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Thanks - I'm putting it on the list!Hi, When I walked the Le Puy route I tended to prefer short walking days instead of days off. I just got bored with a full day somewhere. However, if you do stop in Moissac be sure to go and see the singing nuns! Oh, and stay at Gite Ultrea too!
Davey
Why not? I've done that happilythere's little point having a rest day, walking a day or two then having another rest day and then walking for two weeks straight.
Good point - it's more a rest from carrying a pack than from actual walking, I suppose...Imprefer walking shorter days. No sense taking a « rest day »to walk just as much or as much as a real walking day, and little to see on tired feet regardless of where one is. Tired feet mean no enjoyment to explore.
"Can we just walk? No rest days! You lose your rhythm."
I'll be walking the LePuy route as far as Moissac during the month of June and will also be staying at Gite Ultreia. I always hear such great things about the Irish couple who own it. Can't wait!Thanks - I'm putting it on the list!
I've done 'zero' days like this too. I had one in Leon in 2012 when I had had a bad bocadillo a couple of days before in Sahagun and needed (really needed) to lie in bed for several hours. The hotel had a spa and I remember availing myself for a substantial part of the day too.So. My first time out, my hubby and I became "walking machines"! Walked nine days straight without a "zero" day (as my brother puts it). That morning we wound up in the little town of Navarette by ten a.m. Too early to stop but we did. Checked into a cheap hotel, with our own bathroom, a balcony overlooking a plaza with outdoor terrace and restaurant. We piled all our laundry on our hostess and then lay down "for just a minute". Couple hours later a knock at the door woke us, our laundry was handed to us. We stumbled across the street, ate a late lunch and then back to our room, slept a couple more hours then across the street for dinner with a new batch of pilgrims we hadn't met, then back to bed. Next morning (late) we decided to explore the town for a whopping half an hour, went back to take a nap and did exactly what we had done the day before. Sometimes you just need a break. A wonderful large town to explore is not necessarily needed. Cathedrals will always be there waiting for later.
We realized that on our zero days, if we made them truly zero days, we had so much more energy and enthusiasm when we got back on the Camino. Each to his own, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
That's a very good suggestion! Rather than focus on the town/city focus on the occasion. It's reminded me that we actually did this on the Portuguese, working our arrival into Barcelos to coincide with their market day (Thursday from memory). The only problem is that there is so much temptation and so little carrying capacity on one's back...I research market days along whatever Camino I am walking and time my zero or short days to coincide with them. Normally on a market day the local restaurants offer a extra special menu del dia. One of my favorites is Thursdays in Estella where roast suckling pig is on many menus plus the atmosphere of a market day is very special event in itself. It's a nice opportunity to check into a private room and do laundry.
Have walked this route twice. The first time we had factored in rest days in Conques and Moissac.There was not much to do after initial exploration of the towns.
The second time, we had 2 nights in Figeac, as we caught the train out to Rocamadour for a side trip.
It's always the way with things, isn't it. Just when I thought I'd made up my mind about what to do (day off for a side trip for Rocamadour but otherwise shorter walking days) along comes someone with some good reasons to take days off.The first issue is, the LePuy route has some physical differences from the ones you've walked before. It's much stonier (many sections resemble walking along dry streambeds, because that's what they've become), and there is much more hill climbing/descending. So your feet can actually get quite sore. So don't discount rest days. Conques and Moissac are both worth exploring for sure. Cahors, Moissac, and SJPP are, actually, cities, with larger markets and services that might be needed.
Not to mention that you're in France, and why would you rush to the end of a trip in France?
A bit of both: having a plan and listening to your (and your partner's) feet. At the time you are walking, there will not be much competition for beds, so calling one-two days ahead should be perfectly fine.I would say that I'll just wait until we're there, but the requirement for some forward booking (even if it's only a day or two) gives me a bit of concern.
I think in part I'm still getting my head around the camino trope of 'let's see where the day's walking takes us' and the need on the Le Puy route to book ahead at least a couple of days.
Most excellent idea! Think I'll do some research myself. What an awesome way to absorb some of the culture and daily living!I research market days along whatever Camino I am walking and time my zero or short days to coincide with them. Normally on a market day the local restaurants offer a extra special menu del dia. One of my favorites is Thursdays in Estella where roast suckling pig is on many menus plus the atmosphere of a market day is very special event in itself. It's a nice opportunity to check into a private room and do laundry.
Yes, I have done that, too, in bigger cities, so sometimes you feel like you've seen quite a lot with the majority of a day there, so don't always really need to stay two nights.Yep, another vote for a short day instead of a rest day but should add have only walked the CF where there are lots of accommodation options. I liked staying on the outskirts of big cities and then spending a few hours the next day looking around the city before either staying the night or walking onto the next closest albergue. Take Pamplona as an example. I stopped the night at the wonderful albergue in Trinidad de Arre. Next morning I walked the 4 km into Pamplona. Got there early enough to find a bed for that night and leave my pack. Spent the rest of the day sightseeing (cathedral, museum, plaza, etc.) and then walked out early the next morning.
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