1st March 17... arriving in Bordeaux, then Bayonne...

[superleggera]

Hi folks,

I've picked a few brains on here- thanks for the advice so far, flight and train now booked and paid for.

I'm travelling solo and if there are other solo 'peregrinos' wanting to hook up until we reach Bayonne I will be arriving...

...at BORDEAUX airport at around lunchtime on 1st March...

...then I'll head into the town, grab a late lunch then catch the...

...15:51 TGV to BAYONNE arriving around 17:30.

I'm not planning to go on to SJDPP that evening, my very long day will end in Bayonne.

BC

 

[Bradypus]

The timetable I just looked at has the final train to St Jean leaving at 18:06 that day. I've usually found the TGV service to be fairly punctual but not 100% so. Doesn't give you a lot of time to hang around in the bar before departure. Although Bayonne is an interesting town I'm not sure that spending a fairly short dark winter/spring night there with an early morning train would be all that entertaining. My inclination would be to make Plan A catching the last train to St Jean but being prepared for a night in Bayonne if SNCF can't stick to the timetable.

 

[superleggera]

The timetable I just looked at has the final train to St Jean leaving at 18:06 that day. I've usually found the TGV service to be fairly punctual but not 100% so. Doesn't give you a lot of time to hang around in the bar before departure. Although Bayonne is an interesting town I'm not sure that spending a fairly short dark winter/spring night there with an early morning train would be all that entertaining. My inclination would be to make Plan A catching the last train to St Jean but being prepared for a night in Bayonne if SNCF can't stick to the timetable.

Cheers, duly noted and amended

 

[whariwharangi]

My understanding is the SJPdP train waits for the train from Paris/Bordeaux.

This is an assumption based on my experience ... there were labor strikes interfering with airports and trains the day of my travel. The train from Bayonne to SJPdP did wait for the train from Paris (via Bordeaux).

 

[superleggera]

OK, thanks. I'm arriving by aeroplane and I have around 3.5 hours between landing and catching the TGV to Bayonne so that connection shouldn't be a problem. To be fair, French & Spanish ATC tend to strike most when they are likely to have the greatest effect and so maybe if nearer Easter it might be something to worry about....(famous last words/Murphy's law etc).

I've seen some info about starting the Camino from Bayonne, walking along the river Nive etc for a few days and I'm tempted to do that arriving in SJPP the following Sat/Sun, it's quite flat too so a nice introduction/warm up but the lack of accomodation on that part concerns me. I've seen in other threads that if you are able to, avoiding the weekend crowds/starts in SJPP is a good idea too. I'll wait and see if there are other people planning to do, or interested in doing, the Bayonne-SJPP part before making a final decision and booking my bed in SJPP.

 

[Arn]

OK, thanks. I'm arriving by aeroplane and I have around 3.5 hours between landing and catching the TGV to Bayonne so that connection shouldn't be a problem. To be fair, French & Spanish ATC tend to strike most when they are likely to have the greatest effect and so maybe if nearer Easter it might be something to worry about....(famous last words/Murphy's law etc).

I've seen some info about starting the Camino from Bayonne, walking along the river Nive etc for a few days and I'm tempted to do that arriving in SJPP the following Sat/Sun, it's quite flat too so a nice introduction/warm up but the lack of accomodation on that part concerns me. I've seen in other threads that if you are able to, avoiding the weekend crowds/starts in SJPP is a good idea too. I'll wait if there are other people planning to do or interested in doing the Bayonne-SJPP part before making a final decision and booking my bed in SJPP.

Welcome to the Forum and the Class of 2017! It appears you are fond of making a plan, looking/accepting options and then committing to its completion. That said, Murphy's Law #2..."When everything is going as planned; you've missed something!" In addition, ensure you check the weather before starting out. March can be problematical weather wise.
Buen Camino,
Arn

 

[Bradypus]

I've seen some info about starting the Camino from Bayonne, walking along the river Nive etc for a few days and I'm tempted to do that arriving in SJPP the following Sat/Sun, it's quite flat too so a nice introduction/warm up but the lack of accomodation on that part concerns me. I've seen in other threads that if you are able to, avoiding the weekend crowds/starts in SJPP is a good idea too. I'll wait if there are other people planning to do or interested in doing the Bayonne-SJPP part before making a final decision and booking my bed in SJPP.

Starting in the first week of March I think you can be pretty sure that there will not be any big crowd problem in St Jean. Wouldn't worry about that part.

I walked from Bayonne to St Jean Pied de Port using the river towpath and minor roads a couple of years ago. I had to do it in two separate stages because a fall on my second day left me with a slipped spinal disc. If you are prepared to use hotels there should be no great problem - a number of small towns and villages along the route. Alternatively you could book a room for a couple of nights in Bayonne, walk a section of the route and then return by train to overnight. Train again the next morning to wherever you left off .... Your most obvious route would run parallel and reasonably close to the railway line. While the initial stage to Cambo-les-Bains is flat - it's a river towpath - from there on it goes up and down quite a lot. Fairly gentle slopes though.

 

[superleggera]

Due to the fact that until May, the selection of return flights is more limited and more expensive so I found myself with 5-7 day less to complete the Camino that I originally planned

I managed to find a cheap one from Porto to my local airport, so factoring in a day/night in Porto I've got around 37 days available to walk.

There are certain parts of the Camino that I definitely don't want to miss, particularly the first stage and the walk from SdC to Muxia to Finisterre so I think I'm going to have to take a rain check on the Voie de la Nive until the next Camino.

I don't want to make the mistake of rushing the first couple of weeks of walking and risk giving myself a whole load of problems. I'm 43 years old and just beginning to realise (the hard way) that I'm starting to 'write cheques that my body can't cash'...don't remember which film that is from either, they say the memory is the first thing to go eh?

BC!