It was a short day, but not without its challenges. We followed the road for 5 km, seeing perhaps 3 cars in nearly 2 hours, as we walked through old forests, climbing out of tiny Servies to join the GR 563 and the Chemin at the Col de Layrac from which we could see a few small villages in the valleys below, and endless mountains.
We were grateful for the cool temperature, but the wind we’d experienced yesterday continued to buffet us. After a while, we left the road and took a steep, rocky descent through forests, exiting gratefully at Mecles. We sat there in the sun beside a small fountain with a St. Jacques plaque.
Only three km from there to St. Gervais, a pleasant walk until we came to another painfully steep, rocky descent. At the bottom, we crossed a medieval bridge over the pretty Mare river before climbing up to the mostly deserted long Main Street of St. Gervais.
The Mairie rose majestically above a pair of staircases behind imposing red bars and gates. The doors opened, and a lovely young woman welcomed us, gave us a map, and a key to the gite, and collected our money.
The pizza place was closed, but we bought some cheese pastries at the bakery just before it closed, and celebrated with two beers outside a cafe, before heading back through town to a lovely, clean, modern gite with a nice kitchen and beautiful bathroom.
About 4 pm, we returned to the now open tourist office where a wonderfully kind and patient woman spent the better part of an hour lining up places for us to stay over the coming weekend. Many places were either full or closed, so we greatly appreciated her help.
After a bit of shopping at the small grocery, we went back to the gite, where we met our two companions for the night, a French man and Spanish woman.
Two businesses seemed open all the time: a car repair business, with its unlikely location in the old town center, and a funeral supply store. Both businesses were for people heading elsewhere.
Tomorrow we climb to some of the highest peaks on this part of the route, but we’ve cut the 26 km day into two.
Caminobleu 