Mary's Musings and More: The GENEVA WAY - Part Three CHAVANAY to LE PUYS EN VELAY

We're in the Camino Routine by now, after walking 12 straight days. The end is in sight as we begin the final segment. I find this bittersweet.

DAY THIRTEEN: 13.1 miles CHAVANAY to SAINT-JULIAN-MOLIN-MOLETTE

Today proved somewhat challenging, but we were in no particular hurry, so we stopped often, including a 40-minute lunch break featuring "pizza rolls" from last night's leftovers. There is always low-hanging available trail fruit to be found, and we're proud of our "blackberries every day" record.

Although today's hike was 13.1 miles, it seemed longer due to the heat and steep climbs. We tackled a total ascent of 2,115 feet and a descent of 760 feet.

Highlights included finding the largest puffball mushroom we have ever seen, passing by thousands of apple trees once again, and finding a perfect lunch spot near a cross on a hill at about mile ten, after a very steep climb. There was a a picnic table in the shade and we had this lovely spot all to ourselves to enjoy!

We walked by an old stone chapel within the first few miles of our upward climb this morning.

A good excuse to rest and take a picture before we continue our ascent

Crates upon crates of apples! Come to think of it, we've tasted such delicious apple juice in the mornings at breakfast.

I plead guilty. One of these apples wound up in my backpack

How exciting to see the enormous puffball mushroom!

Seriously, it would not fit into my 25L backpack

Mid-hike we pass through the quaint village of Bessey.

Not much activity going on, but it was lovely

A local artist painted this amazing lifelike mural on the side of a building. It looked so "real".

We were duly impressed

We arrive at the town of Saint-Julian-Molin-Molette, the official end of the hike, mid-afternoon. It was another one of the arrangements where we had to "call for a ride" to our accommodations at La Rivoire, about four miles away.

No worries. We explored the town and appreciated the colorful buildings and architecture.

This building in particular caught our eye

Celebrating the end of a long, hot hike with a tall, cold local brew is always very welcome.

A relaxing "happy hour" at the end of the day's walk

DAY FOURTEEN: 16.5 miles SAINT-JULIAN-MOLIN-MOLETTE to LES SETOUX

The walk today was one of the more challenging ones of the Camino, with an ascent of 2,910 feet and a descent of 1,030 feet. Today's climb of nearly 3,000 feet proved to be the record "climbing day" of the camino. A bit exhausting at the time.

But we not only survived, we thrived with the incredible forests, the mushrooms (once again) and the splendid views.

A morning view as we "climb" out of town

We got a bit off track, due to my suggestion we "go this way"though it was against Gerry's better judgement. But he humored me, and we ended up taking a less rural route, but were able to observe and appreciate the architecture in the town of Bourg-Argental.

As always, the walks in the woods are welcome.

Taking in all the greenery, along with the waterfall

I thought I had seen the biggest puffball mushroom ever yesterday, but not. We came across this specimen which was so large it wouldn't fit into Gerry's 30L backpack. (We didn't even try...)


Wow! This is huge!

After walking through the woods (which was lovely, but steep) we welcomed a stretch of walking on the pavement, which was relatively flat, just slightly uphill. We passed beneath several ancient stone bridges and archways.

A peaceful patch upon the pavement today

Toward the end of our hike, we came upon an ancient abbey and monastery.

What a beautiful setting - so green,and so perfect in my mind

Our accommodations were at "Les Herbes Sauvages", another lovely B & B which was located a short 2 km from Les Setoux. We very much enjoyed our hostess, Ann Marie. She was very gracious, and prepared us a scrumptious dinner. Ann Marie is also an environmentalist, an artist, and an activist. She and Gerry connected re botany. Ann Marie showed us a multitude of botanist books both before and after dinner, which she and Gerry perused. It was very sweet.

With Ann Marie, our awesome hostess

Once again, as is par for the course with B and Bs in France, we were offered an apertif and then served a fabulous dinner, and we were graced with the presence of Ann Marie. She was wonderful company.

Lentils, tomatoes and much more for our first course...

I'm not a big meat eater, but Ann Marie prepared us an excellent dinner which featured veal.

It was delicious

We were well fortified and slept well at this B & B. Day fourteen was predicted to be a "piece of cake" in comparison with the previous days' outings. Time would tell.

DAY FIFTEEN: 11.5 miles LES SETOUX to MONTFAUCON

We started the day with a visit to "Clavas", the ancient monastery very close to Les Herbes Sauvages. Ann Marie is involved with the restoration project and she proudly showed us around.

A close-up of "Clavas", which dates back to 1223 and was an active abbey in the 1800s

We began our walk in Les Setoux at the church where we filled our water bottles with cold, fresh water from the fountain. As we headed out of town, we passed a private collection of old tractors.

A serious collection from the good old days

We see many open fields and our share of cows once again. It might be fun to be a cow for a day, with nothing to do but graze.

They have a lovely place to hang out

A few houses dot the landscape today but there isn't much sign of human life.

In the middle of nowhere

The wildflowers were pretty. We saw some interesting ones that we haven't seen before. Every day there is much beauty on a camino.

Some sort of lily, according to Gerry

This flower has Gerry stumped, though it resembles a violet

It wasn't quite as hot today, and the weather is supposed to dramatically change for the final three days of our hike. It is highly unusual to have walked 15 days with only one day of actual rain (and one day of threatening rain).

We arrived in Montfaucon by 1:30 pm. I went into the Visitor Center and picked up a brochure (in English) on Le Puy where we will soon be at the end of our camino. The nice lady at the visitor center gave me a complimentary red Montfaucon tote bag for a souvenir.

Our boutique hotel, Les Platanes, was located a seven minute walk from the center of town. Our room is on the third floor. They were kind enough to let us check in at 2:30 pm when we arrived.

It started raining this evening. We were grateful to simply walk downstairs and be well fed in the hotel's restaurant on the first floor, without having to walk outside in the cold and damp.

We ordered a bottle of red wine from the region.

An excellent choice

Our first course was a generous salad with warm chevre cheese toasts.

Delicious!

Our entree was fresh trout with scalloped potatoes and a zucchini souffle.

This is also tasty

Fresh peaches and ice cream parfait with raspberries and whipped cream was served for dessert.

the grand finale

DAY SIXTEEN: 13.0 miles MONTFAUCON to SAINT JEURES

It wasn't as wet as we expected it to be, though we did don our rain ponchos for about a third of the walk, and I had my camera put away for most of the walk.

We started our camino under cloudy skies. We stopped off at a boulangerie on the way out of town and bought a large baguette for one Euro. Bread and cheese is often our "go to" lunch on the camino.

We see this beautiful shelf mushroom midmorning

It was very rural except for the town of Tence, about midway through the hike. Tence is a fairly sizable town with several shops, bars and restaurants. It is one of the larger towns we've seen on this camino - though this isn't really saying much.

The church in Tence, at km 11

Soon we were "past tense" and into the woods where we spotted a bold and brilliant Amanita.

Our "past tense" Amanita

By the 15K mark it stopped raining and we put our ponchos away for the remainder of the hike.
We could view our destination of St. Jeures from the distance, with a few miles yet to go.

Soon we'll be in Saint Jeures

Saint Jeures has a few bars and restaurants, but they were closed when we arrived, maybe because it is Sunday.

In the town of Saint Jeures under stormy skies

Our accommodation was at "La Fougal" a B & B lcated a mere 150 meters from the center of the village. We were happy to check in early and take warm showers. It is supposed to dip down into the 40s this evening. Summer seems to be over.

We arrive at La Fougal

Dinner was another rewarding experience. There were two other French couples staying at La Fougal, as well as Christian, a solo hiker we've seen nearly every day on the camino. He lives near Geneva and is hiking all the way to St. Jean Pied de Port - an additional 3 or 4 weeks of walking.

We all ate together at a large banquet table with our hosts Martine and Jean Pierre. I wish my French was better...

Martine served us cantaloupe with pancetta and crusty bread. It was the most delicious cantaloupe I have ever tasted and I helped myself to three generous slabs.

Our main course was her homemade zucchini casserole; excellent comfort food for the day.

very flavorful and loaded with cheese

Dessert was a fresh soft cheese, served with a raspberry sauce. This was another two-hour dining experience and great fun conversing (or trying to) with the French guests and hosts.

DAY SEVENTEEN: 13.8 miles SAINT JEURES to SAINT JULIAN-CHATEUILL

Fall is in the air! Excellent walking weather with cool, crisp air under partly cloudy skies. Another interesting and very scenic day on the camino.

It was barely 50 degrees when we started walking this morning at 9:15 am. Conditions were windy, very cloudy and socked in with fog - quite lovely.

Beautiful, but limited visibility

We keep a careful eye when we walk - would hate to stomp upon an innocent snail or slug.

A large snail upon the trail

We approached the small village of Queyrieres with it's ancient chapel and geological "rock" which dominates this hill town. The camino route circles the outskirts of this town, but we make a special detour to visit - a good call on our part!

Queyrieres beckons us from afar. We answer the call

The church at Queyrieres is lovely. What perfect timing, too. It is midday, and there is a picnic table nearby, a perfect stop for a baguette and cheese. I love it when life works out like this.

Glad we happened upon this resting spot

The "rock" that dominated Queyrieres was fascinating. The geology of this area is worthy of further study.

the "Rock"

We approached Saint Julian-Chapteuill under stormy skies and blustery conditions. Gerry and I both agree this has been a fascinating day, one of our favorites.

Saint Julien Chapteuill - we're almost there

It's worth the time to walk up to the magnificent church in Saint Julien Chapteuill. Why not? We try to take advantage of all the "optional" detours and bonuses on caminos.

Worth the uphill climb to see this

Our accommodations are once again outside of town. We're staying at La Ferme Bien Etre, a very nice boutique hotel perhaps two miles away. We took a taxi to La Ferme. (We weren't in the mood to try to walk it, and it was along a road without much of a shoulder. Better to be safe, plus we've walked enough by this point...)

La Ferme has a gourmet restaurant on the premises. Nice to just walk downstairs for dinner at our leisure. We have our choice of an appetizer, entree and dessert.

Gerry saw "frog legs" as an appetizer selection and went for it

I select the smoked trout tartare

The chef certainly is skilled. We've gained an appreciation for French cuisine on this camino.

Gerry's entree of steak with mushroom sauce, seasoned potatoes and a broiled tomato

My entree was delicious as well.

Salmon with a lemon lentil sauce, seasoned potatoes and a broiled tomato

Feeling a bit sentimental as tomorrow will be our final day on the camino. Will miss this camino routine.

DAY EIGHTEEN: 12.9 miles SAINT JULIAN-CHATEUILL to LE PUY EN VALEY

Today's hike seemed easy, with not much elevation gain. I feel both exhilarated and exhausted. It's a bit of an emotion letdown when a camino ends for me. I love both the simplicity and the adventure that a camino offers, plus the disconnect from technology and being aware of the glories of Mother Nature.

Our first stop, within minutes, was the boulangerie where we splurged and spent 1.5 Euro for a multi-grain baguette.