I got up about 7ish, I was disappointed to find nothing had dried much over night so I had laundry from three different days now not completely dry.. amongst other things adding weight to my pack.. breakfast was already waiting inside for me. My room was separated by an outside porch area from their main living space and since it was chilly out I ate inside their dinning room... although we did not speak a common language I found out the day would be grey with a just a little rain, and at least while I was walking this proved to be true...the woman still seemed a bit nervous about me, maybe she was uncertain about my paying..it was not the cheapest pilgrims stay .... I had ate and slept well so all was good..i had 20 kms again today. The landscape seemed to be about the same as the last few days... farmed forests, open fields and then more natural woods in various combinations...
. the walk slowly climbed at times but nothing too steep... it was very much the same weather I would expect in the NW US where I lived, cool, very little drizzle and lots of grey, it was actually ideal hiking weather... but I walked slowly as usual... there was a bit of uncertainty with the trail at one point since two different GR trails crossed again and they share the same color markings... and I tried to guess what my french guide book said.... mid morning I came to giant wind turbines in the woods... and at that point I ran into the german woman from Ulm again...she was not certain whether we had made the right decision as far as trails went...i was okay with my decision...but we walked together for a while and finally came upon better signs and proof that we were okay... I let her go ahead since she has less weight and is a much faster walker... I tried to listen to my 'learn french while you drive' while walking, but I have to admit, learning language this way is a bit boring, and I am not sure how much I benefited.... again as the afternoon approached my feet got the now very familiar aches... I arrived at Murat, but followed the trail signs thinking, based on the book that they would go through the center of town..but no, the trail overshot the town so I had to walk back in.. I ran into a german woman I had met two days or so ago and she was telling me about an over night stay at a Gite with really good food... on the way in to town I saw the Gite, and I saw the prices listed, I felt I needed to stay and a cheaper one(later i heard that i misinterpreted the sign the dorm room was cheaper)... so I went into town center... everything was closed even the bar... a bad sign.... I found the tourist office and waited till it opened. I had only a few minutes... the women inside spoke no english but I communicated I was a pilgrim looking for a cheap Gite, I was guided to a place behind a school and given a door code in exchange for six euro...the german woman from Ulm opened the door she had already settled in... it was a place with huge dorm room and many beds..so far it was only us.. in the kitchen she had made some tea and had turned on all the heat...so it was actually quite nice in there.... I hurried to shower and laundry so I could get some food... our cloths were next to the heater so my three days worth of damp clothes would dry quite nicely.....eventually two more pilgrims would arrive...a couple i'd seen in Montpellier youth hostel... they seemed quite wrecked and a little unsocial in the beginning... me and Mrs Ulm went to the supermarket together and both picked lentils as our main meal I also got avocado and bread... then I went back and started cooking my lentil soup... later Ms Ulm would return having done other errands and would take her turn to cook her soup...there was only one pot... then the other couple who was swiss, returned and ironically they had also chosen the lentils..but they made a fancy curry with theirs and added fresh veggies... I ate my soup with avocado sandwiches...delicious... we had also all seemingly bought beer... so we sat around and talked,...ms Ulm saw some of my photos from my trip... and decided she preferred all the ones with stuffed bunny Clark in it...so i found another lover of Clark now...oh and therefore she must be an okay person!! turns out all of us pretty much started walking beginning of April...the man kept to himself in the dorm room mostly but the swiss woman sat and talked with us...she had started in Switzerland, and walked pretty much the same walk as Ms Ulm..apparently there is only one trail leading from Switzerland down... also on the table for discussion...seemed to be what I would finally send home...since as i've mentioned repeatedly my pack is too big...me and Ms Ulm now have an easier banter going between us because we keep running into each other...it's almost like the buddhist circuit between nepal and india... it's best to get along with everyone since you keep sharing rooms with each other along the way, so it's nice when you do get along well...i would not deal with that decision making about what belongings I could part with till the next morning...the couple had decided to stay two nights here because they needed a break...the woman was now experiencing the extreme foot soreness that we all seem to get... somewhat late I went off to do my homework and we all went to bed around 10ish.....i should mention by the time I arrived here, it started pouring rain..so I missed the worst of it again...
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