Oc

The word I was looking for was "oc", as in Languedoc. I didn't make this up. The Occitan language named countries after their word for "yes". 

St. Gervais sur Mare

The 13 winds were great!  Most of them seemed to be at my back the whole time!

Carrefour is a French grocery store chain and there are smaller ones called Carrefour Express. They're somewhere between a 7/11 and Whole Foods. They sell the greatest snacks. My new all-time favorite snack is Saupiquet Thon Sauce Mayonaise (tuna in mayo sauce). It's tuna, mayo, dijon mustard and finely chopped peppers. They come in single serving cans and I can't get enough of them. My rule of the road is to only eat them when there's a garbage can nearby and unfortunately there were no garbage cans on today's route.  And my pack still smells faintly of the empty sardine can I stuck in it two years ago.  I should have listened to the wisdom Dave got from the Maharishi about the garbage bags! Anyway, all I had for lunch today was a banana and an orange. I'm off to get pizza soon.

I'm in the municipal gite here and while it's very comfy and I have my own room, there's no wifi. I'd really like to show you some of the pictures from today but data charges are crazy this time around.

I've always been a believer that hills are worth climbing because of the views from the top and today really proved it. It was an 800 meter climb followed by a 700 meter descent but it was worth it. I think this was the last brutal descent for awhile; tomorrow is a thousand meter climb but the route stays on a plateau of the central massif for a couple of days before heading back down to the plains of Gers. 

I don't want to jinx myself but it's incredible how nice and helpful French people are, at least in these small towns. Most of them, even to y ones with populations of less than 500 have tourist offices. The one today called around trying to find me a Chambre d'Hote and when none were open, a random lady walked me to the town hall to hook me up with my municipal digs.

I have a quiz for you. I may have mentioned this in my now lost Le Puy blog a couple of years ago but I had forgotten this until I re-learned it today. Here goes:  in the Occitan language, if Lanquedeoui was northern France and Languedesi was Spain, what was their word for "yes" in southern France?

First correct answer posted in comments gets a can of Saupiquet Thon Sauce Mayonaisse!

The tourist office has wifi and although it's closed now, the lady gave me the password and told me I should be able to sit on the ledge outside and it will work. We'll see. Off I go.

Pass of the 13 Winds

I think the wind has died down a bit today. But today's track takes me over the pass of the 13 Winds. Off I go!

All Well

Limited internet.  More later.

Look at This Orange

The nicest one I've ever seen.

Brutal Wind

I was scared for awhile. The wind was a steady 58km/hr but the gusts at the top seemed way higher. It blew the rain cover off my backpack. I made it into Lunas in one piece though. The next two days are harder than today - actually the hardest until I reach the Pyranees.

The wind is supposed to die down a bit over the next couple of days but I'm keeping my options open about what to do tomorrow. One problem is that there's no shelter for 25km on the next stage. Another is that I'm the only person up there so it feels pretty vulnerable. Right now I'm leaning towards going 5km to the next village, walk further up the mountain to see what it's like and go back to the village tomorrow night.

There's no busses along the route so if I bail on this part I'll have to take a cab.  No big deal. Anyway I'm in no hurry.

Little Wine

On previous trips, I've gone through big agro, big timber and big vineyards. So far Languedoc is totally different. There are vineyards everywhere but unlike Bordeaux and even Rioja, I haven't seen any massive vineyards. They're all these little ones that seem to be between one and five acres.

This one is pretty much tucked right in the middle of town.