Your legs will notice after the first hour: this is a day that tugs at you slowly. No single climb is dramatic, but it keeps rising and falling, and it all adds up. Around 770 metres of ascent, and you’ll feel it in your calves and your breathing.
The landscape helps. You start along the Lot and later walk through woods and over open hills. Estaing, also on the Lot, is a natural place to sit for a while. There’s no point rushing, as you’ll be on the road for almost 8 hours. You’ll walk the last stretch on willpower alone. Then Campuac appears, a small village. Rucksack off, boots off, legs up.