Didn’t post a walk last week because the group was walking from Le Fel, a picturesque village in the Cantal, very high above the Lot and one of the smallest appellations in France, where they’re growing on the edge of cultivation - some years the whole vendage is lost. Anyhow, although it’s a great walk and very photogenic,
However, by coincidence, we’d had dinner up there the previous evening on friends’ terrace cantilevered out over the gorge and I needed the day to prepare for our dinner party the following evening. If we’d done that walk, with driving an hour each way, the whole venture would’ve taken about six hours out of the day. So we just did a two hour walk to the auberge in the next village downstream.
Today we were walking from St Santin de Maurs, which is not to be confused with St Santin d’Aveyron, even though to all intents they’re the same village. However, they’re actually not only in different departments, but different regions! Everyone except the locals, who take the distinction very seriously, finds it a bit silly.
Today’s walk was the biggest group this year - 24 of us - ranks swelled by the arrival of a lot of Dutch maison secondaires and so we had a long walk group and a short walk group , the latter largely consisting of Dutch people who hadn’t walked up a hill for six months.
The groups would walk together around the top of the Chapeau (above), a wooded hill that has featured before because you can see if from virtually anywhere locally and then the groups would split. At least that was the plan…
It was a fine morning and the walk gives fine views over the surrounding countryside (albeit not very dramatic)
A fine ladder…
Unfortunately we’d only gone a km or so and at the first gradient, the slow group began struggling, with a rather too well-fed lady from Paris being the struggliest
Then an hour or so of walking just inside the perimeter of the wood, with occasional views of the countryside below and apparently lots of orchids (but I’m never sure which are orchids and which are just weird flowers, so there aren’t any photos).
Back down from the Chapeau, looking across to St Santin’s two churches, which are only about ten metres apart- but in different regions.! The LH church is mediaeval and the RH one which looks C19th Gothic Revival was presumably built after the post-Revolutionary creation of the départements so that the citizens didn’t need to worship together!
After that it got a bit boring photographically although remaining very pleasant rando wise - paths through fields, woods etc. this is a forest stream that in a photo looks like a path, though hopefully, you wouldn’t mix them up in real life…
Eventually arrive back at our starting point where the short walkers have already been feasting for an hour or so. Madame H tackles her salade whilst the Dutch pig out on lots of too vinegary Dutch food.
Good rando, but not very photographic.
But enjoyable, as always. 
