4.05.14 Sunday. Monistrol to Saugues.
A good evening meal in the restaurant up the hill from the campsite in Monistrol cooked by the Englishman from Cheddar who talked for England. A cold night and the day starts with rapid breakfast and an early start for Geof and Tim the Sprinter group whose task it is to reach Saugu4.05.14 es before midday when everything closes, one on the perils of walkinvg in France. There is a choice between shopping and carrying or getting to ones destination before midday we opt for the latter and the sprint up 500 m of the cliffs above the Allier is ok except for the steps that go on just a bit longrr than is comfortable. It is ip into the cloud and at 700m the wind is a bit chill. By midday the promised sun appears and things get a little warmer though the wind still bites as we all sit for lunch under the wood statue of the Beast of Gevaudan that ate over 100 locals in the 18th century.
The campsite by the river is excellent but this may be more due to the sunshine and relative warmth than any particulsr merit.
Further to the story of the Beast of Gevaudan the usual camino fantasy started to erupt over dinner, Geof decided that the particular po int that the beast selected young women and children suggested that it was not a non human beast at all but a serial sex offender, Tim suggested someone in a position of power and Ray said a local priest, protected by the estsblished church. The whole took flight with the suggestion of a screen play that would chome with modern happenings and the posibillity of the priest o question becoming pope and being played by an elderly Peter Cushing descended into farce or certainty depending on taste. The evening ended with a clear blue sky and worries for a very cold night.
About 13km and 700 m of ascent.