Date walked: 26th  September 2017

Distance: around 14 miles

Booking company: Sherpa Expeditions. Sherpa made all the hotel and bed and breakfast bookings, arranged transfer of our bags each day between destinations and provided detailed descriptions of each days walk and large-scale map sheets with the routes marked. It all worked perfectly; I highly recommend them.Here is a link to the specific walk we booked.

Maps used: I have also subscribed to the “Outdoors France” app. A years subscription of £19.99 allows you to download 1:25,000 scale  IGN maps (- equivalent to 2.5 inches to a mile). The app then allows chosen routes to be marked up and the phone GPS locates where you are at any time. I did have some problems with the maps when we were walking, though.

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We had stayed last night at the Hotel des Consuls, right in the centre of this pretty village. We were the first down to breakfast and tucked into the fresh pastries which were excellent. The make-your-own coffee machine did alright, too.

It was a dry but misty morning and we set off whilst the market in the square was still setting up.

Returning to the GR46, we left the village and headed north-east, the route taking a little road through open countryside.

Most of the fields had been cropped and ploughed, but in several were still massed the brown and bowed heads of sunflowers.

A source of some speculation as to when they would be cut

Others contained small flocks of damp sheep.

You have been very sheep-starved this trip

This misty morning was showing off the cobwebs beautifully.

The trick is to use flash

Our little road became a narrow track at a cross roads, passing though a small woodland by the Russeau de Bauzens stream (it’s rather nice that they name their streams as well as rivers).

The bridge was referred to in our notes.

Our notes warned us to expect furious barking dogs ahead, but the warning didn’t dispel just how unpleasant it was to be so harangued by a pack of these ugly beasts.

Horrid bloody things

Over to our left we could see the village of Le Verdier.

Leaving the GR 46 as it reached the D15, we opted to take the suggested short cut and made towards the village of Vieux passing a few isolated properties…

Very smart; probably owned by a Brit

… a couple of which had quinces by the road.

Lovely things though often affected by blight as this one is

In the middle of a field was a Menhir – or standing stone. 

Shortly after here we crossed the Vere river, though here much smaller than we had seen it earlier in our walk. Next to it a converted mill.

Vieux had lots to see.  Our notes drew our attention to an old wine press…

….and directed that we should take a short flight of steps…

.. to the square…

Thanks to Bob for this pic

….by L’eglise St Eugene (not open).

Very lovely door

Here were toilets! Proper French toilets with no seat. (BYO paper).

Well, one gender-neutral one to be precise

We sat in this charming square, having a bite to eat and admiring the C19th sundial on the wall of the Marie.

We knew that there would be no cafe or bar, so having rested we set off up the hill, passing the cemetery….

… and at the top pausing to enjoy the best view of the village.

From Vieux we climbed gently, passing a tractor which had got itself stuck in a ditch…

Nowt we could do to help

..,. to a property called Le Chapitre.

We left the road here, continuing to climb next to the first vineyard we had encountered in the 5 days we had been walking; wines here come within the Gaillac region.

No grapes to be seen, though

The vineyards extended to the little village of Andillac.

We passed by its impressive church…

… and noted the rather fine pigonnerie in the middle of the vines.

From Andillac we took a small road passing several properties. I was pleased to see that one of them was trying to protect its Box hedge against the Box Tree Caterpillar by hanging out moth traps above them.

In the background, signs of other afflicted trees

We passed a couple of linked fishing ponds…

.. and immediately after there we rejoined the GR46.

The next few miles undulated over open, mostly ploughed,  fields….

and through small patches of woodland.

Shooting emplacement

It was very easy on the eye countryside…

…. with some arable fields, some vineyards…..

… and more large plantations of still-standing sunflowers.

During our 5 day walk we had seen less than a handful of people at work on the land. Today we saw one chap on a mini-tractor doing something with his young vines.

It wasn’t obvious what he was doing!

After crossing the D33,the path bypasses the village of Amarens, though we did see the pretty church of St Andre which is just below it…..

… and a glimpse of a property called La Tourette on the hilltop above us.

Climbing gently again, the path curved round the shoulder of a hill, giving us a view of a rather lovely railway viaduct in the valley below.

On the narrow path, which was now running due east, we encountered more damage to box trees by the caterpillar….

… but, more pleasingly, in the hedgerow, there was also sloe…

Prunus spinosa

….lots of hips from wild roses and the black berries of Dogwoods.

Common Dogwood: Cornus sanguinea

We also encountered (a first for the week), some serious walkers. As we descended the valley side we were greeted (many times) by a group coming in the other direction.

At the bottom of the valley we crossed under a road bridge…

Pic by Bob – who else?

…. and then a bridge under the railway line we had seen earlier.

From the valley bottom we had about a mile to climb  (very slowly – we were flagging) up the other side, followed by a short stretch in a wood before we were were presented with sight of our destination.

Before getting there we had do one more descent to cross a small road at La Plaine before we began to climb again up the steep sides of the hill on which Cordes stands.

But first pics had to be taken. I couldn’t find a suitable place to rest my camera for a selfie of the two of us, so at great expense I called on my friend John Kingdom – a garden blogger and frequent visitor to these pages – to make up for my failings.

That man is damn clever!

Now here is the moment you have been waiting 5 days for. Somehow from somewhere near here we took a wrong turning. I take full responsibility for this. I was the holder of the notes and I can only think in my giddiness at nearly finishing I thought it was a doddle to find the way into town.  As it happens we found ourselves climbing up through a field, passed a very interesting series of small kilns, to be faced by a high stone wall.

Bob was not impressed but he also found, admittedly submerged in a mass of bramble, some stone steps. With a bit of beating with our sticks, and sustaining only minor cuts and grazes, we were able to scale the wall to find, coming down the hill, a tourist train.

It was time for a celebratory drink. We made our way through the town to our hotel via a square with a couple of cafes  and had several refreshing and hideously expensive beers and several plates of salted peanuts. I think we’d earned them don’t you? Salut.