Bus services

[laraine&bronwyn]

Hi
We are back again with a few more questions. Is it common for there to be bus services between the villages?
Hunting season! we will be on the trail for the start of the hunting season at beginning of October - should we take special precautions?
Given the many hills - we are both reasonably fit - what is the average walking distance for a day?
Many thanks to Rob for his reply on the mobile phones - we are from NSW as well!

 

[robmc]

Hi
There are limited bus services that follow the route. There is a bus service from le Puy to Sauges. That is the only one I saw except out of Figeac

There are trains between Cahors and Moissac. I cant say for further on as i stopped in Moissac.

Average distances can be as little as 20 kms or 30+ if you want to push it. Mid 20s would be the usual.

Robmc

 

[jl]

Hi there, I average somwhere between 25 - 30 kms per day, although there were a couple of days where I had to do about 33 - 35 kms due to the placement of the accomodation. Others have walked considerably less than that. Sometimes it is annoying because you either have to have a very short day or a very long day - and I guess I mostly chose the very long day if there was no accomodation in between. Have no idea about buses, but if you were desperate to get somwhere you would be pretty safe in asking a farmer for a lift - I have done that a couple of times when the heat got to me.

Hunting season - just stick to the trail. You will hear the pop, pop, pop, and most likely see a congregation of cars - then just keep your eyes open for little men in camouflage! I don't antagonise them by making too much noise but I make enough (human noise!) that they know I am coming and make sure that they can see me. I have never had any problems in the three hunting seasons that I have walked, but I am always watchful when I hear the first sounds of guns.

Cheers, Janet

 

[Deleted member 3000]

There were a lot of bird hunting blinds on the Arles Route, busiest on the weekend during hunting season. After some startling loud blasts near us, I wished for an orange hat! I was torn between being quiet to keep from flushing the birds, and making lots of noise to alert the hunters. If it is any consolation, bird shot wounds are rarely fatal.

 

[bjorgts]

The bus services are much better in Spain than in France! And it is not easy to find out when and where the buses are going. My best advice is: Ask in the Office de Turisme. This offices are good in France! For a sentral part of the route, you can use this adress: http://www.mobimipy.fr/index.php/midipy Good luck.

 

[Thornley]

Re: Hunting Season

Hi L and B,

When young many years ago when hunting bunnies for dinner i was told the following whilst on a farm on the Great Ocean Road;

1 Relax , you will never hear the one that gets you [ a shot ] and

2 There are more sharks here on land than out there in the ocean. Never forgot this and 100%correct.

As Falcon said a 16 -18 shot is never fatal so just enjoy the company of the lovely english setters if you come across them with the hunting party.

Enjoy the walk,
D

 

[Anniesantiago]

Hahaha!

That's a great post.. except I have to admit being scared when I walked through hunters and their gunshots on my last Camino. It's unnerving! lol

 

[KiwiNomad06]

There are not many local bus services at all on the Le Puy route, except when you reach some of the bigger places. I did notice that one of the baggage carrying services did advertise it could take people for a stage, so maybe you could find out about that from someone.
One of the biggest differences I noticed when I reached Spain, was how often there were local buses, and how frequently some walkers were using them...
Margaret

 

[gittiharre]

Hi, re hunting season I walked through this last year, it is only an issue on Sundays and they stop around lunchtime. I was kind of freaked the first day, but got used to it.
Re bus services, there is a lovely new outfit called La Malle Postale, they transport luggage and people and they are new on the scene and their base is in Le Puy. Just google them. My cousins got a ride from them from Le Puy to Estaing and they said Emmanuel the owner/driver was just great. By contrast my friend got a ride with transbaggages and the guy made a pass at her and was quite rude.
Have a look at my blog if you like, I started walking towards the end of August last year and I am just about to head off to walk the Geneva Route and the Robert Louis Stevenson trail from Le Puy, cheers Gitti