| 23.05.14 Saturday. Monbonnet to Monistrol.
A very nice gite at the Bar St Jaques out of the cold wind and light rain has given us a good nights sleep. The evening meal was of course sausage and lentils. We have seen the lentils growing but not the pigs so maybe its not only local food that is supplied for tourists
Once more in the morning the route goes up and then descends into the valley of the Allier and up and over to the Allier again. Great views across volcanic valleys are again marred by low cloud and mist. However two donkeys at Roche Gude just under a spectacularly placed chapel over looking Monistrol de Allier provide entertainment for Betsy who reslises a little late in her photograph the males obvious intrest in his companion.
There is a lot of descent before that town with its bridge built by Gustave Effiel over the Allier is reached, and the paths are steep and slippy. The routr is much more like a GR than the Camino in Spain and we see a couple more signs advising a different route in heavy rain.
Monistrol has two camp sites the Municipal in the valley below just off route and another near the church on the route. The latter is closed and appears to be a private site posibly only opened for religious groups in the summer months after a beer we retrace our steps to the deserted municipal and pitch up for the night about 1500 hrs.
15km 500 m ascent 1000m descent |