Comdom to Pamplona; Le puy route complete and a return to Sp

[irishpilgrim]

Hi
We have finally completed our third stage on the Le Puy route to St. Jean Pied de Port. We walked Le Puy to Conques in 2008; Conques to Condom (via Rocamadour) in 2009 and now we have just returned from walking Condom to St Jean Pied de Port and then on to Pamplona because we felt a great need to get back to Spain if only for a few days. The sense of achievement is great though it has taken a long time to complete the entire route (we walked St. JJPP to Santiago in 2004,2005 and 2006.)
A few points that may be of help to others planning to walk on the Le Puy route.
Getting to Condom:Condom is not a great place to end a stage as it is difficult to get back to, being only served by a couple of buses a day from Agen and Auch. However, we took a flight from Cork to Bordeaux, a train from Bordeaux to Agen and caught an early afternoon bus from Agen to Condom. Toulouse is also nearby but the flight times were too late in the day to make it feasible.

Accommodation: We booked in advance for all our accommodation before we left home (using the Miam Miam DoDo) I think we could have got by without doing this as most places we stayed in were not full but on the other hand there appeared to be more people coming behind us as they kept saying they were going to be full the night after we stayed! Also we book because we prefer to have a two bed room rather than dormitory purely because my husband is a snorer of Olympic class! and we don't want to disturb our fellow pilgrims. There are many options for private rooms, (of the basic variety) on the Le Puy route and it is always worthwhile asking even the most basic gites as it is not always clear in the guidebooks. They usually cost very little more than dormitory accommodation particularly with demi-pension. We have also stayed in very good chambres d'hotes for very little extra. The MMDD is terrific for accommodation.

This last stretch of the route was just as enjoyable as the earlier parts, but I have to confess that for a couple of stretches I found myself (for the first time ever) wishing there was a little hill or two to break the monotony. This was firstly on the long long stretch before Eauze,along an old railway line, now a pleasant path lines with trees, but so long and so straight, stretching into infinity, and again on the long stretch before Aire sur l'Adour. My wish was of course granted in the following days when we came in sight of the Pyrenees and entered the area of gentle and not so gentle foothills. This was one of the most spectacular parts of the whole route for me, to see the mighty mountains coming closer and closer each day and to finally sit and watch a thunder storm over them from our gite at Ostabat. ( the one with the "Singing Basque")

The weather was mainly hot and sunny, a bit too hot for us poor aged souls from a little misty island on the western edge of Europe, but we survived and were rewarded on a couple of occasions with cooler overcast days with even a little Irish style "mizzle". On these days we had wings on our feet and flew along at a great rate. The temperature does make a huge difference to those of us not used to great heat. We had never walked so late in June before, usually in either May or September.

Having reached St. JJPP we met the Camino hoards just starting off. They seemed to be mostly very young and I suppose that also is season related. We walked to Hunto and stayed at the Gite there which is good and then crossed the route napoleon in sunny but not too hot weather to the wonderful new alberque at Roncesvalles. It is quite spectacular. (We ignore the snoring problem when we hit Spain because the dormitories are so much bigger and there are usually many other snorers beside my husband!) The facilities are amazing and we were struck by the entire development at Roncesvalles which has taken place since our last visit in 2004. It seems to have become a bit of a tourist attraction also, there were quite a lot of non-pilgrims around. This is not by any means a complaint but an interesting observation. A lot of money has been spent here over the past number of years.

We continued our Camino to Zubiri and then to Pamplona arriving in heat of circa 35 degrees. This was our designated stopping point for this year. It was lovely to be back in Spain again even with the crowds on the Camino and we may well go back to Pamplona and continue our new Camino next year but definitely earlier in the season. Now that we are over the Pyrenees there should be no problem going in April or early May.
Oh help! I'm only home a week and already I'm planning our next Camino. I must be an addict.
Anna

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Congratulations! It sounds like you had a good time. The smaller accommodations in France are what I like the most. It costs a few Euro more, but it really felt to me like I was experiencing France. Advance bookings are much more prevalent. The French have a way of not waiting around; if they have no bookings for the night, they may not bother to open!

The Arles Route followed by the Camino Aragones may suit you well. It has the blend of small gites and the Spanish countryside (the valley is rather hot in the summer). Enjoy planning your next walk. Thank you for sharing this one with us.

 

[grayland]

Thanks for the well written and interesting post.

 

[robertt]

Thanks for those impressions, and for bringing back many memories. I too am planning my next Camino. The Falcon's combo of Arles and Aragones has given me even more to think about.

Congratulations on the stage completed

Rob

 

[nreyn12]

Anna, thank you for your post. I am planning a walk this Fall and found it interesting and helpful.

One question for you: The new albergue in Roncesvalles - can you tell me more about it? Where is it, how much, when did it open, anything you can offer. It sounds like this is an alternative to the one-room 120 bed albergue?

Thanks!
Nancy

 

[grayland]

Anna, thank you for your post. I am planning a walk this Fall and found it interesting and helpful.

One question for you: The new albergue in Roncesvalles - can you tell me more about it? Where is it, how much, when did it open, anything you can offer. It sounds like this is an alternative to the one-room 120 bed albergue?

Thanks!
Nancy

Actually, the "new" albergue replaces the old 120 bed one.

 

[irishpilgrim]

Hi Nancy
The new alberque is where the old youth hostel was, in the courtyard. This old building has been totally remodeled inside. There is a large reception area on the ground floor, also a kitchen, dining room, reading room and an internet room. In the basement there are laundry facilities.
The dormitories are contained on the three floors above, each floor a large dormitory with approx 70(?) bunks, There are timber partitions around every two sets of bunks and each bunk has a locker. The male and female toilets are at the end of the dormitory with about 3 or four showers in each and several loos, and wash basins.

I know somewhere in the forum there is a post with a link to a site that shows photos of the new alberque, perhaps you can do a search. Anyway it was mighty impressive and the Dutch hospitaleros were as usual welcoming and helpful.
Have a great Camino

Anna

 

[irishpilgrim]

Forgot to say, the cost for a bed in the new alberque is €10.00
Anna

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The new albergue does not actually replace the old one. The old one is just closed for renovation:

Está en obras. El Gobierno de Navarra lo está transformando en futuro Albergue de Peregrinos.

There is a lot of demand for beds in Roncesvalles, so having the youth hostel and the albergue will be beneficial to pilgrims. When the youth hostel was closed for renovation, it caused a lot of pilgrims to lengthen an already long day, as does the current albergue closure. "The Camino provides," but in this case, it provides it in the next town!