A short day because we still do not want to push Nellie too hard and we will be stopping off at Decathlon on the way out. We leave our hosts after an excellent breakfast and set out into the morning commuter traffic, a daunting experience, but apparently not for Nellie, who dawdles through it all and waits at zebra crossings as if she has never done anything else. Then, having found a place in the city centre, though with enough grass to keep her happy for at least an hour, Paul leaves us to see what he can find in Decathlon. We have a long list of requirements, including an inflatable mattress for the tent. Yes, we have given in, sapped out, or whatever else you want to call it, but successive nights lying on stones do nothing for the body or the spirit. In fact we have gone one step further down the road to materialistic hell, we have bought a battery-powered pump!
Getting out of Gap is relatively easy, the only highlight being when our path is blocked by a group of people working in the forest and stoking an enormous fire. When one of them asks if she will pass it, I tell him it will not be problem. In truth I have no idea, but where there is no choice there is only one answer. So we give it a go and Nellie does not let me down. From here our walk is a series of gentle climbs and descents until we top the last ridge and look down on Notre Dame du Laus, a memorable experience artfully prolonged by a zigzag path that gently leads us into the valley. Doing my utmost to leave well entrenched predujices aside, I have to say that the accommodation is simple but ample and Nellie has been given one of the best fields yet. She is currently munching knee high grass under fronds of lolling blossom. Allowing a slither of my predujice through, I would add that the sight of barely pubescent nuns and barely disguised commercialism in the name of religion still makes my flesh creep. Notre-Dame du Laus, was predictably built at the request of the Virgin Mary (yet another vision for a poor shepardess), is equally predictably, a highly successful affair.
Other news – Flea has gained a kilo and lost a tooth.
Accommodation – Rating: Good/PR Possibly good value if you can persuade the receptionist to give you the simple version, we did not and paid for it. Camping possible. Horses accepted. Hotelliere Notre-Dale du Laus 05130 ST ETIENNE LE LAUS 04 92 50 30 73 accueil@notre-dame-du-laus.com www.notre-dame-du-laus.com
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