We have declared today a day of recuperation for me – rest, visit to the doctor, taxis instead of on foot.
Our taxi picked us up as arranged at 8:30. Lovely ride – ~ 15 minutes through rolling, rugged terrain to Nasbinals. Saw a doctor at the small health center at Nasbinals. My condition is only a bad cold. He prescribed pain reliever, nasal spray (with prednisone), and a cough management med for evening/night. Charge for the visit: 25 €. Next we walked a short way to the pharmacy, where everything went fine. 17 € to fill the three scripts. The pharmacist was distracted from time to time by her cat, who seemed interested in seeing the visitor to the shop.
We repaired to a café, where I took the initial dose of my medications and enjoyed coffee, pain au chocolat, and Wifi. While there, we were reminded by a notice at the cash register that WiFi is not everything:
The parish church in Nasbinals is a handsome Romanesque structure at the center of town. It is constructed of granite and basalt, the abundant local stone, in the 11th & 12th centuries.
Inside, there are appealing painted wood sculptures in a simple, sturdy style. I especially like this one of Joseph with the boy Jesus:
And this one of the ubiquitous St. Jacques
There was also a beautiful wood panel depicting the baptism of Jesus:
The next stop on Steve’s R&R tour of the Aubrac was lunch at a hotel restaurant on the town square. Our meal offered traditional foods of the region, including salade d’Aubrac, beef chunks in red wine sauce, aligot, regional cheeses, and choice of dessert. Delicious!
We then hired a taxi for the next leg of our journey, from Nasbinals to St. Chely d’Aubrac, where we will be spending the night. We have accommodation in the municipal gîte, sponsored by the Mayor’s office and operated by the tourism office. For the trip, we were pleased to find the same driver who had brought us to Nasbinals in the morning. Our drive took us through beautiful (if wet — it’s still raining!) countryside and then down a steep grade into town.
Here’s the view from our room:
And the street outside:
Though we keep hoping for relief from the rain, the forecast calls for more of the same, perhaps with some relief on Friday. We’ll see. We still have a long way to go!