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8.07.08 Tuesday.
Villeneuve to A Field just south of Bernadette..
A very good day for walking – not too hot, with cloud cover, our only problem we don’t know where we’re going to stay tonight. No campsites available to break the 25 or so miles between Villeneuve and Agen. Still we started out anyway with a possibility of a wild camp after about 15 miles. Up the hill out of the Lot Valley to a hill village called Pujols to get breakfast since we were on the outskirts of town and were sure there would be a boulangerie up there, arrived at about 07:45 in a little sleepy village with restaurants and an old church – the whole thing obviously a Bastide settlement – but nothing was open, the place dead to the tourist world until 09:00. Great views over the Lot valley back to Villeneuve.the whole place is a preserved village and basically now caters for the tourists, but only after 09:00! We waited listening to the “Today” programme as there was nowhere else for us to get bread for today and tomorrow morning. The man from the café opened early, we had our coffee and bought bread, and were off again.
The day has been up and down – not high valleys, but consistently up or down 100m. About 15:30 we reached the area where the tourist lady said we might find a friendly farmer. We have found a quiet field and wait to see if one turns up if not this will do for the night.
Only other point of note for the day was that Geoff’s sock made another break for freedom at lunch time. We had all taken boots and socks off to allow feet to recover and had just replaced boots when Geoff could only find 3 of the 4 socks he was wearing.
GF adds; we had been sitting on the concrete roof of a water control station, so it should not have gone far. Found it after a concerted search of boots, rucksack and field – down the back of my shirt! I had used the socks as a headrest for five minutes zzzs.
Postscript – the farmer has just turned up on his tractor to establish that we were not gypsies otherwise he was turning his cows out into this field. Having established our credentials as crazy English pilgrims, he then gave us permission to camp for the night.
Tim does occasionally talk about work still and I have brought him up-to-date with all the news (both good and bad, sadly). I am struggling to think it is a Tuesday and that I should be in theatre 2 and then day case tomorrow. Can’t seem to send any ordinary postcards from these fields, but love to you all, without forgetting recovery too!