usually there are other signs in these situations.

Just before or at (or occasionally, and confusingly, just after) a turning a triple bar with a vertical stroke indicates turn left or right.

Sometimes marks may have faded or be covered with foliage. This one has just undergone some public service clearance by us.

The situation becomes more complicated when other paths become involved and since the GR may go round a village that has its own set of local footpaths in yellow, blue or any other colour one can see signs that are very complex and indicating various turns for different paths.

Finally there is the prospect of signs almost vanishing from age and lack of maintenance.

The sign for VTT is two round blobs and a triangle (a stylised cyclist) which can be tilted to indicate turns by the direction the triangle points.