Day 4 – Col des Veaux to Bidarray

September 1, 2019 – Departed 9:40 – Arrived 14:00

No rain after all, and I am not complaining. Today’s hike took me through some gentle sheep and pottok pastures to the Col d’Espalza. Then it was a one hour, very steep climb down a rocky gully to the valley below. A bit hard on the knees despite my best efforts, but overall quite fun.

There was a farm at the bottom, and the farmer’s children, aged 19 and 21, have started a small buvette selling cold drinks to hikers. After all my efforts it was hard to resist, so I sat down for an Orangina. The farmer’s daughter kept me company, and we started talking about the farm. They have 600 ewes that they have to milk twice a day – three hours each time. With twelve milking stalls, a quick calculation shows that it corresponds to 3 minutes per ewe. It’s faster than a cow, but of course they don’t produce as much. There is no production in summer either, as the ewes are dried off while the farmers are busy with harvests and such (the same can be done with cows, I learned earlier this summer. All one has to do is properly time the birth of the new calves so that production can restart in the Fall).

From the farm to the center of Bidarray was another easy hour. I now have the whole afternoon to relax, maybe do a bit of laundry, and have dinner somewhere in the village. I was going to buy some groceries and cook for myself for a change, but the farmer’s daughter kindly reminded me that today is Sunday and the épicerie is closed. It’s a good sign that I have lost track of days.