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Hello all,
I am beginning walking on May 1st from LePuy and am wondering about the range of weather and suggestions for clothing. I walked from SJPDP to Santiago mid-June to Mid-July previously and the weather was mild to hot. No warm clothing needed and only a silk bag, no sleeping bag. I appreciate any advice and insight.
What is the average length of time to walk, knowing everyone has a different pace. We have allowed 33-35 days. Is this sufficient for average walkers?
Thank you in advance for your kind input.
The full range! From snow to hail in thunderstorms to unbearably hot. The solution is layering clothes so you can add a layer if it gets cold, but get down to something suitable for the desert. Bon chemin!am wondering about the range of weather
Thank you for this great information. I will be going on to Santiago after a night in SJPP and so fortunate to be able to walk all the way. Would you be willing to share your route stays? You can send directly to me if better. Also, places like mentioned above that we should stay. I have ordered the Miam book. It will be here in about 3 weeks. Also, any input on how far to go the first few days and was weight of pack with all the cold weather gear an issue?Hi Mama B -
The walking could be challenging at the beginning. There are lots of ups and downs over the first few days. Some people start slowly with shorter days.
I would go straight to LePuy and deal with your jetlag there. A few years ago, we stayed an extra day in LePuy to look around the city before walking. It is well worth it - it is a beautiful city.
Yes to calling ahead. It does get busy in May and the gites will fill up. There are a number of public holidays when reserving in advance is very strongly advised. You will also want to reserve in advance if there is a particular gite where you would like to stay - like the monastery in Conques. And if you want to have demi-pension, you should reserve the day before for courtesy's sake - so the host will know how much food to prepare. You can change your mind - but you then need to make sure to cancel the reservation as soon as possible. Check the dates of the public holidays before you leave.
L'Esprit du chemin is now called Beilari - I stayed there my last day on the LePuy route. It is a fabulous place with wonderful hospitaliers. Once you have a good idea of when you will be arriving in SJPP - you can reserve on line, which you would want to do because they definitely book up. Staying there is a wonderful way to end your walk - although it will have you itching to keep going as you watch people leaving to go over the mountains in the morning.
Mary Louise
Hello all,
I am beginning walking on May 1st from LePuy and am wondering about the range of weather and suggestions for clothing. I walked from SJPDP to Santiago mid-June to Mid-July previously and the weather was mild to hot. No warm clothing needed and only a silk bag, no sleeping bag. I appreciate any advice and insight.
What is the average length of time to walk, knowing everyone has a different pace. We have allowed 33-35 days. Is this sufficient for average walkers?
Thank you in advance for your kind input.
You will find places full if you do not book ahead. My last May walk there resulted in quite a few hotels and chambre d'hote.We are wondering how precisely planned our walk must be to account for the holidays and lodging and whether this was an issue for anyone?
The number of gites does not seem to increase as they have in Spain. If anything, they are becoming fewer. The number of chambre d'hotes is going up a bit. Catering to pilgrims is a low profit enterprise, and the French do not stay in low profit businesses. In some cases, all the bakeries in a village may have closed. People work in the towns and cities, and patronize bakeries there on their way home.Are there more Albergues along the way now?
A partial list:Is there a handy list available online
Cant find A Good Walk Unspoiled...Hi - I don't have my accommodation notes with me - but there are some good lists made by others on the forum. I went over those and made comments in the Miam-miam Do-do guide. My one big suggestion (which I took from others writing here) is to follow the Cele Valley route. It's something. Stunning landscape.
If you have the Miam-miam dodo book you will be fine for accommodation. And it is worth saying - that for all the care I took over notes and such before I left, my decisions about where to stay were based more on who I was walking with and how much I wanted to walk than on what I had thought I would do. As you likely know from your previous walking.
In LePuy, I stayed at a small hotel called L'Epicurium that was quite nice. Central. Nice people.
On the first day I walked to St. Privat - but others break that day and the next one up - so they are both less than 20 k. On the first day lots of people stop at Montbonnet and on the second they go on to Monistrol d'Allier. The first day the walking is not too hard, but there is a doozy of a hill going out of Monistrol. You can another version of breaking those days up on the blog called "A good walk unspoiled" from a couple of years ago. I stuck fairly close to the stages that appear in the small Michelin map guide to the route - which you can buy in LePuy at any news agent.
My pack was about 8 kilos - which was fine for me (and in my view worth it so thatI could be warm enough at night and to have a second pair of shoes that I could walk in if necessary - chaco sandals, which are like tevas but more adjustable and a bit on the heavy side). But there are, as I am sure you know, many others here who who would consider that a gargantuan pack. Most of the people I met in France had much bigger and heavier packs - and clearly didn't obsess about packing like we do on this forum. And the majority of them were managing very well.
cheers,
ml
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