That's really quite enough. Another hot and sweaty night on the top bunk in a low-ceilinged room with four other hikers, and it's Tuesday, and at this point the hike has become about 20% interesting and about 80% endurance.
We're still not set to leave for four more weeks, and it's not that I can't do all the hiking; I can go for several months at this point and not wear myself out. This trip has become... boring for both of us... and we've decided we could be doing something more interesting. It doesn't have to be something wildly epic, like take the TGV to Paris or spend a week in Sitges with the bears, it's just we'd like to have more fulfilling days with less rustic accommodation that just might include a cool place to sleep at night, a bit better food, and fewer flies and biting insects.
Last night, in addition to the hot stuffy room, there was the dinner that really got to me: a thin clear green flavorless soup that tasted of salt and lentil stew with sausages thrown in it. Not really appetizing, but the apple tort at the end was pretty good, and we got our fiber. Most of these gîtes also are adamant about leaving your boots and every piece of luggage in one room. Then you're supposed changing to Crocs inside (yeah, boots can be muddy) and only taking personal things in a shoebox sized tray. Uh, I'd like to change clothes inside--so at first I draped my clean clothes over my sweaty hiking clothes, then said screw it and used a sleeping back stuff sack for everything "personal". Yeah, it's not a big deal after having done this a dozen times, but still. Then there's the guessing game of sheets/towels/soap; generally some bottom sheets are provided and a duvet and a pillow, but towels and soap often aren't. Much of the lodging is interchangeable with some combo of 'crappy dinner/single toilet for 30 people/flies/no seating/cigarette smokers/breakfast is bread and jam/sleeping is with 6 others in a stuffy room'.
And as for the hiking, since we left the heart of the Pyrenees past Luchon or so, it's become rather dull. The gîtes and auberges along the GR10 are in lower elevations, maybe at 800 to 1000m, while the track goes up to the shadeless pastures above 1300m, maybe up to 1600m or 2000m, and then back down the next valley, there's no cruising along in the high country like we got on the Via Alpina in Switzerland or even the Haut Route. So we have had many days that are just all uphill/downhill, sometimes with two uphills or two downhills--is it a letter "M" day, or an "N" day? Climbing up 1500m and down 1500m in a day is exhausting (that's about 5000 feet of uphill, followed by 5000 feet of downhill.)
Looking ahead, there doesn't look to be much high elevation landscape east of here to the Mediterranean. Maybe I might see a euphorbia or wild lavender plant? That's really not worth waiting a couple of weeks to see.
We both were kind of expecting other 'touristy' things along the trail, and there have been generally... none. These are remote valleys without so much as a castle or church or some tiny weird private museum. I can't see padding out four weeks into "let's march up this hill and down the other side" just for completenesses sake.
Enough about that. We've decided.
I told Chris when we woke up "Time to pull the plug on this adventure. I've had enough. Let's go home early" and he said "yep, I agree" we looked to adjust our flight back home, and found availability for Wed 19 August and discussed the replan over breakfast. Do we want to do more day hikes? Sure, for today there's a moderate one today of 11km, let's do that and talk more, and keep the rest of the lodging through the weekend, then perhaps visit northern Catalonia and that area of France from Barcelona up to Narbonne?" After the hike we looked at the maps and found quite afew interesting places--a leathercrafting museum, an old Roman city on the coast, the old Roman colonial city of Narbonne, even the Airbus finalassembly factory tour--so yep, we can do this.
Now can we make lodging work? Hm, we paid a bit for an Accor status upgrade for a vacation next year, and there are plenty of Ibis around in France (particularly the business-oriented ones away from the coast, it's August after all), so we can make France work. As for Spain, Chris has stayed enough at Paradores to earn a free night, and there are a few scattered around Catalonia as well. Paradores are curious, often old heritage buildings in city centers, or purpose-built comfy lodges for hikers (seriously) and nature activities. And lastly, we bumped out the car reservation four days to just drive it to the Toulouse airport the day before our flight--just €24 per day for the additional four days, that's a bargain.)
So by dinner time, it was all replanned, and we were thinking "wow, that was a good replan" and we're both relieved. It helped that the place we're staying it is pretty nice--a small private two bed room, decent beer on tap, five or six picnic tables with covers next to the river.
The hike today, by the way, was mildly interesting: about 11km up through a shady beech forest to an 18th century chapel for lunch. Good enough for a workout, but again, we've walked through beech forests next to a stream before, this could be almost anywhere.
The chapel itself was in pastureland, and it was a literal minefield of cowshit to get to the little cow-exclusion zone where we sat on the wall and ate lunch, and it made me think of all the hot days and days of hiking through ferns and flies with no shade and wondering if we'll run out of water. I'm happy that we're replanning and shortening this trip.
Coming back from the hike (no weird hip pain like I had yesterday), I felt fine, but the of Chris's feet started getting pretty painful again the last couple of km. I think our hiking days on this trip really are over.
The accommodation tonight at La Maison Du Valier as I mentioned continues to be superb, our own clean private room with sheets. Dinner was great, zucchini soup and a potato-cheese-ham-onion casserole thing. And dessert was a blueberry torte. Room is nice and quiet and cool, we can open the window all the way, and it's on the ground floor with a northern exterior wall. Going to be a good night of sleep.
