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Everybody Hates Decazeville

Hal

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
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Hi everyone - first time thread starter, long time reader!

I tentatively plan to walk Le Puy-Conques, go by train to Lourdes (then possibly indulging in some sin by going to Biarritz for a sneaky spa and massage), then walk SJPP to Burgos.

Alas, the closest train station to Conques is Vivier Decazeville. I guess it should not be too long to walk, but would I be able to talk a taxi there from Conques? (Looking at the maps, it appears closer than Rodez is, and both places have trains to Toulouse).

And additionally, why does Decazeville have a bad rap? Does it have the atmosphere of that dreaded Spanish golf course ghost town I have read so much about, or is it steep , or involve a lot of road walking, or... ?
 
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You can taxi from Decazeville to Conques in about 30 minutes on a circuitous scenic route. I like Decazeville. Les Volets Bleus is quite comfortable. It is a steep climb out, but not too lengthy.

Bon chemin.
 
Conques is not exactly a bustling center of transportation oppertunities. It sits quite isolated in a lovely wooded valley though I have seen taxis there. It will probably cost you a bundle since you will also be paying the cabbie for the route to come pick you up in an empty cab.
 
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Decazeville is a mining town, hence the bad wrap. I understand there is now an excellent Gite - we stayed in a very downmarket hotel.
 
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I was grateful for decazeville. I hitch hiked there off the trail. My boots had fallen apart and I was able to replace them at a sports shop there and a lovely kind man gave me a lift to livinhac so I could meet up with the rest of my family. After the surreal touristy feel of conquer it was good to be back in the world for a bit....
 
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So there are rainbows among the clouds in Decazeville! Are the slopes down and up towards the town a problem in wet weather?
 
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You can also get to Conques from Rodez or St Christophe. You might have to take a taxi, but the price isn't too outrageous. I caught the early morning school bus from Conques to Rodez to go south. It was also an option to get a taxi to the St Christophe to get the Paris train. Both Rodez and St Christophe could be used in reverse to get to Conques, though the timing for the bus won't be as easy, and it does only run on school days. There is information here: http://www.tourisme-conques.fr/en/documents/TRANSPORTS 2014 TABLEAU.pdf
Margaret
 
@margaret, I read the KiwiNomad log before starting this thread! When the school bus was mentioned, I presumed the kindly bus driver let you hitch a ride.

@Scruffy: How much would a bundle for a taxi be, ballpark? Google maps says it is roughly 30km and 35 minutes from Conques to Vivier Decazeville. Assuming I am fortunate enough to happen upon an empty taxi in Conques, what would it be, 30 euros? 40 euros? And if I called a cab which drove over from the big smoke, I wonder how much that would be.
 
Hal said:
@margaret, I read the KiwiNomad log before starting this thread! When the school bus was mentioned, I presumed the kindly bus driver let you hitch a ride.
Click to expand...
No Hal, others use the bus besides the school students. But it only runs on the days they have school, not on other days.
Margaret
 
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I didn't sleep in Decazeville but had a good salad there. I think that there may be a couple of reasons why people don't like the town. One is that it's kind of at the bottom of a basin and the open pit mine (3.7 km long, 2.5 km wide, 250 m depth) kind of towers over the town. Another thing that contributes to the general atmosphere is that like most mining towns it is full of all kinds of people whose parents or grandparents came to mine - but now there is no work available since the mining stopped in 2001. So the town looks rather scruffy in spots - especially when it is closed up for afternoon breaks- and the locals are likely somewhat unsure of their futures. And yup - it's quite a climb out again.
 
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