Bon jour!
I had such a lovely dinner. A very nice and cute Austrail girl joined me for dinner. She was dressed like she was a model for a women's sports magazine and I look like I was outfitted at goodwill. She is a financial planner and is spending 4 months in Europe, traveling around, tasting many different hikes. She claimed that she packed way too much and probably so. We had a lovely dinner starting with Vegetable soup. I have learned that European vegetable soup is very different from ours. European vegetable soup is always pureed and smooth. This was lovely. Our second course was sausages with potatoes. The sausages were terrific and different because they had tiny squares of potatoes in the sausage. They were served with mashed potatoes. We then had a cheese course (local cheeses)which went immediately into my baggie for today's lunch. And they were worth the wait. Our dessert was a poached pear atop a flakey crust. Yum. She was great company and will be staying in the same hotel tomorrow night. We have plans to eat together again.
Although today was a shorter day 14.3. It seemed like a much longer day. I was tired and my knee was getting on my nerves. But I have tomorrow off. There have been no places open to get lunch or diet coke. I have been Coca-Cola deprived for 3 days and I finally found an open bar. I had a Pepsi Max which is calorie free. It tasted of heaven and I swear it gave me a jump start. Since I don't like coffee, I rely on Coca-Cola light for that boost. And in a pinch, I will even drink Pepsi light.
When I was in Switzerland, I was told that the bigger the bell, the more valuable the cow. This girl had a big bell but I suspect that she frequently gets lost. She was so skittish of me while the other cows just didn't care. I was that unimpressive. Some poor farmer probably has to chase her down regularly.
A very old cross and you can see my shadow taking the photo.
This is the church in Saint Alban. Woohoo! A church that was open.
The church was very plain on the outside and at the altar but had amazing stained glass windows.
This may have been the most beautiful stained glass window that I have come across. Photos do not do it justice. It was a very large window.
The light shown brightly through these windows. Magnificent.
A much more modern pilgrim.
A trail of roots. Not so easy to navigate.
One of the things I like the most are the smells of the trail. So often I get the smell of hay. This must have been a fairly mild winter because farmers seen to have much hay left over. The other smell is horse manure. I think the farmers here in France fertilize with horse manure. It is the only poop that I like the smell of. It reminds me of stables in my horse owning years.
I saw several of these sheds in the middle of a pine forest. I am not sure if they are to protect the pilgrims in inclement weather or are for the forestry workers.
Beautiful vistas
More trail
I love these lacey French crosses.
Another French cross.
Isn't this the cutest hiker photo?
This cross looked very ancient and the primitive Jesus carved on the front looks like a child.
More views.
I love European signs. There is no doubt about what this sign means but look at the cute drawing of the car.
Look at the baby. I found myself singing "Away in a Manager"
This is the full view of the lambs.
Must be a Florida Gator. Not my favorite team since I was a Seminole or as the Gators used to say "Semiholes, those half-assed Indians. At least, we went further this year in basketball than they did.
My lovely hotel. I was sooooooo glad to see it...14.3 miles later.
I really have died and gone to heaven...French-food heaven. There are two restaurants connected with this hotel. I am trying to get into the Gourmet one for tomorrow night but they are full. I am first on the waiting list. Tonight I ate at La Brasserie. I started with the French equivalent of our cheese crackers. They were oblong and about 4-5 inches long. Made with Gruyere? My next course was the above salad. It was a round of a cheese something like brie but tastier. The cheese was topped with endive, tart apples and walnuts, dressed in a tangy vinaigrette. I could live on this combination. The main course was beef slow-cooked for seven hours. It was like pot roast on steroids. This is the beef capital of France. The beef was served over very flavorful cauliflower puree. I don't know what that did to the cauliflower but it was way better than regular old cauliflower. The beef was accompanied by a local especiality, Aligot which is mashed potatoes and a stringy cheese combination. I couldn't decide on which of two desserts I wanted and the waiter talked me into a chocolate souffle and they brought by mistake the other one that I wanted. What a fortunate mistake. It was a layered dessert with chocolate ice cream or frozen pudding topped with crunchie toasted marshmallow-like creme brulee. OMG! The food just gets better and better. Now I really hope someone cancels for tomorrow night. If this was the casual restaurant, I can't wait to try the gourmet one.
I am going to need to double my hiking if I keep eating like this.
Hope you all have wonderful and great wine for dinner tonight! Until tomorrow.
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