Prevenchères to Villefort

Hello wondrous wonders!

Top photo of the day, even though it won’t capture the majesty of the view. Hint: if you can, view the photo in landscape or at least expand it.

These massive limestone cliffs rise up from the river Chassezac.

We encountered the above just before arriving at La Garde Guerin, a fortified 12th C “city”. It’s  very small and is now renowned as a lunch and gift shop offering local ingredients honey, confiture,  wine, beer, lentils and more) as well as high quality handmade items like wool slippers and incredible hand knitted thick sweaters from local wool. I would have bought both if traveling in a car.

La Garde Guerin from afar
Ed walking to the tower.
Newer Garde Guerin

You can tell from the photos that it was overcast today. Rain and thunderstorms threatened, but never materialized. It was comfortable weather for walking. On the other hand, walking was not comfortable at all. Compare: walking from Langogne to Luc, almost 8 miles. We got there in 4 hours. Meanwhile,  Prevenchères to Villefort was about 9 miles, and it took a whole hour extra. Which, now that I think about it, is not bad, given the nonstop rocky terrain, including long stretches of the rippled undulating volcanic rock.  We did have a few respites – walking on cushy pine needles for a too short while and another short bit lakeside.

Dammed lake – looked like fjords of Finland.
The dam – technological wonder
So many streams here!
Abandoned home in a great location – running water through the property. 

I wonder about these homes in the woods. Were they once farming homestead? Were they abandoned during the religious wars? Was it a Protestant or Catholic family forced to flee?

I’m going to take a bath now. This hotel has a long and deep tub that i must use to my advantage. I leave you with this image, the other name for this route.

In Villefort

Beau rêves …

8 thoughts on “Prevenchères to Villefort

  1. Linnea Hendrickson's avatar Linnea Hendrickson May 19, 2025 / 2:05 pm

    I think we’re quitting walking as of today. It s either one very short day or 1 very long day to get where we planned to stop. These 20 km days with no stopping places between are wearing us down!

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    • pgsteele4's avatar pgsteele4 May 19, 2025 / 2:12 pm

      Oh, dear! 20 km days – we are doing 14-22 mostly. You must be exhausted! Be proud of how far you’ve walked. Many a much younger person would not even think of attempting it. We are just over 1/3 into La Régordane. When is your flight back?

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      • Linnea Hendrickson's avatar Linnea Hendrickson May 19, 2025 / 2:27 pm

        flight back is next Tuesday, so we have time. We had overcast today, too. Walked from 8 to 3 with a few short breaks.

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      • pgsteele4's avatar pgsteele4 May 19, 2025 / 11:20 pm

        You have almost a week! What are your plans?

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  2. Linnea Hendrickson's avatar Linnea Hendrickson May 20, 2025 / 12:42 am

    we are staying here in Neuvy Saint-sépulcre one more night. A day to do nothing! Maybe visit the circular church again. We were able to wash our clothes yesterday. The wife of our landlord in this well-organized, pleasant Chambre d’hôte works in Chateauroux and has offered to drive us tomorrow morning. We can visit there a day or so — maybe change our flight to a day or two earlier to avoid 6-hour layover in Dallas. Maybe go to Bourges or Limoges — so nice to go back to bed after breakfast to his morning! I think we wore ourselves out since walking from Nevers every day for a week.

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    • pgsteele4's avatar pgsteele4 May 20, 2025 / 7:53 am

      Back to bed after breakfast ! Love it. It’s nice to have options. We are in Genolhac. The hotel doesn’t open til 5:30. Going to find a 🍺. Enjoy your last days in France 🇫🇷

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      • Linnea Hendrickson's avatar Linnea Hendrickson May 20, 2025 / 10:31 am

        thank you! We had a substantial lunch and I’ve booked rooms in Chateauroux 2 nights and 2 nights in Bourges before on to Paris.

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