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Promoting the Camino Aragones

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Normally, how many more or less days does it take compared to CF to Puente la Reina? Is the route harder?
 
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I would love to find out. It is YOUR Camino. I had a friend who wanted to go with me, and I told them that I didn't know. Don't limit your time, you will miss more than you will ever know !
 
Normally, how many more or less days does it take compared to CF to Puente la Reina? Is the route harder?

It took me 7 days to walk from Somport to Puenta la Reina (5 from Jaca) but I did not take the detour to the monastery (which I will the next time I walk the CA). The route is hilly but not hard imo, the walk from S Jean to Roncesvaller is harder than anything you get on the Aragones.

It is a mystery to me as well why there are so few people walking the Aragones, and a shame that this means some albergues find it hard to survive.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Hi,
I will start the Aragones at Somport Pass on the 8th April and i am hoping to meet some other pilgrims on the way.

Buen Camino Judy.
 
I'm wondering about flying from London to Biarritz, train Biarritz to Pau, then walking Pau to Somport and the Aragones. Has any one done it this way? Any thoughts on guides to the stages please? Especially Pau to Somport? Thanks
 
Any thoughts on guides to the stages please? Especially Pau to Somport?

The Voie d'Arles passes through Lescar, on the metropolitan area of Pau. For info about the Voie d'Arles:

http://viatolosana.free.fr/vt_accueil.php
http://pelerins-compostelle.com/pelerinage-compostelle-chemin-arles-etape-itineraire
www.aucoeurduchemin.org
www.chemins-compostelle.com/itineraires/6/la-voie-d-arles

From Somport till Puente la Reina, you can find info at:

www.gronze.com/camino-aragones
www.mundicamino.com/los-caminos/20/camino-aragones
http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/frances (the stages you are looking for are the 6 quoted as por Somport)

The Confraternity of St. James has a guide in English covering all the way from Arles to Puente la Reina published in 2011. For more info: www.csj.org.uk/planning-your-pilgrimage/csj-guides-and-updates
 
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Many thanks Castilian. I'll look at those now. The Gronze one after Somport is very detailed and helpful. I'm very taken with the idea of doing the Aragones it sounds really good.
 
Many thanks Castilian. I'll look at those now. The Gronze one after Somport is very detailed and helpful. I'm very taken with the idea of doing the Aragones it sounds really good.

@Pierre Julian :
I shall be walking the Camino Aragones in September, beginning at Oloron Ste Marie on the Voie d'Arles, walking to Somport and on from there through the Camino Aragones to Puenta la Reina and on to Santiago. I am flying into Pau and taking the train to Oloron Ste Marie, as the description of the walk from there up the valley of the Gave d'Aspe appeals to me as an entry into the Pyrenees. I have the guidebook of the Confraternity of St James and have consulted gronze.com. It looks to me like a very rewarding walk and I am sure that I shall appreciate the variety of mountain scenery. I hope to meet other pilgrims en route.
 
@Pierre Julian :
I shall be walking the Camino Aragones in September, beginning at Oloron Ste Marie on the Voie d'Arles, walking to Somport and on from there through the Camino Aragones to Puenta la Reina and on to Santiago. I am flying into Pau and taking the train to Oloron Ste Marie, as the description of the walk from there up the valley of the Gave d'Aspe appeals to me as an entry into the Pyrenees. I have the guidebook of the Confraternity of St James and have consulted gronze.com. It looks to me like a very rewarding walk and I am sure that I shall appreciate the variety of mountain scenery. I hope to meet other pilgrims en route.

Hi, Albertagirl, I don't know the French part of the Aragones, but from Somport to Puente la Reina is really something. Great albergues (don't miss Arres), lovely paths. I don't know if you are planning to take a detour to San Juan de la Pena after Jaca, but if you are a fan of ancient cloisters, it's a must-see place. Lucky lucky you!
 
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We walked Toulouse to Marie Ste Oloron - so through Lescar on the outskirts of Pau. It is very straightforward and enjoyable. The only guide we used was Miam Miam Dodo for the Arles route.
 
Thanks everyone for your answers and encouragement. I've never done any Camino walking in France and am wondering about accommodation in the stop overs. I'm going from Lescar, stopping at Lacommande, Oloron, Sarrance, Borse and Somport, as these seem reasonable lengths to walk. Does anyone know if there are albergue-type places in these towns? Or where I could find accommodation information please?
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Hi, Albertagirl, I don't know the French part of the Aragones, but from Somport to Puente la Reina is really something. Great albergues (don't miss Arres), lovely paths. I don't know if you are planning to take a detour to San Juan de la Pena after Jaca, but if you are a fan of ancient cloisters, it's a must-see place. Lucky lucky you!
@peregrina2000
It seems to me that I have seen a comment somewhere in this forum about particular effects of the light visible to those who visit San Juan de la Pena on the spring or fall solstice. Could you supply any information or a reference for that? As I am starting in Oloron Ste Marie on September 15 and taking the walk up into the Pyrenees easy at first, it seems probable that I shall be somewhere in the vicinity of San Juan de la Pena on the autumn solstice. Thanks to you or anyone who knows more about this.
 
@peregrina2000
It seems to me that I have seen a comment somewhere in this forum about particular effects of the light visible to those who visit San Juan de la Pena on the spring or fall solstice. Could you supply any information or a reference for that? As I am starting in Oloron Ste Marie on September 15 and taking the walk up into the Pyrenees easy at first, it seems probable that I shall be somewhere in the vicinity of San Juan de la Pena on the autumn solstice. Thanks to you or anyone who knows more about this.

Albertagirl,

I am unfamiliar with any association of San Juan de la Pena monastery with the solstice.
However an extraordinary association/event does exist during the solstice at San Juan Ortega monastery on the CF.

Located east of Burgos within the forest of the Montes de Oca the monastery is named for Saint John of the Nettles, a follower of Santo Domingo de la Calzada and like him a builder of roads, bridges and hospices for pilgrims. San Juan is buried here in the Romanesque monastery church within a splendid Gothic mausoleum.

However there is more. Marvelous Romanesque capitals top the lofty columns. One four-sided capital is truly EXTRAORDINARY. As described by Dom Millan Bravo Lozano in his Practical Guide to Pilgrims , "..showing the Annunciation, Visitation, Joseph's Dream, and Christ's Nativity. Each equinox(21March and 22nd September) at precisely 5pm solar time, a single shaft of sunlight strikes this capital, illuminating it alone in the surrounding gloom and causing the marvelous illusion that the Holy Ghost is alighting on Mary's belly. Miracle or artifice, it is clear that this is no ordinary place."

If you are nearby San Juan Ortega don't miss the illumination!

Margaret Meredith
 
Last edited:
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Albertagirl,

I am unfamiliar with any association of San Juan de la Pena monastery with the solstice.
However an extraordinary association/event does exist during the solstice at San Juan Ortega monastery on the CF.

Located east of Burgos within the forest of the Montes de Oca the monastery is named for Saint John of the Nettles, a follower of Santo Domingo de la Calzada and like him a builder of roads, bridges and hospices for pilgrims. San Juan is buried here in the Romanesque monastery church within a splendid Gothic mausoleum.

However there is more. Marvelous Romanesque capitals top the lofty columns. One four-sided capital is truly EXTRAORDINARY. As described by Dom Millan Bravo Lozano in his Practical Guide to Pilgrims , "..showing the Annunciation, Visitation, Joseph's Dream, and Christ's Nativity. Each equinox(21March and 22nd September) at precisely 5pm solar time, a single shaft of sunlight strikes this capital, illuminating it alone in the surrounding gloom and causing the marvelous illusion that the Holy Ghost is alighting on Mary's belly. Miracle or artifice, it is clear that this is no ordinary place."

If you are nearby San Juan Ortega don't miss the illumination!

Margaret Meredith
@mspath
Thank you. I think that my memory has supplied me with the wrong monastery of San Juan. Unlike St Teresa of Avila, I have not yet mastered bilocation, so I expect that my presence at San Juan de la Pena this September solstice will prevent my being at San Juan de Ortega. I stopped for a break there on my Camino Frances last fall, but was not tempted to stay. Another time, I might make a point of seeing the church. As a large crane was doing something very noisy in the vicinity of the church when I passed through, I thought it best to move on. It is fascinating to think that astronomical information was precise enough in the days of the building of the church at San Juan de Ortega to plan for this revelatory light show. Thanks again for the information.
Mary Louise Mitchell
 
Hello again. Does anyone know if it is possible to get a Camino passport in Bordeaux or Pau please? Just realised that the CSJ here in London is closed until Thursday and I go on Wednesday. Thanks.
 

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