Left our very small airbnb room at our usual starting time of around 8 and, after the obligatory stop at the boulangerie, headed down a pleasant trail into the woods. But after a few kilometres we began to hear shots and baying dogs in the distance. Coming out of the woods onto a gravel road, we passed a hunter and then this sign:
Of course, it's Sunday! Hunting day!
Mariella put on her fluorescent yellow t-shirt over her blouse in imitation of the brightly coloured vests hunters wear to keep from shooting each other, but when we came to a paved road we decided to stay on that rather than following the trail into the woods again. This gave us a very good excuse to take a detour away from the GR 653A as far as Valbonne, and visit the medieval abbey.
Here we were approached by a young man eager to stamp our pilgrim passports. He told us it was only the second time pilgrims had come through town - after the first group, the parish had a stamp made, and we were the first to use it! The young man asked us to wait while he went to get the stamp, and returned accompanied by two very young assistants. I think the inkpad must have dried out while waiting for more pilgrims to walk those extra few kilometres to Valbonne, because the stamp came out rather faded - but three people had a good time making it!
From Valbonne a secondary path marked in yellow took us back onto the Grand Randonée along quiet residential streets lined with pretty country villas. It soon became evident that we were returning toward the coast as the vegetation turned into dry Mediterranean scrub and the scent of pine trees filled the air.
We stopped for a bite to eat by a small canal which seemed to be a popular place for Sunday walks. A man on a unicycle passed by, and then a herd of goats!
Not what you expect shepherds to look like... From here it was only a short walk down into Mouans-Sartoux, where we arrived on the last day of the town's well-known annual book fair.
How fitting for two ladies who met through a book club!
We had a bit of an adventure finding our accommodations: the address was not where Google Maps thought it was, and we ended up on the wrong side of a little hill... which seemed like a mountain, at the end of a long day on the trail! Upon arrival we were somewhat dismayed to find that what we had originally thought was a kennel was our "two-room apartment with garden", as described on airbnb. But once we had settled in - and eliminated a few spiders - we found it would do us just fine as an overnight stop. For the first time, we had a kitchen at our disposal - but nothing to cook. The shops in Mouans-Sartoux were closed on Sunday. We dined on trail mix, washed up and went to bed!
Roquefort-les-Pins - Pégomas
23 km
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