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Thank you Kirkie,Welcome,and buen camino. You seem to have a realistic idea of daily distance, and more or less that should work out, depending on where your stop for the day fits in to your guide distance. When you are on the camino, you will find that works itself out.
Thank you Mark DayHi,
Have a look at this it might be of help.
Hi Annie ,Hi Sharon
I’m assuming you’re planning to walk the Le Puy route ? (where you’ve posted this thread ).
You are master of the distance you walk. Usually advisable in France to book ahead ..at least 1st two days and get a feel on how far you’d like to do daily and arrange bookings accordingly. You don’t need to stick to the suggested daily stage lengths. . open the gronze site here;
https://www.gronze.com/camino-santiago-le-puy
Shows distances and some accommodation recommendations. You can also buy guides with lots more suggestions (eg. ‘Miam Miam dodo’)
Another easy reference is the Michelin guide.
You can buy them in France.
Bon chemin
Annie
A half-marathon a day for thirteen days is not easy, particularly with an additional 15 pounds of pack weight. Until you are on the pilgrimage, you really will not know what you can do (unless you walk several days in a row at home). The first day you will be unconquerable unless blisters bring you down. After that, there will be a cumulative break down that will peak after a week to ten days. You will be stopping at about the time that most people get their second wind.I wonder about the possibility to go 23-28 km each day.
I think falcon269 has a key question, which route? I can only speak for Frances and Portugues, in your context. Mark Day has also given you something helpful. Hope it ll works out.Thank you Kirkie,
From what i read it seems that there are days that are not easy to brake. Is it because there are no villages in between ?
Sharon
SharonHi Annie ,
Thank's for the gronze site.
Do you think that in September it will be good enough to book the night only two days ahead ?
Sharon
Correct - this is a very thinly populated sector of France. Young people move to the cities for work, and the seniors are passing away. It's very similar to the situation along the Camino Frances in northern Spain before the great hordes of pilgrims discovered it.there are no villages in between ?
Do you think that in September it will be good enough to book the night only two days ahead ?
Hi Falcon269,A half-marathon a day for thirteen days is not easy, particularly with an additional 15 pounds of pack weight. Until you are on the pilgrimage, you really will not know what you can do (unless you walk several days in a row at home). The first day you will be unconquerable unless blisters bring you down. After that, there will be a cumulative break down that will peak after a week to ten days. You will be stopping at about the time that most people get their second wind.
The distances on the Le Puy route are much more set than on the Camino Frances, so it is not possible to extend three to five kilometers. Three kilometers at the end of the day may be an additional hour, an hour when you are tired, your feet hurt, your pack is pulling on your shoulders, and your blood chemistry deteriorated. It won't be the same as the same distance when you start the day!
You will have the most fun if you are not "driven" to cover distance. Only you know why you will be out there, but it rarely is to cover as much distance as possible. Allow yourself to be non-competitive, even with yourself. And do call ahead. The French do, and they are most of the pilgrims.
If you can't make it, please call to cancel. The French are REALLY irritated by reserved beds that end up empty. Really irritated. Really, really irritated.I will try to book ahead our nights at least for the first few nights
The French are REALLY irritated by reserved beds that end up empty. Really irritated.
But the OP is walking in September, which is a very popular month. Also, if your preference is on gites that speak English, because perhaps your French is as miniscule as mine, then you would want to call ahead. Especially if you want the demipension meals.I booked ahead twice only.
I willIf you can't make it, please call to cancel. The French are REALLY irritated by reserved beds that end up empty. Really irritated. Really, really irritated.
There are trains from Decazeville, but not to Le Puy.How do we get back to Le Puy from Bord or Figeac ?
Hi Susan, Anayma and Jeep500,
Sharing your experience is a great help
As for now I am thinking of the following and would love to hear what you think about it:
Day 1 Le-PDay 1 Le-Puy-en-Velay to Montbonnet (16 km/10 mi)
Day 2 Montbonnet to Monistrol-d’Allier (14.5 km/9.1 mi)
Day 3 Monistrol-d’Allier to Le Falzet (22 km/13.8 mi)
Day 4 Le Falzet to Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole (22.5 km/14.1 mi)
Day 5 Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole to Aumont-Aubrac (14 km/8.8 mi)
Day 6 Aumont-Aubrac to Montgros 22 km
Day 7Montbros to Saint-Chely-d’Aubrac 21 km
Day 8 Saint-Chely-d’Aubrac to Estaing 25 km
Day 9 Estaing to Le Soulie, 19.9 km
Day 10 Le Soulie to Conques, 14.8 km
Day 11 Conques to Decazeville, 19.4 km
Day 12 Decazeville to Bord, 15 km
One thing is- How do we get back to Le Puy from Bord or Figeac ?
Thank's
Sharon
Thank you so much Jeep500,Hi,
The distances provided seem accurate. You may need to adjust your schedule based on where you could sleep or make sure you reserve prior leaving.
Le Flaget one place to sleep 3 bedrooms .
Montgros 9 bedrooms for 2 persons, 14 in the Gîte meaning single beds.
The leg between Espalion and Golinhac big climing that should be a good day walk
Bord 2 bedrooms only.
Leaving Conque try to reach Livinhac le Haut nice place then you will be closer to Figeac. Make sure after leaving Conque to walk on the new trail avoid the old one and Take a lunch with you prior leaving in the morning no place to eat.
Let me know if you need more details
Thank you Davey,Looks good, just one suggestion. Rather than stay in the uninspiring and rather ugly mining town of Decazeville why not stay the Le Mineur Paysan eco-gite at Vivoles just a couple of km before Decazeville. I recomend the place, and the owners are very nice. It would not alter your daily km much, just 17km on the last day.
Davey
Thank you Susan,The bag transport people also run a minibus up and down the chemin. La malle postale runs twice per day. Follow this link https://www.lamallepostale.com/fr/services/navette-reguliere
And look for timetables (horaire) and prices (tarif)
You have to book but only a day or two in advance.
Thank you BobM,I walked the Via Podiensis in two sections over successive years: Le Puy to Conques and then Conques to SJPDP. One thing to consider when planning stages is if you have a deadline to catch a flight home. I live in Australia, so that is always a factor for me. My approach is to build in a couple of 'rest' days as flexibility/contingency.
Walking 20 to 25 km/day was fine for me. If possible, make the first couple of days easy and don't push too hard on those days. No matter how much training you do at home or how fit/prepared you are, I find in general it takes a couple of days for my body to adjust to the actual conditions and carrying a pack. It takes me a couple of days for my daily routine to get sorted out.
I booked accommodation using the Miam Miam Dodo guide, which was excellent.
BTW, Conques is a wonderful destination in its own right. A fantastic village, beautiful Abbey, very memorable pilgrim accommodation, especially the meals in the refectory. Google or visit http://www.southfrance.com/aveyron/conques/index.html
Hope this is helpful.
Bob M
Thank you Falcon269There are trains from Decazeville, but not to Le Puy.
Hi,
We walked from St Chély d'Aubrac to Espallion next to Golinhac next to Conques. These are bigger village with nice restaurants and much more places to sleep. As I said it ´s a climing zone from St-Chély to Golinhac . Between Golinhac and Conques you will get a little break on climing. I agree with Davey Decazeville its not a very pretty city.
Bon Chemin
Thank you Davey,
I will keep away from Decazeville -you save us from a disappointment. I do consider walking 2 more km till Livinhac le Haut in order to shorten the next day
Sharon
I believe that at that stage we will pray to be kidnapped by a good local who will give us an excuse to restI stayed in Vivoles and the next day intended walking through Livinhac after stopping off there for breakfast.
I was there (Livinhac) two days! I got kidnapped by locals and taken home. So beware! But yes Livinhac is a nice place!
Davey
That's greatAlso, if you want my day by day account you can read it here with pictures..
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/from-geneva-to-the-end-of-the-world.40650/
I actually started in Geneva, but you can scroll through to Le Puy
Davey
Good morning Davey,Also, if you want my day by day account you can read it here with pictures..
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/from-geneva-to-the-end-of-the-world.40650/
I actually started in Geneva, but you can scroll through to Le Puy
Davey
Good morning Davey,
I spent the last two days reading your blog. It made me happy and created a huge wish to start myself a.s.a.p.
I loved the way you shared your experience and feelings plus sharing important information about the way. I followed your story from the start in Geneve and now arrived with you to Conque. Now I believe that this is going to be our final stop in this first stage. Thank you
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