a list of places along the camino/france starting point

[buena!]

this may be silly...but i get so lost trying to follow descriptions of the camino. there's so many towns, and while i'm starting to recognize some names, i never know where along the route they are. even reading the CJS is hard to follow without a visual. so...

1. can anyone recommend a good online printable map that will have each little town marked? or just happen to have a list of the towns in order from st jean you pass thru?

2. what would be some starting points for starting in france a day or two out from st. jean de pied?

 

[sillydoll]

Starting before St Jean

You culd start at St Palais where they have a wonderful little museum started and maintained by Dr Clément Urrutibéhéty with photographs, sculptures and exhibits on the pilgrimage routes through Navarre. The accueil pelerin is at Maison Franciscaine Zabalik, 1 avenue de Gibraltar05 59 65 71 37
You could walk 15kms to Ostabat (up a rather steep hill to the Chaplelle de Soyarza which has a covered rest area and a pilgrim book. Ostabat has a good refuge or you could continue another 3.5kms to Larceveau-Arros-Cibits which has two good sized hotels.
17kms further on is St Jean Pied de Port.
Hope this helps,

 

[buena!]

Which caminio are St Pailais and Ostabat and Larceveau-Arros-Cibbits on?
And where would I be able to look up how to get to them and where to get a credential?

Thanks Miss Sil.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi buena1

" get so lost trying to follow descriptions...many towns...recognize some names, i never know where ...they are....a visual...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :!: :!: :!:

Join the crowd :!:

The same happens to me, and some others, while walking, even after having done diff Caminos, some more than once :!:

Maps, again, may be like shoes, or soap, totally personal decisions.

Don't know if this may work for u, but here's what I do: For every Camino I like to buy an updated guide that has all u want, and more that u may want when u see it.

Also, I like to keep it afterwards, at home, as a...record? souvenir? Reference tool?

I get either "El Pais/Aguilar" or "Anton Pombo's."

They're in Spanish.

Maybe someone here can recommend similar ones in English.

Both describe available services along the Camino u want to do, have attractive maps, give u relative good descriptions of routes and points of interest along them, have as updated a list of albergues as poss, & are quite visually appealing and not cumbersome.

In my opinion there are no perfect maps or guidebooks. It's a matter of choosing the one that works better for u.

My recommendations are not cheap, say about 20e.

But for me, like in shoes, it's an important investment.

Best :arrow:

xm 8)

 

[sillydoll]

St Palais to St Jean

Hi there peregrina,
Those little towns are on the Via Turonensis which is the route that comes from Paris - via Tours - to St Jean.
If you would like me to scan the pages from St Palais and send them to you please let me know. The guide gives a bit of history and directions.
Hugs,

 

[buena!]

thanks sil!
any suggestions on the le pue route, by any chance? i am flying into geneva so that will be a little more en route (i think?) and i alraedy have the csj book for that route too. sjean will be simpliest starting point, and as time grows closer i am considering that too, but i like the idea of having to do alittle figureing on my own.

 

[jeff001]

Getting back to your original question: You can find a map here:
http://groups.msn.com/ElCaminoSantiago/caminomaps1.msnw

 

[Anonymous]

Hi - I started in Moissac, France, quite a way up from St. Jean but France is a delight, beautiful, green, rolling, not too busy, friendly. It doesn't have the sometimes austere splendour of Spain but - well, I'm biased, it is my favourite country.

If you have time it can be an utter delight to start a little way back in France - good exercise for those muscles before the pyrenees too!

Enjoy, good one. Will you be making a Holga album afterwards?

 

[buena!]

Hey Br David,

Si senor, I will make a holga album... If indeed I take my camera(s)! I just posted how Brierly suggests not taking one at all, and I think he is certainly talking to people like myself who get to a beautiful place and rush to 'save' the moment instead of savor it. but my memory is very visually oriented, and with out a tangible reminder (like a photograph), i forget to many things i'd like to rememeber. that's why i like the holga. less pictures, more meaning in each one.

any suggestions for where to start a day or two from st jean? i have 40 days to walk and hope to make it to finnesterre, maybe muxia. my training has been up and down since i've got a lot of things on my plate right now.

by the way, it's great to "have you back." enjoy the north and a big hug to little RD.

 

[Anonymous]

40 days :?: Wow, that's great... Follow ur bliss :lol:. Best, xm 8)

 

[buena!]

yeah i decided to quit my job and go for it...

 

[Anonymous]

buena! Got a feeling this Camino is going to be quite a special experience for u. Take good care, xm 8)

 

[buena!]

thanks XM, and thanks for all of your wonderful (and bountiful) replies!
its nice being online with you !

 

[Anonymous]

Tricky - you may want to have some days 'in hand' for the far end, Finisterre and so on - as well as potential injury time - so St. Jean could still be your best start ...If you had an extra 10 you could start in Condom in France - just for the postcards alone!

About your 'sometimes' issues with you right legs joints. Have you tried standing undressed in front of a mirror and looking to see if your hips and shoulders are parallel with the ground? Your back might be off-set and this can cause occasional problems down one side, certain exercises can rectify that - it's suprising how many backs are.

If not - well, our lifetime guarantees don't help much - agree, carry braces and anti-inflammtory (Ibuprofen gel) or Arnica - JaneH suggests large doses of Magnesium when the aches come (800gm daily). This one is new to me and I intend to try it out next time I start falling to pieces ....

and now you've quit your job -well done! To live is so important isn't it.

Never take moderation to excess

 

[buena!]

good tip Br David. haven't stood in front of a mirror yet, but have been to see physical theraptists over the year and have been doing exercises. they mentioned how important your "core" (back & abs) are for walking, contraintuitive as it may seem. so, for anyone else with leg/knee/ankle issues, listen to br david and try to get you torso strong so that everything else down the chain stays aligned. a lot of knee & ankel stuff starts "higher up the chain."

 

[Anonymous]

"...try to get you torso strong so that everything else down the chain stays aligned. a lot of knee & ankel stuff starts "higher up the chain."

:shock: But that may mean stop communicating among all of us via this medium, oh no :!:

xm 8)

 

[Anonymous]

lol - at least it's not the food chain

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, buena,

As far as suggestions for places to stop, I think Sil's suggestion of St. Palais is a good one. I was going to suggest Navarrenx, which is on the GR65, but I think St. Palais might be bigger and thus easier to get to.

My two days prior to St. Jean were spent in Sauvelade (a gite connected to the romanesque church is very nice -- double rooms, very excellent supper) and Ostabat (wonderful private gite, small rooms with private baths, again dinner served on picnic tables with the host singing in Basque). Sauvelade is a few km before Navarrenx, but it's really out in the middle of nowhere and would not be a practical starting place. The walk form Sauvelade to Ostabat is georgeous. And there's a picnic spot high up in the Pyrenees foothills that has a view that's, well, it's just beautiful.

A good website with information on all towns and accommodations and a nice stage by stage map is http://www.chemindecompostelle.com (click on hebergements et services sur le GR 65 and it will bring up a map broken into stages from LePuy to St. Jean).

Buen camino!

 

[Anonymous]

you may want to have some days 'in hand' for the far end, Finisterre and so on - as well as potential injury time -

That's something that I've started to incorporate into my camino planning and it works just great. Matter of fact, last year I had sometime left and on the spur of the moment I took a train to Chartes via Paris, to experience that wonderful cathedral. Hey, wouldn't u know it, it's right on the chemin! Best, xm