Accommodation description

[TravellingSonn]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can tell me what the equivalent of a refugio (Camino Frances) is on the Le Puy route?

I noticed there are several different types of accommodation along this route and I'm slightly confused as to which is a pilgrim hostel. It must be because I'm blonde! :lol:

Many thanks
Buen camino to you all!
Sonia

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Gite d´etape for the public ones. Other gites may be dormitory or private rooms, such as a gite rural.

 

[Kitsambler]

In (general) order of increasing price and amenity:

Gite d'etape (sometimes gite municipal): operated by the town or by the local Amis St Jacques organization of volunteers; sleeping dorm. May have private rooms. May have kitchen privileges. May have communal dinner. May have communal breakfast. Generally located in center of downtown.
Private gite: privately operated. Smaller sleeping dorm. Generally has some private rooms. Generally offers demi-pension with communal dinner and breakfast. Since kitchen is used for communal meals, genrally not available for kitchen privileges. Generally located away from center of town (can be hard to find, be sure to check directions to/from CSJ). Lots of engagement with the owners and other walkers.
Auberge: Country inn (someone check my French! Is this the right term?) Private rooms, with or without private WC. Typically rustic setting. Usually has a dining room and may offer demi-pension. No cooking facilities. Little engagement with owners or other walkers.
Chambre d'hote: "Bed and Breakfast" as interpreted in the US, in a private home. Section generally separated from the owner's part of the house. Very nicely decorated and nice facilities; target audience is vacationers rather than pilgrims (but pilgrims are welcome). Breakfast generally offered but not dinner. Engagement with other lodgers tends to depend on whether they are pilgrims and how well you speak French.
Hotel: Larger facility, with more rooms. All rooms private, may include private WC. Restaurant generally on premises, breakfast may be included with room.

The gites municipal tend to be larger (30-50?) than the private gites (6-24?). Municipal facilities are quite bare-bones with regard to decor and amenities. Private gites are a bit nicer. The municipal duty person is a part-time clerk; the private gite operator is the owner, and either lives on the premises or nearby. I only stayed in one municipal; it did not offer meals but did offer kitchen privileges. Both municipal and private gites will have sleeping dorms (bunkrooms), which are smaller (fewer beds) in the private facilities. There will be a common toilet/washroom, not necessarily adjacent. Both may also have private (sleeps two) rooms, with or without private toilet/washroom. Chambre d'hote are only private rooms (sleep 2-3), with or without private toilet/washroom attached. I found that chambre d'hote hosts generally assumed you would eat at a local restaurant (if in town), so they do not offer the evening meal.

Miam Miam Dodo is your friend!

 

[thecowans]

Hi Sonia
We,older(!) Australians from Melbourne, are also currently "researching" the Via Podensis (Le Puy to the Pyrenees) intending to walk at least part of it in May 2013. Have found Alison Raju's book " The Way of St. James -France, Le Puy to the Pyrenees" as best text so far. She explains the various sorts of accommodation e.g 'Gites d'etape', in her intro. Believe the Miam Miam Dodo publication on the route though in French is also good. Both available on line from CSJ Bookshop. We've are finding "Kiwinomad's' blog in this forum really helpful and encouraging. All the best! Peter & Carmel

 

[robertt]

I'd like to just agree with everyone here. I found the KiwiNomad's blog a real motivator before I left for Le Puy, which was my first Camino (except for fragments of the Francigena near Siena and the day I walked from the Bastille to Saint-Denis).

Secondly, the Miam Miam Dodo guide! Buy new, since it's updated annually. What it sets out to provide, it provides perfectly.

Keep in mind that Rom and Aideen, who run the Ultreia gite near the railway station in Moissac, are very helpful to English speakers and make a good contact. Stay at their gite, if you possibly can.(Keep the subject off rugby, since Rom is Irish and is far too optimistic about his country's rugby prospects.)

There is a heap of accommodation on the Chemin du Puy, but just be prepared for the odd no vacancy sign, not so much because of pilgrims but because of French holidayers and weekenders on the GR65. When I was young, the French never exercised - now there are eighty year old French ladies bounding along the GR.

It's a great Camino. Hope it happens for you guys

Rob

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Auberge: Country inn (someone check my French! Is this the right term?) Private rooms, with or without private WC. Typically rustic setting. Usually has a dining room and may offer demi-pension. No cooking facilities. Little engagement with owners or other walkers.

Auberge is the tricky one- as sometimes it can be just a restaurant and might not provide any accommodation at all.
As others have said, a municipal gite, or a gite d'étape is usually what you looking for if you want cheaper accommodation. Sometimes places can have both dormitory type beds in a gite and also offer chambre d'hote rooms (bed and breakfast, individual rooms usually with their own bathrooms.) Miam Miam Dodo listings usually show both alternatives where they exist quite clearly.
Margaret

 

[TravellingSonn]

Thank you folks for taking the time to reply to my question. I now have a better understanding about the various accommodation available along this route.

Once again, I greatly appreciate the support and encouragement whilst I prepare for my next adventure.

All the very best to you all
Sonia

 

[Kitsambler]

Regardless of where you stay, you will be walking (and lodging) with the French. Over 85% of the walkers on the Le Puy route are French. Let me encourage you to invest in the enjoyment of your journey by learning French - enough to do interactions with shopkeepers and restaurant servers, and the basic "pilgrim bio" for the dinner table. In all, maybe a dozen basic phrases. It will add enormously to your experience. I learned this the hard way myself, having studied German in college, and having no ability at all my first year's walk in France. So I spent the winter working with the Livemocha.com course, and my second walk was a big improvement.

What's the "pilgrim bio"? "Hello, my name is Susan Smith. I am from Seattle in the US. I started walking in Le Puy on 8 May. Today I walked from Sauges. Tomorrow I will walk to Aubrac. And you?" Just the basic stuff that everyone will ask.

 

[TravellingSonn]

Kit, thank you for recommending LiveMocho site. I have since subscribed and loving it!

Merci beaucoup
Sonia

 

[grayland]

In (general) order of increasing price and amenity:

Gite d'etape (sometimes gite municipal): operated by the town or by the local Amis St Jacques organization of volunteers; sleeping dorm. May have private rooms. May have kitchen privileges. May have communal dinner. May have communal breakfast. Generally located in center of downtown.
Private gite: privately operated. Smaller sleeping dorm. Generally has some private rooms. Generally offers demi-pension with communal dinner and breakfast. Since kitchen is used for communal meals, genrally not available for kitchen privileges. Generally located away from center of town (can be hard to find, be sure to check directions to/from CSJ). Lots of engagement with the owners and other walkers.
Auberge: Country inn (someone check my French! Is this the right term?) Private rooms, with or without private WC. Typically rustic setting. Usually has a dining room and may offer demi-pension. No cooking facilities. Little engagement with owners or other walkers.
Chambre d'hote: "Bed and Breakfast" as interpreted in the US, in a private home. Section generally separated from the owner's part of the house. Very nicely decorated and nice facilities; target audience is vacationers rather than pilgrims (but pilgrims are welcome). Breakfast generally offered but not dinner. Engagement with other lodgers tends to depend on whether they are pilgrims and how well you speak French.
Hotel: Larger facility, with more rooms. All rooms private, may include private WC. Restaurant generally on premises, breakfast may be included with room.

Miam Miam Dodo is your friend!

This is an excellent description of the available types of accomondation you will encounter. I wish I had seen this before I went as it really does describe them well.
I would copy this and take with you in your MMDD.