Lepuy on a low budget

[Oztrekker]

I have completed the lepuy to saint jean today.

Physically it was easy for me.

The hardest part for me was the french people trying to sell me dinner and breakfast.

They try and sell you these things for an extra 30 euro on top of the 15 too 18 dormitory.

They never tell you what is on the menu.

It has ranged from runny boiled egg and boiled vegetable too mash potato mixed with a canned tuna.

The 6 euro breakfast most often is half a baguette, condiment, cheap perculated coffee - maybe a yoghurt if they feel generous.

Luckily for me I have avoided these rip offs and have cooked with my mountain stove.

I found dehydrated mash potato, salad bags, charal vaccum sealed steaks among other stuff and baguettesand cakes.

There isno need to get riped off, you just need to carry some extra weight.

Budget 25 euro a day and eat like a king.

To those pilgrims that blindly agree to hand over your money to a gite without asking what you get for your dinner you are creating and encouraging the rip offs.

Remember to work your schedule into the opening times of the supermarchets and you will save allot of money.

The gite people will repeatedly hassle you to buy petit dejourner as they dtamp your frendencile. The third time they ask just ignore them.

There is freshly roasted coffee beans in two towns which you can grind to your specification in the shop.

Sauges is the first, this coffee is the best.

The accomodation is classy dorm style, just add the quality to the experience by doing your own cooking.

Remember sunday monday the shops are closed. The shops close during mid day as well. Time supermarkets for after 3pm.

Kind regard

Oz

 

[Bungle]

I have completed the lepuy to saint jean today.

Physically it was easy for me.

The hardest part for me was the french people trying to sell me dinner and breakfast.

They try and sell you these things for an extra 30 euro on top of the 15 too 18 dormitory.

They never tell you what is on the menu.

It has ranged from runny boiled egg and boiled vegetable too mash potato mixed with a canned tuna.

The 6 euro breakfast most often is half a baguette, condiment, cheap perculated coffee - maybe a yoghurt if they feel generous.

Luckily for me I have avoided these rip offs and have cooked with my mountain stove.

I found dehydrated mash potato, salad bags, charal vaccum sealed steaks among other stuff and baguettesand cakes.

There isno need to get riped off, you just need to carry some extra weight.

Budget 25 euro a day and eat like a king.

To those pilgrims that blindly agree to hand over your money to a gite without asking what you get for your dinner you are creating and encouraging the rip offs.

Remember to work your schedule into the opening times of the supermarchets and you will save allot of money.

The gite people will repeatedly hassle you to buy petit dejourner as they dtamp your frendencile. The third time they ask just ignore them.

There is freshly roasted coffee beans in two towns which you can grind to your specification in the shop.

Sauges is the first, this coffee is the best.

The accomodation is classy dorm style, just add the quality to the experience by doing your own cooking.

Remember sunday monday the shops are closed. The shops close during mid day as well. Time supermarkets for after 3pm.

Kind regard

Oz

Horses for courses!
The demi pension is a good idea if on the Aubrac - there is often nowhere to buy food, so it will need to be carried and planned for. The cost of demi pension is not as high as 30euros in my view (15 euros was my experience this year - for the food part). It is an idea to stay in the communal gite if demi pension is not required as others who want to feed themselves will be staying there - you can then have a sociable meal and share.
Some (not many) do not give value for money, but most gites feed you with local menu which is another benefit of the Le Puy route (Had a low opinion of lentils until I tried them at Le Puy, Aligot at Gite du Barry was another great meal, etc).
The stretch from Cahors to SJdP can be done using mainly communal gites due to the availability of shops and the difference in the price of private gites and the communal ones, but after 30km I found that shopping after my shower was not my favourite chore.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Yep, horses for courses. Oztrekker, you seem to have misunderstood what you get for demi-pension- for about 30 Euro you get your bed (often shared with just a few people in a room rather than a large dorm), dinner and breakfast. This not 'on top' of the dorm price in most places. And in rural places, there were often few alternatives for buying and cooking food.

Personally I really enjoyed demi-pension, as it gave me a chance to share meals with other walkers, and it also often gave me a chance to experience local dishes that were home-cooked. Like Bungle, I also really enjoyed Le Puy lentils cooked locally, much to my surprise! I also really appreciated the genuine care that many of these small private gites offered for pilgrims. They would often ring ahead to help people make their next bookings etc.
Each to our own.
Margaret

 

[mikevasey]

I can't speak for the Le Puy route but on the Arles I would not have got by without demi-pension, French shops and cafes had their own mysterious opening times which I was out of sync with. Breakfast could be basic, it also could be exceptional, the same goes for evening meals. If I had to really cut down on costs then I would camp and cook for myself. Staying in Gites part of the attraction is meeting and talking to other people from around the world and that is usually at its most relaxed and illuminative over a shared meal.

 

[Thornley]

I have completed the lepuy to saint jean today.

Physically it was easy for me.

The hardest part for me was the french people trying to sell me dinner and breakfast.

They try and sell you these things for an extra 30 euro on top of the 15 too 18 dormitory.

They never tell you what is on the menu.

It has ranged from runny boiled egg and boiled vegetable too mash potato mixed with a canned tuna.

The 6 euro breakfast most often is half a baguette, condiment, cheap perculated coffee - maybe a yoghurt if they feel generous.

Luckily for me I have avoided these rip offs and have cooked with my mountain stove.

I found dehydrated mash potato, salad bags, charal vaccum sealed steaks among other stuff and baguettesand cakes.

There isno need to get riped off, you just need to carry some extra weight.

Budget 25 euro a day and eat like a king.

To those pilgrims that blindly agree to hand over your money to a gite without asking what you get for your dinner you are creating and encouraging the rip offs.

Remember to work your schedule into the opening times of the supermarchets and you will save allot of money.

The gite people will repeatedly hassle you to buy petit dejourner as they dtamp your frendencile. The third time they ask just ignore them.

There is freshly roasted coffee beans in two towns which you can grind to your specification in the shop.

Sauges is the first, this coffee is the best.

The accomodation is classy dorm style, just add the quality to the experience by doing your own cooking.

Remember sunday monday the shops are closed. The shops close during mid day as well. Time supermarkets for after 3pm.

Kind regard

Oz

Hi Oz,
When you come home , well i hope and with a $ in your kick i hope you have a walk between Melbourne & Sydney and try and get the following for $ 45 Au

1/ A Bed and shower......with the hope of garden and shade.
2/ A 3 course meal and it can be witchy grubs, emu and ice cream if you wish
3/ A good [ size ] jug of wine

**Won't get near it mate.

When i was a kid in our pub my old man made us pour a beer just before the patron finished the existing one in his hand..............why??
They have a business to run and good luck to them .
On a separate topic you thought you got ripped off in Nepal and Thailand..........those people live on the smell of an oily rag and their generosity we have seen many times.
The dream of flying to France and walking would never be entertained in their life time.

There are givers and takers Oz ..........always be on the right side of this ledger

 

[robertt]

While I always try to get separate sleeping accommodation - it can be snagged various ways - I loved the shared meals, such as lentils and snags with new friends on the snowy Aubrac. Still remember special hosts, too: Trigodina, Montredon, Dubarry, Saint-Chely etc. Walking in the cool season I was sometimes just with the owners, but I also had big attendance meals like at Conques, where I stayed in the Abbey. (There I had dinner with Sagalouts, whom I had met through this forum. He told me he'd whizz past me...and he did.)

Oztrekker does have some handy tips here. I've been known to heat up a cheap can of cassoulet or just snack on cheese, fruit and terrine, but spreading some dough around doesn't hurt either. A pension can't stay viable at supermarket rates. Businesses like that need to mark up. I did get home a bit on the broke side, but spending three months (I'm slow, okay?) roaming through France on foot was bound to cost.

Rather than merely recommend the experience of shared dining, I'll just say I'm getting ready to head back to Le Puy for the Way of Saint-Gilles, and demi-pension will be a part of the experience. Jacobo volente, of course.

Bon chemin a tous

Rob

 

[naplesdon]

After walking the CF twice and CP once I was surprised by the number of places between Oloron and Puente la Reina that are solely demi pension. There was no other option in some towns, i.e. cooking for oneself, but I found the option a great bargain and dinner was earlier than 20h and breakfast usually around 7h, very civilized.

 

[Hal]

There is freshly roasted coffee beans in two towns which you can grind to your specification in the shop.

Sauges is the first, this coffee is the best.

The accomodation is classy dorm style, just add the quality to the experience by doing your own cooking.

Remember sunday monday the shops are closed. The shops close during mid day as well. Time supermarkets for after 3pm.

Kind regard

Oz

And the second town, Oz?
Always looking for a coffee recommendation, am I.

 

[Hal]

There are givers and takers Oz ..........always be on the right side of this ledger

Totally understand and appreciate where you are coming from and your posts in general, Thornley, but that line made me cringe.

But I don't feel Oztrekker is showing ingratitude to share negative feelings about any aspect of his journey. Our own relationships with money and food and hospitality and all the other aspects of travel are complex as we are, regardless of how luxurious our lifestyles are compared to our fellow humans in Asia. The misunderstandings of transactions, the bad service in a place when our souls longed for a good one, the brusque response to a genial smile, the penny one could hardly afford was spent because the cheaper lodgings were full. It affects some more than others.

So many here present a fully-actualised Camino, where much gratitude and kindness were exchanged during business aspects of travel, and who walked on the bright side with the acceptance that all the good will come, at some point, with the bad.

But for those who admit the instances when they do not? They need not be shamed.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Totally understand and appreciate where you are coming from and your posts in general, Thornley, but that line made me cringe.

Moi aussi!

The demipension is a way of life on the Chemin du Puy. It is how service providers stay in business. "I hate to make a profit on my friends, but I have found that my enemies will not do business with me." If the hosts did not love and respect pilgrims, they would do something else.

 

[Thornley]

To those pilgrims that blindly agree to hand over your money to a gite without asking what you get for your dinner you are creating and encouraging the rip offs.

But I don't feel Oztrekker is showing ingratitude to share negative feelings

Normally Hal the gite owner will tell you whats for dinner when they ask if you are attending.
Normally they will tell you how many others are attending dinner and staying the night.
On many occasions we were told to use the restaurants in the town for better meals.
** An example of this was in Moissac where Aideen told us to eat @ Lou's Grill.Run by Bernard , who played Rugby for France and his wife . Wonderful food , wonderful hosts.

But it seems that i and everyone else who have walked this GR [ and i return next week commencing in Moissac and walking to Leon] have created and encouraged rip offs.

Don't take this the wrong way Hal but i would comment after i have walked.
You will be in a better position to judge.

The reason we are commencing in Moissac is a thank you to a wonderful young couple *[ A&R] who helped us with train and plane after a death in the family .
We were driven there by another gite owner from Lauzerte *[M &B], where we stopped the night before so arrangements could be finalised.
*Every body who has walked this GR knows these lovely people.

When we got rained out of Bordeaux after commencing last year in Mont St Michel we headed to Figeac and the Gr65 .
Maybe Oz picked the wrong gites however the ones we selected over the years are run by caring lovely people.

A french girl in a Montmarte cafe asked what we thought of the "country french" ........very nice people we said
The same girl then asked what we though of Parisians..........again we said lovely people
** She smiled and said ...............How you are treated is a mirror of yourself.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Oh Thornley- give my love and regards to [A&R] in Moissac One day I hope I will get back to see them. And Bon Chemin- Bon Courage to you as you start afresh.
Margaret

 

[Thornley]

Oh Thornley- give my love and regards to [A&R] in Moissac One day I hope I will get back to see them. And Bon Chemin- Bon Courage to you as you start afresh.
Margaret

Will do Margaret as well as your mates in Aire.
Keep well lass,
D

 

[Deleted member 3000]

They never tell you what is on the menu.

Several times they asked me what I would like, and prepared it!

 

[Hal]

Don't take this the wrong way Hal but i would comment after i have walked.
You will be in a better position to judge.

Why judge Oztrekker at all? Again, one man's experience is not everyone else's.

I do not judge his experience any more than I judge yours. That the vast majority experienced this walk in positively and he did not does not mean he deserves to be lectured on his bad travel attitude and does not make his journey any more valid.

I do not think people should be damned for not taking the same thing away from a trip as you do.

We're all just sharing experiences here.

 

[Oztrekker]

I am on a budget, and can not afford to be ripped off. Thats not being negative.

First to help, how many of them will willingly pick up the phone to organise a bag taxi or phone around for a gite during a public holiday?

So loosen the grip on yourself thornley.

I will call it as it is. I dont create beggars and or fall for tourist SCAMS!

I had my backpack attacked twice, had to get the tourist police to hunt down my clothes after they were stolen from a laundry in nepal after the earthquake.

I have a great attitude to travel. I stay positive and dont allow prices to inflate for those that follow. I dont allow the rip off artists and pick pockets to steal my love of travel.

I think of the next person that comes after me. Not doing so gives you a negative bad travel attititude.

If you pay too much they put the prices up.

I am on a limited budget. I cannot afford to waste money.

I was only ever offered demi pension no menu!

I purchased a demi pension dinner twice, i didnt know what it is- and both times it was cheap and nasty. Would you pay for a car unseen and unknown thornley?

I met a south korean lady on the way who was crying after she got ripped off over 100 euros in a hotel.

This thread is not for rich tourists but for those on a shoestring budget.

Supermarkets, mountain stoves are key in the strategy on keeping travel costs down. This may be the difference between walking 20km a day instead of 40km a day to cheaper spain.

I met a lithuanian girl who was out of budget thinking she would pay a little more than spain. For her it was long days or a bus to saint jean.

Dont let the camino become amother tourist trap.

Enough said.

 

[Hal]

I'm judging him Hal because he made a statement which i think is wrong.

He described the troubles on his journey. You are grateful for the joys on yours. You had two different experiences. His statement reflects his experience, not yours. I really do not understand why everyones' experiences cannot be accepted by you as distinct and that they co-exist in reality.

My comment to you was that unless you have walked it don't judge it.

I judge neither the walk nor the people there - and I accept the tales of travel on this forum as true to the writers' own feelings.

I don't think i mentioned he had a bad travel attitude as you did , i think he is just wrong on these people.

As per your previous comments, you implied his travel attitude is poor and even lecture him about it:

On a separate topic you thought you got ripped off in Nepal and Thailand...

There are givers and takers Oz ..........always be on the right side of this ledger

She smiled and said ...............How you are treated is a mirror of yourself."

You indicate that his experiences were negative in part because of his values and attitudes towards travel and customer service, which do not align with your own.

I think he is very negative but i hope by the time he returns home the camino might have changes a few attitudes.

Why should we inflict our ideas of personal growth on anyone?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

His statement reflects his experience, not yours.

Only in part. He did not like high prices or demipension -- that is his experience. He felt that he was being ripped off -- his opinion, but not an actual experience, just his interpretation of the high prices.

My opinion is that he mischaracterizes the motivations of his hosts. I do not see how he can discern their motivation. He sees high prices where I see a great meal. The Chemin du Puy is not a bargain vacation, which is what Oz was hoping for. His opinions flow from his unmet expectations, and if there is one thing I have learned about the French is that they have little concern for my expectations!

 

[KiwiNomad06]

First to help, how many of them will willingly pick up the phone to organise a bag taxi or phone around for a gite during a public holiday?

I was only ever offered demi pension no menu! I purchased a demi pension dinner twice, i didnt know what it is- and both times it was cheap and nasty. Would you pay for a car unseen and unknown thornley?

I don't want to enter into any personal arguments, but having walked the whole Le Puy route once, and parts of it a second time, I feel that gite owners are being unfairly attacked here. I know from experience how hard they have to work - I had an extended stay in one when I had a sore foot- and saw how little free time they had even for a coffee in the peak season. As soon as you walk out the door, they are cleaning, remaking beds, doing laundry, and then shopping for fresh ingredients before starting to prepare the meal for the next arrivals. There is certainly no time for them to provide a choice on the menu- they cook one menu, usually with three courses, for everyone who chooses to have it.

As I said above Oz, I think you have misunderstood what demi-pension covers: it does include your bed in almost every case- certainly everywhere I stayed. ('Chambre d'hote' which is more up-market, and the equivalent of our 'bed and breakfast', doesn't.) So for around 30 Euro you are covering most of your day's costs, not far above the 25 Euro you are quoting as your budget. And for the standard of accommodation and food you are getting, I don't think many are getting rich on what they are charging you.

Secondly, I think there are many private gite owners who would pick up the phone to organise a bag taxi for you. And not only will most of them phone around to find your next gite for you on a public holiday, they will also probably warn you when a public holiday is coming up, so you can get your accommodation organised a few days ahead of time. Many of them will also help you with unexpected problems, eg if you are injured they will help you get to a doctor or a podiatrist; or they will help you find the shop you need if you need to replace something like your socks or boots.

Margaret

 

[Oztrekker]

What a low budget hiker wants is this!

1 To walk into a low priced accomodation/gite welcomed and have there adrenalin levels reduced. Relaxation and welcome. For the owner to be invisible.

2 A supermarket where they can buy food to their budget.

3 A kitchen and for the owner manager to get out of there hair and not stalk them while cooking.

4 for the gite manager owner not to harrass the pilgrim for a high pressure "upsell"on accomodation. The low budget pilgrim does not need to be harrased for money they cannot afford it raises thre adrenalin and makes them feel unwelcome.

If you do not understand low budget travel, you think i am negative, you can always just take 25 euros per day and leave your atm card at home.

Also thornley i have not had a drink since the begining of lent.

The bibulmun track 1000km is cheaper and in western australia, and the owners of accomodation stay out your face and hair allowing you to relax.

I found some great accomodations pelerins in decazeville, cahors. This was invisible service and relaxed atmosphere.

End of discussion for me.

Judge me i will judge you

I offered a review for the shoestring pilgrim thats it!

 

[newfydog]

The bibulmun track 1000km is cheaper and in western australia, and the owners of accomodation stay out your face and hair allowing you to relax.
!

I've done the Bibulmum, and The Chemin du Puy, and I can't for life of me see what an Australian hiking trail has to do with a 1000 year old religious route in France. If you want the Bibulmum, stay in Australia. If you seek people who to "stay out of your face", who behave according to your standards, you will really have a hard time ever understanding, must less enjoying, a foreign culture.

 

[Hal]

I've done the Bibulmum, and The Chemin du Puy, and I can't for life of me see what an Australian hiking trail has to do with a 1000 year old religious route in France.

Me neither. This thread has plunged down the rabbit hole. But perhaps because Thornley continually demands where Oz could receive similar service hiking from Sydney to Melbourne (which has nothing to do with anything. Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world.) and the Bibulmum resides on the same continent?

 

[Thornley]

or the owner to be invisible.

Its not your country mate and its not their custom

A kitchen and for the owner manager to get out of there hair and not stalk them while cookin

Are you still looking for cheap accommodation , to be offered the world with your shopping bag and for the owner of the home to disappear ?????????.

The low budget pilgrim does not need to be harrased for money

You have walked into their home Oz so its their rules . Low budget stay on Frances or camp but don't tell the home owner what YOU want.

just take 25 euros per day and leave your atm card at home.

** Thats what i keep asking you Oz , when are you going to walk 800 km in Australia on $36 dollars a day.
Food and accommodation mate ????
I keep asking this but no reply from you or your cousin ??????.

Also thornley i have not had a drink since the begining of lent.

I know realise why the french have upset you so much.
But i like what MY mate did @ the wedding .......he turned water into wine , God bless him .

he bibulmun track 1000km is cheaper and in western australia, and the owners of accomodation stay out your face and hair allowing you to relax.

If this was a debate mate the gong has just gone........

Me neither. This thread has plunged down the rabbit hole. But perhaps because Thornley continually demands where Oz could receive similar service hiking from Sydney to Melbourne (which has nothing to do with anything. Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world.) and the Bibulmum resides on the same continent?

I never said he lives in Sydney i asked him to walk from there.
He has the audacity to compare the GR65 , a famous european path , frequented by the french people as a passage of way and life with a track in WA .....are you on this planet.
He demands the french change their way of life for him.

He says a lot but never says much.
My dad always said......Its all right listening , but can you "hear" me.

Now Hal , i was cheeky saying you could be his cousin but i want you to do this in 2016.
Just walk it....See if they treat you like crap as he has indicated and on return write us all a post.
And i hope Hal you take your bank card.
He canned people because it was not his way...end of story.

** Falcon , i know you are smiling,
Greyland , thanks for not cutting this off to early,
I'm on the plane tomorrow evening to Lyon , then the GR65
I will not reply on this topic regardless of what follows but please be careful of Angry Ants ..............especially when in France , you might be on the wrong horse.
Hal ,
The best Uni in the world is travel .......... the hardest subject......common sense.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

No cafés, no bars to be found, they were either non-existing or closed.

Many villages in France are dying commercially. Where once there were three bakeries, now there are none. Even villages on a camino may not have enough customer traffic to keep a bar open. Blame Carrefour and the automobile!

 

[GAUVINS]

(why does it have to be argumentative?)

I am on my way to Le Puy, walking from Paris. I camp. I have a stove so I can cook some grub. But rarely.

1. Bakeries are a steal. I always try to get pastries for breakfast, and sandwich for lunch. Generally close to 5 euros will get me two pastries and a great sandwich.

2. The situation varies greatly wrt dinner. At one gite I've been served a five course meal (salad, entrée, main dish, cheese, dessert) with half liter of red, and a glass of aperitive for less than 20 euros. All homemade if not homegrown. Everything amazing. But at another it was a pale rendition of boeuf bourguignon.

The situation may be worse in restaurants. It used to be that the menu included some wine and coffee. My experience is that now, menus no longer include any beverage. The 28 euros average menu balloons to close to 45 when you add a 5e litre of Badoit, a 10e quarter litre of no name red and a 2.5e coffee.

There are still true artists. I've had a truly *fabulous* meal in a small restaurant where every ingredient is sourced locally, biologically. Where cooking is more than an art. For a wee bit over 50 including everything. I've talked to the owner. He told me that business was down by almost a third and that several good restaurants had closed. He also mentioned tourist traps.

---

I am walking across burgundy, a region where eating is everything, in a country where cooking is being recognized as part of world heritage by UNESCO. It may be more expensive than fish and chips or hot dogs. But every once in a while, worth the price.

And I would think twice before denigrating French food.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Privacy and respect of paying customers personal boundaries is the cornerstone of conventional good service.

I don't think you have identified the business model on the camino. In Spain, and to a lesser extent in France, the business owner's attitude is "This is my living. This is my offering. If you don't like it, go somewhere else." It normally includes a lot of hospitality, but it is centered on the owner, not the customer. In France, when they invite a pilgrim into their home, it is still their home. The pilgrim is expected to respect the rights of the owner, not the other way around. Put your dirty boots in the room when there is a place provided outside the door may incur extreme displeasure. Use a private kitchen to prepare your own food, and you may incur extreme displeasure. There are municipally operated gites d'etape on the Chemin du Puy, but most accommodations are privately operated.

A French couple who met on the Camino Frances, returned to France, married, quit their jobs, and opened a Christian gite in St. Privat d'Allier. It started as "donations requested." It morphed into "suggested donations." It is now an expensive chambre d'hotes. I suspect that tightfisted pilgrims are the reason. I first stayed with them the first month they opened. They were very enthusiastic about offering the Christian charity that they saw in Spain, so they didn't abandon the idea easily. The kitchen use was restricted to the owners preparing meals. A Quebecoise on a budget joined us at the dinner table eating her baguette and peanut butter. That hospitality may have disappeared as the owners pondered the cheap beds being occupied by pilgrims who would not be spending any other money.

When they changed their business model, they could choose between a donativo gite or a chambres. It is not hard to see why they made the choice they did!

 

[ivar]

Some posts here has been removed. Please stay away from getting personal. We can disagree on topics, but we should stay away from it getting all personal.

 

[Hal]

Follow him Hal , unless you are cousins and i don't think many will answer your questions on assistance on Gites and other places of interest....
You are on the wrong horse ....get off.

Wow. WOW. This is nasty and, frankly, bizarre. I have no idea what your problem is with me nor why you deem I deserve that sort of treatment by other members of the forum.

As you can see i'm calling you Trekker, i left out the other part of your forum name. By your language , the way you describe people , the way you feel about others i really think others on this site think as i do................Not much Oz in you mate.

And now nationalistic insults and further coercive taunts! "Me and the rest of the site against you" - really?

But i like what MY mate did @ the wedding .......he turned water into wine , God bless him. My dad always said......Its all right listening , but can you "hear" me. Now Hal , i was cheeky saying you could be his cousin but i want you to do this in 2016. Hal ,
The best Uni in the world is travel .......... the hardest subject......common sense

Thornley, ease off the abuse of me, please. As an Australian woman, I am more than familiar with the "cheeky" ribbing, true-blue Aussie blokey language which barely conceals aggression and which you use to present your life lessons, platitudes and baiting. I don't take kindly to discourtesy. (Again,) I have no horse in this race other than to read of the observations of the journeys undertook by travellers and have an interest in experiences both positive and negative. If someone had a wonderful time - great! If someone did not - well, not great, but that's life.

I actually find your information and especially that of KiwiNomad06, robertt and Kathar1na on this thread practical and interesting and indeed all of you have given contrary accounts regarding life on the GR65 to Oztrekker's. However, they were honest and frank about their journeys and the reality of cultural differences without being snide, condescending and sanctimonious.

On your next trip, may you gain insights perhaps more personally revealing about yourself and your behaviour. Happy and safe travels to you and yours.

 

[newfydog]

I myself have never been on the Le Puy route itself. Nowadays it is heavily marketed as one of the chemins de Saint Jacques (St James ways). It is a GR, i.e. one of the long distance walking paths, ...Like in neighbouring countries, St James ways are now being created (or supposedly recreated) more or less everywhere. ).

I agree, there are some rather artificial, and contrived Chemins and Caminos, but the GR 65 from LePuy is certainly not one of them. It is THE original route. In 951 , Godescalc, the Bishop of LePuy en Velay, made the first recorded pilgrimage to the tomb of St James. He reported his trip and built a spectacular chapel on top of a volcanic neck to commemorate it. LePuy is where the whole thing started. LePuy, not SJPP. is a good historical starting point.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

But I think we are getting a bit off topic now with this excursion into the past and suggest that we leave it at that.

Many a member has dreamed of limiting debate in the Forum! But good luck...

 

[newfydog]

. But I think we are getting a bit off topic now with this excursion into the past and suggest that we leave it at that.

Sorry. I thought it was better than giving more grief to Oztrekker!

 

[VSB]

The Le Puy route, in common with all stretches of the Camino, is not primarily a low-budget backpacking trail. Many individuals and businesses along the route offer food and accommodation at a reasonable price, enabling people to complete the pilgrimage having saved the money to do so. Many genuinely poor people are among the pilgrims, and they sometimes receive charity. I've often wished France was cheaper too, but it is not the responsibility of the gite-keepers to keep prices low enough to help us save up for our next holiday/purchase/project.
Having said that, it's sad that OzTrekker experienced what sound like the worst meals ever served in France. Perhaps I and most others who have enjoyed incredible, good-value hospitality on the Le Puy route have simply been very lucky

 

[newfydog]

(. I've talked to the owner. He told me that business was down by almost a third and that several good restaurants had closed. He also mentioned tourist traps. .

On the Vezelay route I was trying to book ahead to small town and found every place I called was disconnected. I talked to the owner to see if there was a regional phone change or something and was told , "no since the financial crisis in 2008, one little place after an other has gone out of business." I guess they are running on about as low a budget as is possible.

 

[VSB]

On the Vezelay route I was trying to book ahead to small town and found every place I called was disconnected. I talked to the owner to see if there was a regional phone change or something and was told , "no since the financial crisis in 2008, one little place after an other has gone out of business." I guess they are running on about as low a budget as is possible.

That was also my experience on the Vezelay route. I'm one of those pilgrims who sees it as my responsibility to frequent every restaurant I pass, in a selfless and heroic attempt to keep these businesses running...

 

[25 characters is too shor]

I have completed the lepuy to saint jean today.

Physically it was easy for me.

The hardest part for me was the french people trying to sell me dinner and breakfast.

They try and sell you these things for an extra 30 euro on top of the 15 too 18 dormitory.

They never tell you what is on the menu.

It has ranged from runny boiled egg and boiled vegetable too mash potato mixed with a canned tuna.



The 6 euro breakfast most often is half a baguette, condiment, cheap perculated coffee - maybe a yoghurt if they feel generous.

Luckily for me I have avoided these rip offs and have cooked with my mountain stove.

I found dehydrated mash potato, salad bags, charal vaccum sealed steaks among other stuff and baguettesand cakes.

There isno need to get riped off, you just need to carry some extra weight.

Budget 25 euro a day and eat like a king.

To those pilgrims that blindly agree to hand over your money to a gite without asking what you get for your dinner you are creating and encouraging the rip offs.

Remember to work your schedule into the opening times of the supermarchets and you will save allot of money.

The gite people will repeatedly hassle you to buy petit dejourner as they dtamp your frendencile. The third time they ask just ignore them.

There is freshly roasted coffee beans in two towns which you can grind to your specification in the shop.

Sauges is the first, this coffee is the best.

The accomodation is classy dorm style, just add the quality to the experience by doing your own cooking.

Remember sunday monday the shops are closed. The shops close during mid day as well. Time supermarkets for after 3pm.

Kind regard

Oz

Thanks oz great post there.
I will not be using a mountain stove so I can rule that out. I intend on doing it next May. Here's a couple of question for you. I do not speak a word of French will this be a problem from walking day one leaving Le Puy? (the kind of answer I'm really hoping for here is "no mate, I can't speak a word of it myself you'll be grand".

Honestly what is the average daily budget from LP to SJPDP? Considering I am willing to sleep anywhere as long as it's clean and warm. Talking a couple of coffees in the morning with a light brekky, bocadillo at lunch followed by a good hearty meal in the evening with wine and beers. On the FW 35/45 will cover that. I thought that the daily budget from LP to SJPDP would be 60 euro. Your 25/30 figure has shocked me. I must save all my spare money for next year.

 

[newfydog]

I intend on doing it next May. I do not speak a word of French will this be a problem from walking day one leaving Le Puy? .

That is plenty of time to learn some French! you can certainly get by without a word of it, but every bit you learn will improve and enrich your experience. The Chemin duPuy is more than a sightseeing trip.

 

[VSB]

Honestly what is the average daily budget from LP to SJPDP? I thought that the daily budget from LP to SJPDP would be 60 euro. Your 25/30 figure has shocked me. I must save all my spare money for next year.

I'm not sure I understand why the 25/30 figure has shocked you, if you expect to spend 60 euro a day anyway? 30 euro will usually get you a bed in a dorm, breakfast and dinner including wine. Sometimes it's more, or sometimes you might find a bed but need to eat elsewhere, which could cost a bit more. But your 60 euro a day budget is plenty, don't worry. You might even be able to splash out on a few treats along the way. If you pass a bar/restaurant at about midday and they advertise a Menu for 12euro, I'd strongly advise you to take them up on it. For that you usually get three courses and wine, sometimes even coffee, and often more delicious than anything on offer in some fancier restaurants

 

[Oztrekker]

I left on ascension day in lepuy. So the priced may have jumped up. There was over a 100 who left that day.

Accomodation was scarce the food shops were shut. My french was not adequate. I had purchased an orange sim card from orange.

The french gite places just hung the phone up on me.

The french people booked out entire communal gites way in advance. You would walk into the gite praying for a cheap bed, only to find a single french mame on the front of every dorm.

So essentially we were all in trouble. For me it was a very long walk i found a single bed and paid 38 euro for a cheap nasty meal that made us feel off color and one pilgrim ill.

With pentecost holiday coming up we had more problems and it was raining.

The gite owners refused to help in anyway finding future accomodation. Thet new that there was lack of places and the gite owners only answer phones at specific times.

The tourism offices are useless, you all walk into town and they are closed. I bolted fast so i would be there 15 mins before mid day closing only to find they closed a half hour early. When you go there for assistance, they refuse or are incredibly reluctant to pick up a telephone to find you a bed.

One place had three staff and none spoke english. 2 sat out the back surfing the net while 8 desperate pilgrims wanted accomodation support.

I was shocked at this, my french friend said "this is france we are socialist they get paid from govt they dont give a f..."

There are great restaraunts in towns but if your pressured into demi pension they cannot survive.

It was an english born restaraunt owner who saved my arse. I baught a meal from his restaraunt, he booked all my acdcomodatiom for a week.

So i went back to his place for a breakfast.

I tried to do it on 25 a day during a peak holiday time it was traumatic.

I would say 50 will be an easy budget.

I got served canned tuna in mash potato in conques abbey. No hungry pilgrim wanted seconds or could finish the meal. Wether they were profiting from a full house i dont know. It would have been better to support a conques redtaraunt this night. You do want atmosphere if other diners though.

From figeac onwards there is no problems, better accomodations big supermarkets, the demi pension price drops because the pilgrims begin refusing it. Some like me got burned out of lepuy. So those further up have to deliver service. The pilgrims become a bit more track wise and street smart. The petit dejaneur drops from 6 to 4 euro.

I prefer supermarkets because i can see the price. I did shop at butchers directly, i really liked this shopping, then one cheated me on the scales. After that i stuck with supermarkets easier and less stressfull.

So if you leave ascension day holiday you are up for some shenanigans.

25 euro a day is doable, but not comfortable travel.

You could just eat baguettes with condiment for a month.

 

[newfydog]

The tourism offices are useless,.

Hmmm.... I was in one just last week. The woman did not speak much English, but she was incredibly patient with out French, and very helpful. After we left, she came running out into the street to find us. She had a special stamp for pilgrim passports, and wanted to stamp our credentials.

I find that experience typical, and have never, ever, been to a French tourist office I would describe as "useless".

It was an english born restaraunt owner who saved my arse. I baught a meal from his restaraunt, he booked all my acdcomodatiom for a week.

So i went back to his place for a breakfast.,.

Wow, rewarded him richly for all that custom travel planning, didn't you?

 

[Oztrekker]

We had many laughs and he new how to use a coffee machine like a barrista.

Had the right pack to pressure, great beans, perfect grind.

Drop into his place in montisol and order a pizza. His focus is on constant improvement and customer service.

 

[VSB]

Conques abbey, Oztrekker! I did wonder whether the poor meals you described were given to you in convents. The food in those places is often not great because they exist for the worship of God and charity for the poor, and cannot afford to cater to 'customer satisfaction' no matter how much you think your 25 euro contribution for bed and board entitles you to. If you spare the time to attend any of their prayers, you will see the opportunity of staying in such a place is priceless, and never mind too much that the food didn't meet your standards. I take it you didn't starve.
Forgive me if this post lacks much sympathy, but you seem not to have grasped that if we stay in convents and abbeys we are pilgrims, not customers. But you are right, 50 euro a day ought to cover it

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Oztrekker, I had some sympathy for you as it seemed you had chosen the Le Puy route not realising that it was never going to be a budget option. In fact in most of Europe it is probably quite unrealistic to expect any route is going to be the 'budget' option you want, unless you plan on camping out and roughing it. But to complain about the food in the Abbey at Conques- it seems you have totally 'missed' any sense of the pilgrimage nature of the Le Puy route. Conques is an absolute jewel in the crown of French pilgrimage sites- and I know I found the music/liturgy in the abbey to be very moving, even though I am not a practising Catholic.
There actually was- still in 2012 anyhow- a small municipal gite in Conques, with an excellent kitchen. It would possibly have suited you very well.
Margaret

 

[naplesdon]

I left on ascension day in lepuy. So the priced may have jumped up. There was over a 100 who left that day.

Accomodation was scarce the food shops were shut. My french was not adequate. I had purchased an orange sim card from orange.

The french gite places just hung the phone up on me.

The french people booked out entire communal gites way in advance. You would walk into the gite praying for a cheap bed, only to find a single french mame on the front of every dorm.

So essentially we were all in trouble. For me it was a very long walk i found a single bed and paid 38 euro for a cheap nasty meal that made us feel off color and one pilgrim ill.

With pentecost holiday coming up we had more problems and it was raining.

The gite owners refused to help in anyway finding future accomodation. Thet new that there was lack of places and the gite owners only answer phones at specific times.

The tourism offices are useless, you all walk into town and they are closed. I bolted fast so i would be there 15 mins before mid day closing only to find they closed a half hour early. When you go there for assistance, they refuse or are incredibly reluctant to pick up a telephone to find you a bed.

One place had three staff and none spoke english. 2 sat out the back surfing the net while 8 desperate pilgrims wanted accomodation support.

I was shocked at this, my french friend said "this is france we are socialist they get paid from govt they dont give a f..."

There are great restaraunts in towns but if your pressured into demi pension they cannot survive.

It was an english born restaraunt owner who saved my arse. I baught a meal from his restaraunt, he booked all my acdcomodatiom for a week.

So i went back to his place for a breakfast.

I tried to do it on 25 a day during a peak holiday time it was traumatic.

I would say 50 will be an easy budget.

I got served canned tuna in mash potato in conques abbey. No hungry pilgrim wanted seconds or could finish the meal. Wether they were profiting from a full house i dont know. It would have been better to support a conques redtaraunt this night. You do want atmosphere if other diners though.

From figeac onwards there is no problems, better accomodations big supermarkets, the demi pension price drops because the pilgrims begin refusing it. Some like me got burned out of lepuy. So those further up have to deliver service. The pilgrims become a bit more track wise and street smart. The petit dejaneur drops from 6 to 4 euro.

I prefer supermarkets because i can see the price. I did shop at butchers directly, i really liked this shopping, then one cheated me on the scales. After that i stuck with supermarkets easier and less stressfull.

So if you leave ascension day holiday you are up for some shenanigans.

25 euro a day is doable, but not comfortable travel.

You could just eat baguettes with condiment for a month.

I walked from Oloron to Puente la Reina the last few weeks on the Aragones and demi-pension seems to be rule not the exception. One public albergue in Borce with a kitchen but there was only one small over priced food shop in town. It is hard to get by on a day under 40 euros if you want to enjoy a beer, bottle of wine or breakfast if you can find someplace open before 9am.

 

[Kitsambler]

Oztrekker left Le Puy on the busiest day of the year, in the busiest week, in the busiest month, on the busiest section of the route. Everything would have been booked up weeks in advance. The infrastructure on the Le Puy route has much lower capacity than the Camino Frances, and it's not very elastic on the scaling-up side. So I'm not surprised. Leaving a few days sooner or a few days later, or booking in advance, or having a more realistic budget in mind (we've been mentioning a daily budget of 40-50 Euros for years here in this forum) -- any of those measures would have improved his experience.

 

[newfydog]

Oztrekker left Le Puy on the busiest day of the year, in the busiest week, in the busiest month, on the busiest section of the route. Everything would have been booked up weeks in advance. .

Good point. We did the Chemin Stevenson trail during that time and I booked the entire trip ahead, in January. Some of the places were already fully booked then.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

any of those measures would have improved his experience.

Do you think so, really?

 

[Oztrekker]

I make donations at church services, as i have always done. I have been involved in feeding the poor in church soup kitchens out of my own pocket.

Its not a church fundraiser, its a paid meal. Dont serve people inedible food. I dont care how nice the church is.

Its a nice abbey there is a donation box as you exit it. Yes i put money in it after the vespa.

 

[25 characters is too shor]

I'm not sure I understand why the 25/30 figure has shocked you, if you expect to spend 60 euro a day anyway? 30 euro will usually get you a bed in a dorm, breakfast and dinner including wine. Sometimes it's more, or sometimes you might find a bed but need to eat elsewhere, which could cost a bit more. But your 60 euro a day budget is plenty, don't worry. You might even be able to splash out on a few treats along the way. If you pass a bar/restaurant at about midday and they advertise a Menu for 12euro, I'd strongly advise you to take them up on it. For that you usually get three courses and wine, sometimes even coffee, and often more delicious than anything on offer in some fancier restaurants

Thanks V I thought 25-30 was cheap that is why I was shocked. It's miscellaneous items that end up costing you the most on camino. Coffees, water croissants, Coca Colas, sun block, compede and vaseline and the likes of these things that blow the pot big time along the way. If you say their are dorms that provide evening meal and breakfeast in their overall cost of between 25-30 euro then that pleases me no end.

I really would like to have the guts to do it camping out and using a stove but I would get frustrated not being able to shower everyday. For those who do it that way you have my respect. How do you do it? Possibly direct me to the thread.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

If you say their are dorms that provide evening meal and breakfeast in their overall cost of between 25-30 euro then that pleases me no end.

In my experience, demipension averages 33E. Just a bed averages 14E, less in gites d'etape when they exist. Add something for lunch, beverage, and laundry.

 

[25 characters is too shor]

In my experience, demipension averages 33E. Just a bed averages 14E, less in gites d'etape when they exist. Add something for lunch, beverage, and laundry.

Thanks falcon. I take it that a gite is like a municipal albergue in Spain?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I take it that a gite is like a municipal albergue in Spain?

A gite d'etape is. There are many other types of gites, and they can be pricey.

 

[Oztrekker]

I am not surprised that trip advisor canned it and they were french reviews.

It started with a hospitalier usng an angry tone speech that went for three minutes. I was looking at the faces thinking are we in trouble. i dont speak french.

Apparently he was laying down the rules in an aggressive manner.

Then they served us an inedible meal.

Not surprised that his french countrymen bagged them on trip advisor.

 

[25 characters is too shor]

A gite d'etape is. There are many other types of gites, and they can be pricey.

Thanks for the distinction falcon. I'm just off the phone to a good friend of mine who is presently kicking back enjoying a drink with his fellow travellers in Itero de la Vega. He says the weather hasn't been great these recent days. I checked and told him it's going to pick up from tomorrow onwards. I walked through it myself but never stayed there. Lucky dog. The same fellow is as nice a guy you'll meet.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I've just had a thought: it would be unfortunate if as a result of this thread people decided the Le Puy route is only affordable on a high budget. I am sure we have all met walkers on this route who are in fact quite short of funds. Often enough they are students, and some of them are walking the route as a pilgrimage for religious reasons, though other young ones might be doing it for the sheer adventure of it all. I have met young ones who have hitched their way across Europe to be able to walk from Le Puy. Sometimes, quietly, provision is made for them, perhaps by gite owners or religious houses, perhaps in parishes, and sometimes other pilgrims slip them food or pay for their accommodation. Sometimes they 'rough it' or go hungry, but they most often seem to be smiling cheerfully at being able to walk the route.
Margaret

 

[GAUVINS]

I really would like to have the guts to do it camping out and using a stove but I would get frustrated not being able to shower everyday

?!

I carry tent+stove and could easily travel comfortably for 25/day, showering every day.

There are plenty of campgrounds charging an average rate well under 10 euros.

It is easy to eat very well for 15/day or less. Plan defensively on trail mix, eggs and noodle soup for when bakeries and super markets are scarce.

When there is a bakery (boulangerie or dépôt de pain), which is almost everywhere, buy pastries for breakfast and sandwich for lunch. Typically 6 euros total. Grab fruits when possible. Evening meal could be many things. With the possible exception of Italy, I cannot think of a country where food is both as good and as inexpensive. (places like India come to mind, but it is a completely different environment and for most of us, a radical change in eating habits).

Now, let me add these 2 observations.

1. France is a first world country and the number one tourist destination in the world. Suggesting that French do not know how to run their infrastructure (as in "rip off tourists") is ludicrous.

2. Traveling is not a right. It is a privilege. This thread is largely about whining, either of the kaminski variety (i. e. trolling) or of the plain uneducated type.

 

[VSB]

This thread has been astonishing, really, but I think we've all had a chance to exchange viewpoints. For me, the highlight has been 25 Characters' forum name - makes me smile every time I see it!

 

[Lucy Longpath]

Several times they asked me what I would like, and prepared it!

That is good to know as I am vegetarian so will surely need to ask what is on the menu. I guess I will be so somewhat dependent on how flexible my hosts are. I loved the shared meals on the Camino Frances and found that the hospitaleros and bar owners were very flexible and would always find something to offer me.

 

[Kitsambler]

... I am vegetarian ...

I wouldn't ask the demipension gite owners what is on the menu. But do let them know you are a vegetarian when you call a day or two in advance to make reservation, and you will be properly looked after at dinner.

 

[Lucy Longpath]

I wouldn't ask the demipension gite owners what is on the menu. But do let them know you are a vegetarian when you call a day or two in advance to make reservation, and you will be properly looked after at dinner.

Yes, you are right. As we would be booking advance I would always mention it at that time and then again when I arrive just as I do in the UK. It is good to know that they would cater for me on the Puy way. It was not a problem on th Camino Frances. I ate very well there with a mixture of veggie Albergues, veggie restaurants in cities and by asking other albergues doing shared meals and cafes with pilgrims menus if I could have two first plates or if they might have something for me.

 

[25 characters is too shor]

This thread has been astonishing, really, but I think we've all had a chance to exchange viewpoints. For me, the highlight has been 25 Characters' forum name - makes me smile every time I see it!

What a nice thing to say, thanks V. You are wealth of good information.

I'm all over the shop here. Now I'm thinking of walking the Paris route next year. I've been speaking on the phone to a pal who is presently coming to an end of his camino and he's shouting on about how the FW is too short and he's mad to do the Paris route next year. Decisions decisions.

 

[Nefeli]

" If the hosts did not love and respect pilgrims, they would do something else.
Not entirely true im afraid .. i met some hosts in the french camino who were all about the money.. then again i met some others who would do anything for pilgrims..

 

[Kitsambler]

"...the french camino ...

You're referring to the Camino Frances, which is in Spain. The Chemin Le Puy is the route in France; sometimes called the Via Podiensis.

 

[Thornley]

He described the troubles on his journey. You are grateful for the joys on yours. You had two different experiences. His statement reflects his experience, not yours. I really do not understand why everyones' experiences cannot be accepted by you as distinct and that they co-exist in reality.


I judge neither the walk nor the people there - and I accept the tales of travel on this forum as true to the writers' own feelings.


As per your previous comments, you implied his travel attitude is poor and even lecture him about it:



You indicate that his experiences were negative in part because of his values and attitudes towards travel and customer service, which do not align with your own.


Why should we inflict our ideas of personal growth on anyone?

Hi Hal,
Now commenced Gr65 for third time.
Could you please have a look at our mates writings on the Frances Camino and make a comment.
These people here in France are very kind.