I am going to walk my first 'camino', La Voie du Piémont, from Carcasonne to Saint Jean at the end of July. This will be my first long walk in 30 years since trekking in Asia! I'm unsure about what level of challenge to go for, so i thought i'd start at something not too arduous. This walk looks lovely, and gives the possibility of crossing over the Pyrenees at the end when hopefully i will feel more 'mountain fit'. I am particularly keen to stay away from the more busy areas and keep to the countryside and stay in simple places. I would love any tips about this route that you have.
I walked the mas d'azil - arudy portion in july 2012 and loved it. it is hilly, it is solitary, it is beautiful. it wasn't too hot and I was mostly alone in the accommodation.
I always called a day in advance for the bed, if for no other reason that they knew I was coming. I took special care with shops, always stocking when possible and asking about opening times.
in mas d'azil I stayed in temple protestant which was attented by a funny pastor. do not miss the huge cave and its excavations, the museum, and for something totally different, affabuloscope.
saint-lizier's pilgrim gite is in the former hôpital st jacques, key in the tourist office. do not miss the house of antoine la salle with its plaque documenting his pilgrimage to santiago in the 17C, st james and other frescoes in palais des eveques, and a scallop on a keystone of the cathedral.
in buzan I slept in a typical mountain cottage high above the village at tatiane's, with bach and beethoven played on guitarres in the evening around a fire. an unforgettable evening. on the way there don't miss st james and his miracles fresco in the church of tramesaygues in audressein. the tiny pilgrim gite in audressein was closed sundeys afternoon when the tourist office was also closed.
friendly bar chez jo in portet-d'aspet had a couple of beds for pilgrims in the attic, and a shop. shower and toilet were in the courtyard. stock on provisions here.
camping on col des ares provided a tent with a sleeping bad and a mattress, a good dinner and a breakfast-to-go. a beautiful panoramic path in the morning was infested with ticks of all sizes and colours!
as there was no shop in saint-bertrand-des-comminges the friendly gite in presbytere was stocked to the brim with everything I could possibly need. do not miss the cathedral. on the way there don't miss the objects found in a grave of a pilgrim who came to st just-de-valcabrere's renown healing chamber hoping to recover. if you want to stock up, there is a supermarket off route in loures-barousse on the way to st just-de-valcabrere.
locating gite d'étape in lortet took a lot of phone conversations with the owner, but I got there in the end. it's not that difficult to find once you know where it is. on the way there, there was a fossilised scallop shell on dispay in the church porch of montsérié.
gite in moulin des barronies had a small shop attached. lovely location by a river. it had a tv so I could watch the opening of the london olympic games!
pilgrim acceuil in bagneres-de-bigorre closed down in fall 2012, but a gite was du to open in a village before the town, gerde.
very friendly gite la ruche in lourdes accommodated only pilgrims to sanatiago. it's up on the northern side of the river and has a nice view of the sancutary. stock on the excellent water by the famous cave. and on food.
tiny pilgrim gite in asson had a bunk and two extra mattresses, plus a kitchen. a local bar had a couple of cans for sale.
at presbytere in asson we had dinner in the lovely garden and the priest introduced us to his white doves and his black cat. there were lots of bakeries in the town.
