Bonjour a tous - Information Requested

[Mauricio Taam]

Dears,

My name is Mauricio and I have been in many long walks in Spain and Portugal, but in France it will be my first time..donc I need some basic information from the ones with such experience.
My very question is related to the wiseness of booking accomodation with or without Demi Pension...it seems clear that this can involve different aspects such as "be together" .."pure logistic"..and others...but I am intresting now in the LOGISTIC aspect only...from your knowledge when or where the Demi Pension is mandatory and when or where it is OK to stay at your own to dinner?

I thank all of you in advance

 

[crackmrmac]

Mauricio, I walked once through France and I recall some gites that offered evening meal also had kitchen available to pilgrims to prepare own food, other gites provided evening meal but it wasn't compulsory, donc.... have a look at giude, it may give clues for each listing. Personally it suited me to arrive without reservation and avail of meal if it was available. In most cases the standard of food & vin rouge exceeded that provided in Spain.

Bon Chemin.

 

[marbuck]

In a lot of the villagers you will get nothing to eat if you don't take the demi pension option. There are no shops or restaurants. We found the demi pension was in most cases very good value, very social with excellent food and wine. My advice to you would be to include DP in your booking if you are staying in a small village.

 

[domigee]

Bonjour Mauricio!
I haven't walked the Le Puy route but I have walked in France and like Marbuck I found that if there was no food provided with the accommodation then it very often meant NO food at all. No small shops, no cafés in the small villages, only the inevitable Hypermarket 'just 20 min. away'.... Yes, by car!
First thing I used to do when booking ahead was to find out if food was available.

There is a very useful guide for the le Puy route, in French but it lists very comprehensively all the shops, restaurants, details of gîtes available etc.... Miam Miam Dodo
http://www.levieuxcrayon.com/MMDDGR65/MMDDGR65.html

The maps aren't great but the rest of the information is invaluable.

Hope this helps.

 

[naplesdon]

I found the same thing about manadatory demi-pension stays between Oloron St. Marie and Puenta la Reina last year.

 

[Mauricio Taam]

Bonjour a tous....

I thank you for your kindness and very good advices...

Aurevoir

 

[mla1]

The Miam-miam Dodo guide book is updated every year. It will tell you which gites offer a meal (demi-pension) and which provide kitchens where you may cook your own food. The book will also tell you which villages have shops where you can buy food. You can order the guidebook in advance or you can buy it in Le Puy. Generally, the people who run the gites prefer for you to make a reservation the day before (or at the least before noon on the day that you arrive) so they know how much food to buy and prepare for the dinner.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I have walked the Le Puy route twice, the Tolosana twice, and Vezelay once. I do not think demi-pension was ever mandatory, but I have not stayed everywhere!! I found it very convenient, so almost always took it when it was offered. Often the food was superb, and it was almost always less costly than a nearby restaurant. I have had meals with several wine pairings for the courses, and still only the 11-13 Euro additional. If you are on a budget, though, self-catering will always be less expensive. Since places close Sunday and Monday, restaurants and supermarkets may not be open on those days, so you need to plan ahead for self-catering.

 

[Kitsambler]

I want to echo Falcon's response. No one will force you to have dinner with the group at the demi-pension rate. I met one or two walkers who were taking this approach. However, that means you take responsibility for feeding yourself, and you generally won't have kitchen access (since it is being used to prepare the meals for the group). You would need to picnic, and food stores are not reliably available for walkers (bus service in rural France is scant). So, if this is your desire, carefully plan ahead.

 

[Mauricio Taam]

Dear Kitsambler, the aim of my question is learn myself with possible options ... when I do my ways I hardly prepare food ... As much as I can I try to have the local culinaire...the dout it is about which place or stops you have available places or restaurants to go...such that you can have the choise....and last but not least the ones where the Demi Pension option is a must take....Bonjour et salut

 

[Keith Hearn]

My wife and I did Le-Puy to Conques last June. Miam Miam Dodo lists if a town has groceries, bakeries or restaurants available, so you can decide if you need to take the demi-pension or if you can get dinner elsewhere. I don't recall staying anywhere that didn't offer a typical French breakfast of coffee, tea, croissants/bread, butter and jam. If you need a more substantial breakfast, well, get used to disappointment.

We always took the demi-pension when it was available, because we didn't want to have to hassle with cooking after a long day of walking and many villages don't have a restaurant. We almost never regretted it, the food was usually very good and very abundant. I expected to lose a few pounds over the 2 weeks of walking, but instead I may have even gained a pound or two. The only place we were disappointed in the food was at the Abbey in Conques. It wasn't really bad, but wasn't all that great, either. But they were serving at least 70 people with a volunteer staff, and it's hard to do a great job for that size of crowd if you don't have experienced people.