This day is mostly about stamina. There’s no big mountain to cut you down to size, just a sum of many small parts: around 9 hours of walking over hills that keep following one another. You climb more than 500 metres, spread over short stretches that you only feel in your legs after hours of walking.
The height itself is nothing much. It’s all about rhythm: start gently, eat on time and break the day into blocks. That way you’ll still have something left in the tank at the end. Marciac welcomes you as a small bastide town with a large square full of arcades, and it’s famous for its jazz. Take your time on the way and plan your breaks so that you arrive well before dark.