Shared Illusions

Alliers is the river that runs through this part of France 🇫🇷. It’s said that salmon are very happy in this river.

It was another fabulous day of walking through beautiful countryside.  Not too hot, a cool breeze. And the air for a good part of the early morning walk smelled so sweet – like chocolate flowers. You may not have these flowers in your part of the world. They are a particular delight of Albuquerque.

The route has also been lined with blackberry brambles. Some are small and dried out,  but many are plump and succulent.  I stop frequently to avail myself of the bounty.

Alas, many of them are too high and beyond reach. Still, I’ve had a good share of them.

Some views from our hike…

Along with the tower,  this is what’s left of an ancient fortress.

There is a very steep decent from here, so we elected to backtrack a short way and come down along the power lines.

Our gite tonight, La Gite du Pont Eiffel, while providing a warm welcome,  didn’t provide much else. The food was decidedly not French. Stale bread, for one thing, and canned peas and carrots in mayo for another. The pasta bolognese was tasty. A Pilgrim had to walk through our “private room” to get to hers. Breakfast was more stale bread, jam, and margarine. Margarine! Well, it was a very small taste of “roughing it”, so what’s to complain about, really? The host was kind. The other two pilgrims were also.

And that’s it for today. Which is actually yesterday. But that’s all she’ll post today. We have a longer hike tomorrow, but with considerably less elevation, so more miles should be okay.

Bon soirée.