14.2 miles
We moved to a sinfully large and luxurious room with 3 balconies at the Parador (which combines two palaces) and then took a taxi back to Casar de Caceres.
We chatted with David about the Yuja Wang concert he had attended in Paris the night before and about his bakery crawl to find the perfect croissant.
Rain had been forecast but it was a lovely sunny day with no rain in sight and temperatures between 40 and 60 degrees (between 50 and 60 as we were hiking).
Stunning hike mostly on Roman roads between walled pastures and empty farmland and with massive granite outcroppings. We felt totally alone with nature—although there were some occasional farm buildings with farm vehicles. Holm oaks, purple and yellow wildflowers and a lot of broom. At times we felt that we might be in Yosemite; at other times, when the terrain was scrubbier, we felt that we might be in the American southwest.
This section of the camino has the reputation for being deadly in the summer— a long walk without shade. However, we had perfect hiking temperatures!
We eventually came to a lovely path on private property and later walked on a little path overgrown with wildflowers in sight and hearing of the N-630. Sadly, the last part was on a very fast section of the N-630 with a lot if blind curves. We were very excited to walk across bridges over both the Amonte and the Tajo (or Tagus) Rivers fortunately on pedestrian walkways.
We took a (pre-arranged) taxi back to Caceres.