Margeride meanderings

September 10, 2024

Saugues -> Chazeaux

It was supposed to be an easier day… our guidebook showed the elevation as all ‘green’ for the 15 km we’d planned (v.s. yellow and red the previous two days). So, we disembarked late after devouring the breakfast buffet and lounging ’til 1030. The air was crisp as more of Saugues’ peculiar carvings saw us out:

Well, Reinhold Messner must have been this book’s advisor! Instead of big ups and downs, we were cooked by many successive jagged undulations…

Gravel, asphalt, dirt and rock paths between outposts big enough to be named (centuries ago) and get our hopes up – alas, too small nowadays for amenities. As we were contemplating digging into our emergency reserve of saucissons, the Ferme de Fromage, tucked into a Shire-like gully, proved our oasis… once we found Mme. Declos, who was juggling farm and hostess duties.

Restoration helped with the psychological edge needed for the final 5 km. We made Chazeaux, parched and clammy with 40 minutes to spare before our gîte opened so had to ask the pair of bemused lawn-chaired ladies where to get a drink… about 30 seconds and 500 syllables later, we were directed to the local fromagier (every hamlet here has one, it seems) and just beat closing.