CELE VALLEY ROUTE

Today we arrived in the village of Marcilhac sur Cele, a lovely small village on the Cele River in the Cele Valley.  We are now walking on our own as we have parted with Hanna and our Aussie friends Sandi and Karla as they have moved on in a different direction, as they are following the GR65.

We had a wonderful last night together at Felzins in the fantastic Gite Le Pentadou. We had kitchen facilities and I cooked a tasty sausage and pasta dish for Hanna, Steve and I from ingredients we bought from a little supermarket down the road. Several bottles of vin rouge were consumed between the 5 of us throughout the late afternoon and into the evening.  We will miss them! Will see them again? One never knows on the Camino!

The Way of Le Puy Camino is marked on maps and signage as the GR65. Two days ago, we left the GR65 to walk the diversion route marked GR651, which takes us through the Cele Valley.  Steve had heard about this alternate route through his research whilst planning our trip and learned that this section is recommended to those who have the time to take it, as it is one of the most spectacular sections of this Camino, and spectacular it is!

The countryside on the Cele route is very different to what we have experienced so far.  The first day we walked along the valley floor beside the river much of the time in intermittent rain, then in the afternoon we began a strenous climb up a narrow rocky path through a lovely magical forest with moss covered trees and stone walls. The views of the rocky escarpments and villages along the Cele Valley are amazing, making the effort worthwhile

One of the best aspects of this section is NO MORE MUD!  The mud of previous days had really started to get us down. The weather has also changed. The forecast for today and the next few days is very warm, up to 28 degrees, with no cloud.

We are having a few short walking days through this section which is a nice changeof pace. This means we arrive in our destination early enough to explore the village without feeling wrecked from the day's walk. 

We have found this French Camino to be more strenous than the Spanish Camino.  It is very hilly with long, hard, rocky climbs and long, steep, rocky decents. The decents are proving very punishing on my knees and feet when we do 20 or more kilometres per day. But at the end of the day there is usually a lovely host, a nice little room with a hot shower, clean sheets and towels, a good meal, sometimes a fantastic meal, and a few glasses of rejuvenating vin rouge. France is great!