ThomCatStevens
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- Time of past OR future Camino
- Future Frances or Portugese
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Thanks again for this. With your experience with Le Puy Way and if you were going to walk 5-7 days before St JPDP, where would you start from? I fly into Paris from Australia (24hr plus flight) and land at 7am and plan to catch the fast train and stay the rest of the day and night before walking. Any suggestions? Any advice is really appreciated.HI @ThomCatStevens
We were on the Chemin du Piemont (GR 78) in April 2022 and the Le Puy Way (GR 65) way back ... In short ....
Accommodation availability - many more options, at more frequent intervals, on the Le Puy
Elevation - for the sections you propose, greater elevation on the Piemont. There are a couple of significant climbs in the last few days to SJPP
Beauty - hmmm, I found the Le Puy Way overall much more scenic than the Piemont - but, 'in the eye of the beholder' and all that. That said, the last few days on the Piemont - after Oloron St Marie - are beautiful. On either route, when you reach Pays Basque ... it's glorious.
Solitude - the Piemont has far fewer people than the Le Puy - which is good or not so good depending on your preference. Either way, by the time you arrive in SJPP, there will be no shortage of companions.
Weather - well, who knows. But once you are in that last week, those two paths are not far from each other so I'd imagine the weather would be pretty similar.
These are just my impressions For a more fact based comparison of elevations and accommodation options of the Le Puy Way vs Piemont, I'd recommend taking a look at the Gronze website.
El Camino de Santiago | Gronze.com
Bienvenido a Gronze, tu Guía del Camino de Santiago: Información práctica, actualizada y participativa de los principales Caminos de Santiago.www.gronze.com
Both are good options.
Hhhmm, if you want to walk 5-7 days on the Le Puy before SJPP, the tricky part would be to get to one of those small towns on The Way. My initial thoughts ... others may chime in with better ideas.Thanks again for this. With your experience with Le Puy Way and if you were going to walk 5-7 days before St JPDP, where would you start from? I fly into Paris from Australia (24hr plus flight) and land at 7am and plan to catch the fast train and stay the rest of the day and night before walking. Any suggestions? Any advice is really appreciated.
We started a very long camino in Lourdes. From Lourdes, we walked to Oleron Ste Marie. Gorgeous. Lovely walk. Very few pilgrims. Very few accommodations, but the locals embraced us. If you are faint of heart and need everything arranged, don't do this. If you are intrepid and wiling to live with uncertainty every day, go for it. But...from there, we took the route over the Pyrenees crossing at Somport. This is a multi-day hike up, much more gradual that the steep ascent and descent from SJPDP to Roncevalles. And very different, more like walking in Colorado amidst canyon cascades with high, snow capped peaks above you. After crossing, we walked the Camino Aragones till it ends joining the Frances. I would highly recommend this route to those who have already walked the Frances starting in SJPDP. So much beauty, so much culture, so much history, so many interesting cities and towns. And, if this matters, it's not a conga line of pilgrims. We bonded with a German dad and daughter, two gay professors, one from Denmark, the other from the UK and a fun-loving newly married Italian couple. It was an amazing mix that only a camino can bring together in friendship and devotion.Hi all, I am thinking of starting my first Camino Frances (June10 to July 8) by starting 5-7 days prior to SJPDP in France. I want to finish well before Sarria.
I’m considering this option so that I don’t start with the hard Pyrenees crossing / half crossing on day 1. Happy to hear others’ opinions on these 2 option plus other options for 5-7 days before SJPDP to compare accommodation availability elevation, beauty, solitude, weather etc.
Thanks in advance!
Of course, I’d forgotten Voie de NiveJust to add more to consider, you could just start walking to SJPDP from Bayonne on the Chemin Nive, following the river up the valley. It might not be as many km as you want, but it would be the simple solution to avoiding all that ground transportation hassle.
I think the most beautiful part of the LePuy is the early stages because of the lovely old market towns --as you approach St. Jean, it seems to be more large scale operations/agriculture. It's been a while since I did either one of them, but I remember that getting off the trail on the LePuy route to go down into villages to stay was often rocky and the hardest part. That said, I don't think that any of the routes you have mentioned are particularly difficult (compared to a backpacking trip), just a long and steady ascent/descent from St. Jean to Ronsavalles. And the stop at Orisson is a perfect way to be introduced to Camino life!Hi all, I am thinking of starting my first Camino Frances (June10 to July 8) by starting 5-7 days prior to SJPDP in France. I want to finish well before Sarria.
I’m considering this option so that I don’t start with the hard Pyrenees crossing / half crossing on day 1. Happy to hear others’ opinions on these 2 option plus other options for 5-7 days before SJPDP to compare accommodation availability elevation, beauty, solitude, weather etc.
Thanks in advance!
Happy to hear others’ opinions on these 2 option plus other options for 5-7 days before SJPDP to compare accommodation availability elevation, beauty, solitude, weather etc.
don’t start with the hard Pyrenees crossing / half crossing on day 1
Thanks for that, Tandem Graham- I'll look into your trip (via Dax).In 2018 I walked the Voie du Puy from Le Put to SJPdP. In 2019, I planned to walk the Camino Frances but, like you, I wanted to warm up my legs and get comfortable in my hiking kit before crossing the Pyrenees.
Rather than repeating part of my earlier Camino, flew to Bordeaux and took a train to Dax. Dax has a small unstaffed pilgrim halt with a kitchen and half a dozen beds (email ahead to arrange entry). I spent three wonderful days walking the 85km from there to SJPdP. Thoroughly recommend this undulating walk including a night in Sorde l'Abbaye, with its impressive history.
Easier to reach and not as far as Aire l'Adour. Definitely easier hiking and navigation than from Lourdes.
Thanks for the detailed suggestions-= I'll be sure to check these out. Thanks again.Regrettably, I only have a Cyclopic view of this part of the world, having only walked the GR65 from Le Puy.
Firstly, though, I do applaud your intention to get everything working (and/or shaken down) before starting out from Saint-Jean.
The route from Moissac to Saint-Jean (the second half of the GR65) has much less infrastructure of all sorts than before or after. In particular, gite d'etape (hostels). So, some of the stage distances could be challenging for a work-up phase. But they are what they are.
My suggestions are
Begin - Euaze: a lovely town, great gite d'etape (La Grange) and gite owner (Marie France)
20 km - Nogaro via Manciet
25 km - Air-sur-l'Adour
30 km - Arzacq-Arraziguet,
25 km - Arthez-de-Béarn
28 km - Navarrenx
26 km - Saint Palais (wish I had side-stepped to here)
30 km - Saint-Jean
I have looked at the website for La Grange at Eauze - it is alive. If a hosted dinner is available, do take it: you will be well rewarded with a bon-vivant hostess: I have no French, but the occasional miming filled the gap.
kia kaha (take care, be strong)
What is the name of the book? Book Depository is not longer operating.Great thread. Wife and I will be walking from Lourdes to SJPdP in late Aug then on to Santiago. I found this guide book from Lourdes to SJPdP. Its in French, so I have some google translating to do. https://www.bookdepository.com/Chem...term=Book_image&utm_content=order-details&utm
Thanks for pointing out that ‘book depository’ has closed. They were so useful .. I used to be able to get books shipped from uk to usa for a great price.What is the name of the book? Book Depository is not longer operating.
Can you tell me what route you took from Dax to SJPDP?In 2018 I walked the Voie du Puy from Le Put to SJPdP. In 2019, I planned to walk the Camino Frances but, like you, I wanted to warm up my legs and get comfortable in my hiking kit before crossing the Pyrenees.
Rather than repeating part of my earlier Camino, flew to Bordeaux and took a train to Dax. Dax has a small unstaffed pilgrim halt with a kitchen and half a dozen beds (email ahead to arrange entry). I spent three wonderful days walking the 85km from there to SJPdP. Thoroughly recommend this undulating walk including a night in Sorde l'Abbaye, with its impressive history.
Easier to reach and not as far as Aire l'Adour. Definitely easier hiking and navigation than from Lourdes.
The more I reflect on my last Camino, which ended SJPP to Lourdes, the more I think that Lourdes > Oloron-Sainte-Marie > Navarrenx > Saint-Palais > SJPP really is the best possible route from Lourdes -- it's a little bit longer, but it combines the best parts of the local Piémont, Le Puy, and even a short few hundred metres or so of the Vézelay routes into something less hikery but more pilgrimy.One possible option BTW is Lourdes > Oloron-Sainte-Marie, then from there switch to the Le Puy route at Navarrenx by walking down the valley. Doing so would avoid most of the above problems.
Dax to Sorde l'Abbaye. Sorde l'Abbaye to Saint Palais. Saint Palais via Oloron to SJPdP. It is more or less the final part of the Voie de Tours, one of the Camino tributaries which links with the Voie du Puy and the Voie de Vezelay at the Stelle Xibraltar just after Saint Palais.Can you tell me what route you took from Dax to SJPDP?
Thanks so much - great info, much appreciated.Dax to Sorde l'Abbaye. Sorde l'Abbaye to Saint Palais. Saint Palais via Oloron to SJPdP. It is more or less the final part of the Voie de Tours, one of the Camino tributaries which links with the Voie du Puy and the Voie de Vezelay at the Stelle Xibraltar just after Saint Palais.
There is a volunteer run Gite d'Etape a few hundred metres from Dax railway station - it's best to book it beforehand by email. There's a lovely albergue style Gite d'Etape in Sorde and a large and well used one in Saint Palais too, usually staffed by volunteers from the Netherlands.
I suppose Xibraltar is the actual start of the Camino Frances, though it's a lot more isolated than SJPdP.
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