She Follows Shells: Day Two- Montbonnet to Montistrol d'Allier

Typing quickly as we have limited wifi here in France. Purchasing a coffee enables you to set up a nice little time to catch up on email etc....

This stage was the perfect Camino day! We desperately needed it after yesterday. The sun did not let up, this has been our sky the past two days ...

Thankfully I had bought us all umbrellas before we left, they have been worth their weight in gold to protect us from the sun. Thankfully, my engineering sons have figured out how to attach mine from my back vs front of pack so I can walk hands free and see where I am going. Stage One left little chance of shade, Stage Two was all we want to see in our Camino; woodsy paths, climbs, descents, cows on parade from stall to pasture (or back in the evening), dogs, cats, snails and slugs.

This morning before our walk we woke in a pasture right near the small chapel that is 1,000 years old. We heard the buzz of what I thought was flies over manure but realized they were bees. None seemed to want to harm us in fact I am pretty convinced they hovered over us with curiosity. We ate in Montbonnet last night, sandwiches for the boys and salads for the girls. The bar (keep in mind a simple roadside mom and pop restaurant is called a bar) had a fire attached, the couple was super sweet to us, supplying us fresh water before we left and assuring us that we were totally fine to "wild camp" in this area. On our way out of town a lady stopped Reichen and offered to fill our water bottles for us. This simple act of kindness is worth it's weight in gold and much appreciated!

We had two nice breaks today, one for about 45 minutes where we are our lunch the other in a charming town called Saint Privat d'Allier.

We hung out about an hour and half waiting for the Boulangerie to open ( Bread/ Pastry). During this time four French men, appeared to be friends spending several days together on trail got to talking to us. They insisted on us joining them for a drink and treated us to a Coke. They stayed in that town and we kept moving but it was wonderful to have their company and conversation.

Merci!!!!!!

Here is a picture of us loaded with our bread.... Karsh is keeping track of how many baguettes we eat (French bread)...

Tonight we ended in Monistrol d' Allier, a shorter distance than planned but a wonderful stop with a river. We took in a swim in a wonderful spot. We ate at a splendid restaurant called Pain du Sucre, Sugar Loaf, named after a rock in the mountain. It is owned by a wonderful man and true friend of pilgrims, Peter. The children had pizzas and I had a salad that I will never forget!