Layover

June 8, 2025

We had a low key day off. It was just what my right legs ordered. Breakfast was at 9 AM in the dining room. We had filled out a paper the night before of our choices from the selections. There was a slight delay while the dining table was cleared. We sat down with a couple from Barcelona. They spoke English, French, and Spanish. He was originally from Argentina. They said that Catalan is easy to learn if you already know Spanish. He felt it took him three months to be proficient. They were here for a long weekend, to escape the final Semana Santa holiday.

We lounged in the room until the last possible minute to get food next door, which was 1:30 PM. Neither of us were hungry, but we didn’t want to wait until 7 PM. Then we would be starving!

Language was a bit of a problem. We used our phone app on the menu and stumbled through with our waitress. We orders pizza and salad, and took the pizza to go for later. Our neighbors opinioned that if we made even the slightest effort to speak the language, that the friendliness of the French would increase dramatically. We spent some time in the evening, looking up phrases such as, “Do you have food?” And “Water without gas, please”. Notice our food oriented concerns!

We took an evening stroll around the charming town. There were many other tourists out doing the same. Many people have told us these crowds are nothing, wait until July and August.

We tried to get organized for tomorrow. The earliest breakfast we could order is 8 AM. Hopefully we can depart quickly, as it’s supposed to be a hot one.

My biggest news is that our route is only on Komoot. I looked at my RWGPS very closely. It was supposed to be all paved, but darned if there weren’t two dirt sections of substantial distance. I’ve used RWGPS at least ten years. I definitely remember using it on the Sierra Cascades trip in 2015. So, this feels like cheating on a long term relationship. I’ve already given Komoot a name, Olga. Bertha’s cousin.

This photo was taken while using a translator app on the phone. I’ve never eaten sweet and sour pickles before.

Jacinto has found this is definitely a wine region and there’s a lack of selection in beer.

We saw this old car go past several times. I’m quite sure we also saw it on the descent yesterday.

A number of houses had this interesting door knocker.

The Spanish gate in Cèret is right across from Poppy’s BandB.

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Jacquie GaudetIn France, at restaurants, ask for “une carafe d’eau” and you’ll get a jug or bottle of perfectly drinkable tap water. Save your Euros for other countries that don’t offer free water.

As Léo Woodland told us on that other site years ago, all French cemeteries have water taps. I haven’t needed to look (yet) but they may also have toilet facilities like I’ve seen elsewhere. Better yet are the public water taps in many villages, often signed “eau potable” and great for filling bottles. Occasionally they are signed “non potable” and I’d avoid those.
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