We really loved the city of Estaing and enjoyed our stay at Hospitalité Saint-Jacques. The whole atmosphere there was very pleasant and the people try very hard to make everyone feel welcome. In spite of the meal being prepared, as I mentioned we went out to eat two hours before dinner would be ready. There was a little spot right at the end of the bridge so we went in and ordered right away. I had a giant salad that was covered in lardons, cheese and egg among other things (sounds healthy doesn't it?) - lardons are pieces of bacon - lots of them. We were happy with our bellies full and had a reasonably good sleep. In the morning we went back for breakfast and talked about finding a bus to take a rest day. But it was not to be - there are no buses from Estaing in the direction of Conques (which was two day walk from where we were).
So we headed out and walked up 330 metres in the first 9 kilometres. Because we were primed for a rest day our bodies were not feeling that delighted with us but up we went. And when we got to the part that was theoretically flat, we were still going uphill. The views were once again very scenic but there was a lot of walking on the edge. If you're someone with vertigo that can be an issue. Our day was only about 16 kilometres but it felt like enough by the time we got to Golinhac and we decided to stay at a place called Pole Touristique Bellevue. It was a combination gîte and campground with a half dozen chalets. We were so tired we decided we would like to have a chalet which would cost us 30 € each but it all seemed worth it at the time. We had our own little kitchen, bathroom and shower and even separate bedrooms so it felt like perfect luxury.
The highlight of our stay in this town was the evening meal we had at the albergue that was close by which also seemed to serve as the town's restaurant. We treked down in the pouring rain but arrived at a spot with a wonderfully warm atmosphere that was all prepared for our arrival. We started the meal with a warm soup as usual. The next course was big plate of marinated haricots verts. Then we had a huge plate of mashed potatoes mixed with butter and creme fraiche with a large piece of roasted chicken. We finished the meal with a baked apple with a thin custard sauce.
In the morning we decided to get a ride to Conques where we thought we would stay. The lady in the office called La Malle Postale for us the night before and we knew the man wouldn't be arriving until around11:00 so we had a nice relaxing morning and even ate eggs for breakfast instead of the traditional bread and jam.
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