From Le Puy in November

[Jennifer]

Greetings. Just joined the forum and am planning to walk from Le Puy to Santiago, leaving in early November. Have read lots but any info would be appreciated, especially on availabililty of sleeping places during November/December/Jan. Best wishes to all, Jennifer

 

[brendan nolan]

Le Puy november

Hi Jenifer,
I've tried to send you 2 private messages re Le Puy; have they got to you?
Brendan

 

[brendan nolan]

Le Puy

Hi Jennifer,
Don't know if you got other messages so will go ahead here re Le Puy. I walked from Le Puy in April so can't vouch for weather conditions but you climb from Le Puy on to the Aubrac Plateau at about 3000 ft, its wide open, exposed, no cover from trees and I would expect bad conditions in November - rain, low cloud (visibility down to 20/30 metres at times) and strong winds. Hazard - possibly 1st day descending track into St. Privat d'Allier - beware muddy track. I slipped and lost argument with tree - taxi back to Le Puy hospital and 5 stitches in face, I was lucky, I heard later there had been other accidents on same stretch, one involving a broken leg. Daylight hours will be shortening. How many walking? Probably lonely at that time of year. I April 2005 about 50 pilgrims a day were setting out from Le Puy, I've no information but my guess would be that November would be more like 1996 when there were only about 15 pilgrims per day and you could go 4 or 5 days without seeing anyone from morning til night
Places to stop - would suggest Hospitalite de St Jacques at Estaing, Conques is an absolute MUST - stay at the monastery, La Romieu is good - try to get up the tower of the church; earlier on the route the gite d'etape at La Cassognole is good- meals brought in.
Other places - don't know what is open or closed at that time of the year but I think the gites d'etape in France are open all year. In Spain I think there will be more pilgrims with info. Earlier this year I worked as hospitalero at the 'English' refugio at Rabanal- it will be closed by the time you pass through but Isabel who runs Refugio 'El Pilar' said about 15-20 pilgrims pass through each day in winter.
Other hazards - take heed of weather forecasts and local knowledge for the Aubrac, the Pyrenees and Montes de Leon - 2 pilgrims in March this year ignored advice from locals about crossing the Pyrenees - they died.
Unfortunately - I think - you won't have the wonderful vegetation that can be seen at other times of the year but I hope you have a wonderful pilgrimage.
Hope to hear from you later in the year and please contact me if you think I can help further.
Best wishes, Brendan

 

[rioja routard]

CONQUES

Hello

If someone could answer me this question via PM I would be very grateful.

I am thinking of getting to Conques for the weekend and would like to walk on the pilgrim route (GR65) onwards to Figeac.

As it is totally spontaneous idea does anyone have an idea how far it is and transport links in the area?

If I had more time I would have taken the night train to Aumont Aubrac and walked across the Causses to Figeac which looks around 150km.

Thanks for a reply.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Greetings. Just joined the forum and am planning to walk from Le Puy to Santiago, leaving in early November. Have read lots but any info would be appreciated, especially on availabililty of sleeping places during November/December/Jan. Best wishes to all, Jennifer

I am reading this perhaps way too late..... but your best guide to accommodation on the Le Puy route is the Miam Miam Dodo one, written in French, but lots of graphics to make the meaning fairly clear. Not all gites etc in France are open year round; some are only open from "Easter to All Saints" - The Miam Miam Dodo guide, which is available on the internet from the CSJ bookshop, lists opening months/ days where these are relevant.

 

[Jennifer]

Thanks Kiwinomad for your response and tips. Have bought the Le Puy/SJPP Miam Miam Dodo plus the SJPP/Santiago version. They must be THE definitive guides. In Sydney today, we're flying to Paris tomorrow and won't begin walking from Le Puy until early November, so will have plenty of time to read them and make a few preliminary plans. It's true "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," so we'll arm ourselves with the info that's available and go where the path leads us. A big thank you also to Brendan Nolan whose advice, I'm sure, will prove invaluable on our journey.
Best of luck to all pilgrims. Hope to meet up en route Nov/Dec.
Jennifer & Conor

 

[vinotinto]

Starting in France sounds like a neat idea. I considered beginning in Bordeaux, but abandoned that plan due to the lack of a good map or guide for that region (I'm not an experienced hiker, either). Instead, after spending a couple days there prepping, I took the train to Bayonne for a day, and then to St. Jean, where I began walking the morning after arrival.

While on the Camino (in July-August of 2007), I met one person who started in Le Puy - a retired Norwegian man. What's wild is that both of his knees were artificial! I was walking pretty slow at first, and not going far, so I ran into him quite often during the first couple weeks of my trek. Being of Norwegian stock, it was nice to meet a guy from the "homeland." He mentioned that the trail from Le Puy was OK, but it was so rainy that he found it difficult to do laundry because it wouldn't dry. Even hanging it from his pack during the day didn't help much.

One night, he slipped and fell down some stairs at an albergue, banging up his elbow and back. The next day I saw him at a cafe, and he was planning to stop and have a doctor look at his back. After that, I lost track of him for quite some time, and I was afraid that he'd been forced to abandon the Camino.

And then, two or three days outside of Santiago, there he was at another cafe! Since our previous meeting, I'd taken some break days along the Way, so I imagine that was how he caught up to me (he didn't seem like the bus/train type). He was doing great, even after falling down some stairs yet again soon after the initial tumble. I hoped that I'd see him again in Santiago, but that was our last encounter. Even so, I'm sure he made it, since we were so close. I hope so, because he was a neat guy.

In case you haven't heard of it, here's a good book by a guy who walked from Le Puy to Finisterre: Pilgrimage to the End of the World, by Conrad Rudolph. It's a bit dated, but a good read nonetheless.

Anyway, hope you have a great trek - buen Camino!

 

[brendan nolan]

Hi Vinotinto,
Hope you don't mind me picking up on ' starting in France ... being a neat idea.' :arrow: But most of the pilgrims in the Middle Ages came from outside of Spain and ALL had to walk/start from where they lived, and also walk back again,(!) and today quite a few pilgrims choose to start from Le Puy-en-Velay or another centre in France, eg Bordeaux ,as you considered; others quite literally walk from their own doorsteps. It is possible to start anywhere and construct your own route. It just means that you don't have the same support as on the Camino Frances, it makes you more vulnerable - but that's pilgrimage.
As I partake of some vino tinto,
Best wishes,
Brendan

 

[vinotinto]

Hope you don't mind me picking up on ' starting in France ... being a neat idea.

No problem, cuz I started there myself, albeit in St. Jean.

But most of the pilgrims in the Middle Ages came from outside of Spain and ALL had to walk/start from where they lived, and also walk back again,(!)

Well, I couldn't exactly start walking from the west coast of the US ;-) But from my Camino experience and research, it seems that the "traditional" modern starting point is in St. Jean. Of course, many folks walk the camino in segments over a period of yearly vacations, and many more begin at the 100K mark to get the compostela. So, perhaps the main thing is to simply start walking from wherever, as long as you simply start walking :arrow:

 

[brendan nolan]

Hi Vinotinto,
My apologies.
My thinking is coming from the European end, so when people mention starting in France I think of Le Puy-en-Velay, Vezelay or other places on the Gr 65, and/or people starting in Europe, and France is easy to get to.
I'm absolutely staggered and in awe, that folks like yourself trek from all over the world to walk the Pilgrimage to Santiago starting in either France or Spain; by the time you get to somewhere like France you've already done a major pilgrimage!!!
From the European perspective it's quite possible to emulate the medieval pilgrims, although even then most who start from home don't walk back (!) as the earlier pilgrims had to do.
Re 'Traditional starting point' ; the European Union decided some years ago that the GR 65 from Le Puy-en-Velay was to be the first 'Cultural Itinerary' in Europe, they fixed Le Puy as the start, and got it wrong since Geneva is where the GR 65 begins.
Best wishes,
Brendan

 

[brendan nolan]

Hi Vinotinto, (Erik?)
Hope all is well with you. This next bit might be of interest to you and the thought of your protest made me smile.
You referred recently to not being expected to walk from the west coast of America. I certainly would not expect anything like that, but memory is a funny thing.
I just remembered that during the 80's, before Santiago was well known and pilgrimage to anywhere was not so common, a group of Americans set off from Seattle, (nuclear submarine base?) on a 'peace' pilgrimage to Jerusalem - walking! They crossed the USA in one year and returned home for the winter. They came into Europe, at Ireland, the following year walking via nuclear bases in Scotland and passed near where I Iived in the north of England. As they walked they invited people to join them for as long as they wished. Of course as they made their pilgrimage they raised awareness of the nuclear issue. So their motives were, I think, somewhat different from today's pilgrims on the Camino, but their spiritual experience must have been immense. There are more bits to the story re practicalities, but I leave that to be raised by anyone with questions.
Hope this raises a smile,
Brendan

 

[vinotinto]

a group of Americans set off from Seattle, (nuclear submarine base?)

Hm - that's interesting. Except for some military time, I've lived in Washington my whole life (just down the freeway from Seattle). I wonder if they wrote a book about their experience? I'll have to look for one...