Busca Aumont-Aubrac 2

A rest and repair day.  Laundry, sleep, tourist (Roman church of course), bank.

QB is still suffering with her nasty virus.   Breathing difficulties, coughing, energy and will sapping.  Desole´.    

Credit cards work, generally if one is persistent.   It appears that the French  do not use any other than the EU Blue card.  When presented with an Amex card merchants  either decline or use it for a while and it fails.   Visa cards work but they go into a different slot on their portable card readers.  Suspect that the card readers expect a chip (no signature when a Blue card is used).  We have often had to show them which slot to use on the machine and which side of the card to put facing.  In general have given up using cards for items that are small and reverted to cash except in restaurants; there we persist.

A visit to the local tourist office produced more information about aligot.  The cows of Aubrac have been bred to make a certain cheese, Tomme, naturally.  It is the required cheese for a proper aligot. The tourist office staff member developed an expression of faint disdain when we mentioned Cantal cheese as the correct cheese for alight. Suspect we would have had a different result in the adjoining Cantal region.

Tomorrow we leave the Auvergne heading to the Lozère.   Still up on the central massif, day after tomorrow we will reach its highest point a bit over 1300 meters, then a death defying descent of 26km dropping to sea level into the Lot valley.  One terror at a time please.

Better breakfast today. No dry crusts for pilgrims like yesterday. Breakfast buffet included something akin to crème fraiche.  It did not seem to be thick enough for c. fraiche.    Not sure.  Was not sour cream and was not yogurt or a farm cheese.  Will ask tomorrow if I remember.  

Still not finding much in the way of veggies or fruit.  It can be found and, at least for the veggies, ordered but not common.  The local market where we would have stocked up on some fruit was closed by the time we finished breakfast – no problem, it will open again at 15:00.  Many stores and  restaurants are still closed on Mondays.  

Met three German bike riders.  Lyon to Santiago.   One was riding a Swiss Army bike.  Very very strong and heavy.  One gear!  His partners in crime said he had to walk a lot of hills.   No doubt in my mind.  He claimed to do it for his heart.

Dinner:  bouef fondant reduction. Like a great pot roast with a red wine and beef stock reduction.  Trout and aligot along with a rosé langdouc, the region we are now in.  A tartare of salmon encrusted with lentils.