Joncel/ Le Bousquet D'Orb- St. Gervais Sur-Mare, 26klms, 30th July

We are driven to Le Bouquet D'Orb by our host, just so that we can buy some provisions for the march and dinner this evening. As such, it is a late start at 8:45AM, which is a concern in front of the coming 30+ degree heat of the day.

Once more, there is an obligatory steep climb of an hour out of the valley. I am perspiring freely, and weary, despite the good breakfast. The French diet of white bread and coffee is not great, especially for hikers; and so, this time I have brought along my muesli. I take a bowl of this each morning, with a tub of yoghurt, honey and slices of fruit. The difference is amazing in terms of sustained energy. However, today this does not seem sufficient, and I am getting irritable. I have learned to look for these signs and realise that I have not been drinking enough water.

What follows is a day of climbing and descending through mountain passes, with breath-taking valleys below.

It feels like we have the whole region to ourselves, and pass only two hikers coming the other way- a rare occurrence. Five hours continuous hiking, which makes us realise that the years of hiking do have a cumulative effect. This is evidenced by the fact that we are completely listening to our bodies on this trip.

We have decided to surrender to our daily notions of time and it's associated anxieties of being somewhere at a certain time. What emerges are expanded senses of being and a greater connection with our surroundings. At this point, we surrender ourselves to the connection of things more intrinsic- that which we lose in daily city lives.  At the end of this trip, we discover that this `loss of time' , or transcendence over it's mental construction, gives us the sense that we have been on this adventure for weeks rather than 7 days. One experiences this sometime on holidays, and I am convinced that this type of `meditation' is what we lack back in busy, stress-filled lives.

We discover an ancient Wisigoth settlement- a path aligned by big rocks (see photo), the only vestiges that remain. This migratory Germanic tribe made its way along the Southern European coast, through Southern Italy, and then Southern France (Provence, Pyrenees, Toulouse, Narbonne). Around 500AD after losing battles against the Francks and Clovis, they settled in this region of Languedoc, before migrating further into Spain, establishing their capital at Toledo; that is, just before the Arab conquest.

Lunch is spent in the middle of a grassy track, with the vista of mountain passes before us. A wonderful siesta follows.

We arrive at St Gervais sur Mare and are surprised to find a really good bakery, which has people from all nearby villages as clients. Amazingly, we find complex cereal bread, which is otherwise missing in this whole region.

After buying our provisions we settle in the `gite' (hostel) totally alone, and I am inspired to cook an `escalope de veau' (veal). At each gite one finds provisions left by others, and it has become a creative challenge, and one based on sustainable values, to cook something using these abandoned provisions. There is not a drop of oil or butter, so I decide to make a marinade from beer, the malt combining well with the flavour of the meat. Along with a ratatouille- with the wild herbs we have gathered- the result is a fantastic meal (see photo). This is really what invigorates: a good hike, good food, and company. Can we ask for more? Smile meter, at 8/10, says it all.