Gervais-sur-Mare - Murat-sur-Vèbre
25 km - 1159 m elevation gain
The greatest danger facing the hiker in France is not wild boar, or bulls, or even derelict old stone bridges, but the risk of starvation. Especially on a Sunday!
French villages consist entirely of houses, and the occasional church (normally kept closed). Places of business are few and far between, at least compared to Italy; some towns seem to have none at all. Whether this means the local people are entirely self-sufficient, or that they drive to the supermarket in the nearest big city, I do not know, but it is most inconvenient when on a Long Walk, when your body is consuming about double its usual number of calories and demanding compensation!
Saint-Gervais-etc.-etc. is one of the rare towns you come across on the GR653 that is actually big enough to have a grocer, a baker, a pizzeria AND a brasserie. Unless it happens to be Sunday, that is. In which case the only enterprise open for business is the brasserie. And when you ask for the vegetarian menu advertised on the blackboard, they say they cannot make it today. Why not? Because it's Sunday, and the greengrocer is closed. Couldn't they have bought enough vegetables on Saturday to last through Sunday? is the question that comes naturally to mind. But even if I were capable of framing the question in French (couldn't you... if you... surely requires the subjonctif, or the conditionelle - maybe even both!) it wouldn't do much good at this point in time. So I settle for what the waiter manages to rustle up, which involves a lot of carbohydrates and not much actual nourishment, and pay 12 euros for it - as much as a night at a gîte communal.
The following morning, it being Monday, the grocer is still closed but at least the bakery is open. Sweet croissants for breakfast, savoury croissants to take along for lunch, accompanied by bread - more carbohydrates!
Peering longingly into closed grocery shop
Happy to find the patisserie in business!
And so, powered by simple carbohyrates and caffeine alone, we set off for another day of climbing, up to almost a thousand metres - the highest point on the Via Tolosana until it crosses the Pyrenees into Spain.
We followed the Mare river out of town and passed the old mill of Nougayrol.
We passed through the forest and past the village of Andabre to Castenet-le-Haut, where the trail began to climb steeply.
The trail flattened off at an elevation of around 800 metres, where we will remain for the next couple of days. After taking a lunch break and enjoying our savoury croissants in a grassy meadow, we decided to follow the example of a French couple walking just ahead of us and leave the GR653 to walk along the paved road to Murat-sur-Vèbre, saving us a few kilometres and a couple of hundred metres' elevation gain. The traffic was light and the road had a grassy shoulder that made for safe, if not particularly pleasant, walking. We arrived in Murat in plenty of time to pick up the key to the gîte communal from the town hall and - wonder of wonders! - buy groceries at the local supermarket. So tonight, while our accommodations are basic - bunk beds, communal kitechen and outdoor toilets and showers - we have dined like kings on salad, soup, rosé wine, baked beans and baguette!
Benvenguda to a new départment: Tarn!
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