We were climbing out of the valley village of Saint-Chely D’Aubrac by 7:30 am, crossing the first old bridge of the day. We did reach the sunny hilltop but spent the rest of the morning descending and climbing more hills to reach one of France’s most beautiful towns, Saint-Come-D’Olt. There we stopped for lunch at a bar and were joined by an American, Brian.
Brian is from Lansing, Michigan, US. We had seen Brian in Nasbinals at a communal meal, two days earlier, but didn’t get a chance to speak with him. We could hear him speaking both French and English and mistakenly thought he may be Canadian. His French was impressive, the result of a teen Rotary exchange and another year living in Paris. He quickly apologized for what his government was doing to Canada, but it was clear that he was devastated by the changes happening in his own country. We got past that topic and onto our more common interests, like how we could bring the spirit of the Chemin to North America. When I went to pay our bill, Brian had already taken care of it. We thanked our new friend and moved on. Brian was walking to Pamplona like us, but he was taking his time, savouring the experience.
Leaving town we crossed another lovely old bridge and passed a fisherman with one trout in his creel. The climbing continued in earnest, including crossing yet another old stone bridge forgotten in a nature reserve. The temperature reached 18C by early afternoon and we began to suffer. We took every opportunity to rest in the shade. I can’t imagine walking this route in the summer heat.
The climbing eventually ended just above our destination, Espalion, where a statue of Mary watches over the town. Almost an hour later we were exploring the town, putting in time until our accommodation, Gite D’Etape a Pont Vieux opened. We spent some time standing on the 1000 year old bridge that anchors this town and I reflected on the day. Four old bridges and an unexpected gift from an American friend – a metaphorical bridge. I think we could all do with a few more bridges in our lives.