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Pressed for time: suggestions for stages to skip between Cahors and Aire Sur L'Adour

ScottPilgrim

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2021
Hi, we are planning to walk from Le Puy en Velay to Roncevilles with some of our party continuing on to Santiago. Unfortunately we only have about 31 days to complete the Podiensis and I need to find a couple of days walking to cut after Cahors. I know it's not idea, but it cannot be helped, because we really do want to take the Rocamadour alternate, which makes things even tighter. Any suggestions anyone has both in terms of portions that they found less interesting or transport hacks to cut off a few days, I would be grateful for the advice. We will be walking in the summer heat fwiw.
 
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Hi Scott, this will probably not be very helpful to you, but my friends and I walked as far as Auvillar, before walking back to Mossiac the last day along the lovely canal to take the train. I had read that the last section of the Le Puy was more lackluster, but not sure if that is true or not. We had about 30ish days and we did take a day trip to Rocamadour, which was lovely and also included the Cele Variant; both not to be missed imo.
 
That's really booking it, especially in the heat of the summer and adding in walking to Rocamadour and then on to Roncesvalles. Personally, I would suggest waiting to figure it out until you get there and see what kind of progress you're actually making. There's no real need to decide that now. But having said that, most people find the stages leading into and out of Aire-sure-L'Adour less interesting because they are relatively flat and there's a fair amount of corn fields. You might skip, for example, the 3 Gronze.com stages (81 kilometers) from Condom to Aire, and / or the 3 stages (95 k.) from Aire to Navarrenx. Condom, Aire, and Navarrenx are all reasonably-sized towns, so there should be decent transportation options between them (Consult Rome2Rio for transport, or the Google maps public transport option). The baggage transport companies also will shuttle people from stage to stage. In that area, the best known one is Transport Claudine.

Bon chemin!
 
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Thank you, both. Andycohn these are good suggestions particularly in terms of finding transport. Thank you.
 
Hi Scott, we walked the Le Puy route in May/June 2019. We didn't walk to Rocamadour, but took the bus and stayed there one night, not to be missed! We also walked the Cele Variant and visited the Grottes (cave paintings), not to be missed!
Bon Chemin!
 
Hi Scott, we walked the Le Puy route in May/June 2019. We didn't walk to Rocamadour, but took the bus and stayed there one night, not to be missed! We also walked the Cele Variant and visited the Grottes (cave paintings), not to be missed!
Bon Chemin!
Where is the bus from and to? I didn't find one in may internet wanderings. Thank you!
 
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The bus is from Figeac, in the morning. Here's the note that I had about taking the train: can take the train from Figeac to Rocamador. but the train station is 3.5 miles (the train and bus station?). It's along an exposed road, you get a stunning view of Rocamadour on the way in. I believe the bus goes to the same station, so not a better option? early train to Rocamadour and the 5:58 train back.
My experience -- the train station in Figeac was damaged by fire and not operational when we were there in June 2019. But the bus terminal is where the train station is, a bit out of town (please do verify with the very helpful Tourist Office). The bus stop at a small town about an hour walk from Rocamadour, there was a trail but we couldn't find it so walk on the road. I would strongly recommend stay there for a night so you could see the place better with the tourists gone! The Le Puy camino is really beautiful with many "most beautiful villages"!
Bon Chemin!
 
I couldn't remember. I think it just runs between Figeac and a bit beyond Rocamadour. I just search the Rome2Rio, it lists train only, every 2 hours, for a 40 minutes ride, for example:
SNCF

07:22⇢07:56, TER 70150, 34m
SNCF

09:55⇢10:28, TER 70152, 33m

And more schedules, so please check it out the exact dates. And the Tourist Office is really very helpful. My French is not very good, so I asked them to book gites for me often!
 
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Thank you! Is it a local bus company?
The trains are definitely running again out of Figeac ... and have been for almost two years ... there is a temporary railway station there while the fire-ravaged building is repaired / rebuilt ... the stop for Rocamadour is called «Rocamadour-Padirac», a 40-minute journey ...

à propos stages to bypass or skip in the back half, I have to agree with Andy ... wait and see how you are faring ...

depending on how many kms you end up walking each day, you may find that it is not necessay to skip more than one stage at a time [and of course keeping in mind that there are no «defined» or legislated stages ... it is entirely up to you to decide how far to walk each day and what are your stopping points] ...

personally, I love the trails in the Béarn and Pays Basque, from Arzacq-Arraziguet through to Navarrenx and beyond, almost always in the company of the pyrenées and with some wonderful, pilgrim-friendly accommodations and trackside pit-stops along the Way ...

Transports Claudine can certainly help you out, to move you and your hiking buddies between staging points but must be reserved the day / evening before so that they can organise the appropriate vehicle ...

sometimes it might be necessary to take a taxi if Transports Claudine is not available because of their schedule and the amount of baggage they are carrying.

Shared between three or four souls this is not a prohibitive option and it can offer greater flexibility by collecting you from your overnight accommodation after breakfast and taking you directly to the starting point for the day’s stage.

Bon chemin‼️👣👣👣🙏🏽
 
There are often local buses with timetables that are hard to find, especially out of the area. In some places is possible to catch the school runs. The best place for that information are the local shops, or in the larger places a local tourist office.
 

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