From Le Puy Route to Irun

[jameswberk]

Hi fellow Peregrinos.

I walked the Camino Frances from St. Jean to Santiago in April/May 2006. It was an amazing experience.

So much so, in fact, that I'd like to try and attempt to walk the Frances from Le Puy to St Jean or a little before/after and then combine that (by foot) with a trip up to and on El Camino del Norte. Ambitious I know, but taking time off of work is harder than it used to be and if I take a month off I might as well take 2 1/2, as a month off would mean a sabbatical or changing jobs anyway.

Has anyone ever attempted this connection. If so do you know if there are any paths north from St. Jean, or Larrasoana or Pamplona?

I check Google Earth/Maps and there seems to be quiet roads/paths from Pamplona to Doneztebe. After which it looks quite mountainous. Here is a rough sketch.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 27844&z=11


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Gracias.

James

 

[Wilmer]

hello james,

I am walking from le puy to finnisterre starting next week and plan to walk along the GR10 from st jean pe de port to hendaye/irun, about 4 days.

beun camino

peter

 

[jameswberk]

Wilmer thanks for the timely reply.

Please do tell me how you find the route and if any Gite are near the path.

Thanks again.

James

 

[Wilmer]

hello james

this website gives you the information you need

http://www.gr_infos.com/gr10a.htm

peter

 

[Wilmer]

hello james......... sorry got the hyphen in the wrong place

http://www.gr-infos.com/gr10a.htm

peter

 

[jameswberk]

Thanks again.

In case you haven't seen it here is a guide from the French Hiking Federation:

http://www.ffrandonnee.fr/topos/topoGui ... x?ref=1086

I'm getting excited already.

Buen Camino!

 

[Deleted member 397]

JL also from this forum and I both intend walking from Vezelay then heading towards Irun. I'm looking to heading to Irun from a bit further back-St palais.Otherwise you tend to go out of your to SJPDP then head north.

 

[jl]

Hello James, I am intending to go to St Jean and then choose - depending on the weather - to either follow the GR10 out to Hendaye (across the cridge from Irun), or alternatively to follow the River Nive towpath out to Bayonne and then follow the Chemin to Hendaye and over the bridge into Irun. On the GR10 path there are a couple of very steep paths (steep drops on the side, from what I can work out) and so if the weather is potentially foggy safety may be an issue, which is why I have 2 options and will decide when I get there!.

Last year sometime I asked this same question and William Marques sent a reply about the towpath option. Do a search and you might find it (sorry, my computer dial up is so slow that if I do a search I will not get this reply posted!!!).

I have also discovered this Cicerone Guide (which I have since purchased off "the book depositoroy UK") which is the same brand as the one many English speakers use for the Le Puy Route. You will only need about the first 5 days from it, and all books - including the French ones start at Hendaye and move towards St Jean, and so whichever guide you use you will have to follow it in reverse. I think it would be quite possible in the first day or so to combine a variation of the GR10 and the towpath route as the towpath goes directly to a couple of the villages.

http://www.cicerone.co.uk/product/detai ... gr10-trail

and you can actually read the relevant pages here:-

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=JIy ... #PPA245,M1


Hope this all helps. Cheers, Janet

 

[jl]

Oops! - just in case anyone wants the reference No. for the GR10 Topo Guide the details are:-

Pyrénées Occidentales - topo guide Ref 1086

Hendaye / St Jean-Pied-de-Port / Arrens
Pyrénées-Atlantiques



Cheers, Janet

 

[Bridget and Peter]

JL also from this forum and I both intend walking from Vezelay then heading towards Irun. I'm looking to heading to Irun from a bit further back-St palais.Otherwise you tend to go out of your to SJPDP then head north.

We are just getting into our planning for our next stage of East Anglia to Santiago by bike: Limoges to Santander, September 2009. So I am interested in the possible routes you are thinking of from St Palais or similar. It seems silly to go to St Jean, and tangle with more pyrenean climbs than we really have to! (I think we'll save that for another time!). So please, Omar and/or Janet, do share!

Many thanks

 

[Peter Robins]

historically, the connecting road was along the Gave de Pau/Adour to Bayonne, though there's no official marked route along there.

 

[jameswberk]

I am finally getting close to returning to the camino. Judging by the GR10 plan above it looks like the best places to stop between St Jean and Irun are Bidarray and Sare as they both have Gite d'etape at a reasonable price. If anyone out there has done this stretch, please let me know if it is possible to make this trek in three days as it is hard to sketch out distances. Any other advice from the experience would be most appreciated!

Thanks!

James

 

[jl]

Hello James, I tried to walk out to Irun last year, but for a number of reasons wasn't terribly successful. I did walk out to St Etienne de Baigarroy Stayed overnight at a gite there) and intended to hit the GR10 from that point (it seems that most people walk it from Irun rather than the other way though). When I went to the tourist office there however, I was advised not to attempt it the next day as the weather forecast was bad. With a choice of sitting around that lovely village for an extra day, or catching a train (turned out to be a bus that stopped at all the train stations!) to Bayonne, I opted for the train. Although I was dissapointed that I missed the mountain path I was very glad I went this way. The path from Bayonne is very well marked and during peak pilgrim time there is someone in attendance at a desk in the Cathedral - I think from about 10 - 1.00 - who answers questions, not only for the pilgrims (of which there were only 2 that day) but for other people who might be interested.

The Amis people at the Cathedral have a list of accomodation options in Bayonne, and to the border - although it is sparse. Be warned St Jean de Luz and its neighbour across the river Ciboure have very little accomodation options in peak tourist time, especially on the weekends - make sure you book. I arrived at 6.00pm and there was NOTHING (other than 5 star!) available. I went to a Basque mass and speaking to the locals they all suggested that I go and sleep on the beach. I wasn't very keen on that idea, and so I just found (in the dark) a place that was in shadow under a tree and off the road and slept on the grass - or tried to as there was a party in town and the music was very loud!

It is a 2 day walk from Bayonne to Irun and so I did it in three days - SJPDP to St Etienne, Bayonne to St Jen de Luz, St Jean to Irun. Hope this helps, Janet

 

[Bridget and Peter]

Hi

What we did in the end, on cycles last Autumn, transferring from the Vezelay route to the Norte, was to leave the Vezelay route at Mont de Marsan and cycle to Dax (about 50 miles), staying at the albergue on the Via Tourensis at St Paul de Dax. The next day we cycled (nearly another 50) mostly along the Adour river to Bayonne, and stayed the night at the youth hostel at Anglets before cycling down the 'route littorale' to Hendaye and Irun. Obviously we were devising our own route between the various 'traditional' routes, which I'm sure a walker could too, if prepared to stay in a gite, cheap hotel or similar. As always we found plenty of interest to see en route and still felt like pilgrims!

love
B

PS we went looking for info at the cathedral in Bayonne too, but as it was 5 ish couldn't find anyone to help us, hence ending up at the YH, where is was really weird to be among surfing and sandy english students using up their last few days before uni terms started! What use is it for pilgrims if information desks are staffed between 10 and 1pm?!