Questions about gîtes from Le Puy to Conques

[Felice]

My daughter and I are walking from Le Puy, starting 8 September. We have a couple of practical questions about gîtes. Your help will be much appreciated to assist us so that we take the things we need and not much else!

1. How to pay? Do they, in general, take credit cards, or is cash required? At an average of 40 euros a night, we're going to need a lot of cash if cards are not accepted.
2. If cards are taken, is there any preference between mastercard or visa or are both OK?
3. I gather that many gîtes make you leave your pack outside the sleeping room. Is it OK to just remove my inner dry bag en masse and take that in?
4. What bedding is usually provided? Undersheet plus pillow slip? Blanket? I'll be taking my silk liner anyway, but I like something between me and the mattress as I'm a very 'active' sleeper!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I returned three weeks ago from walking this route.
As I recall about half the gites accepted credit cards. I used a Visa card whever I could.
Again, I'd say about half the gites had you leave your pack outside the sleeping room. Most provided a plastic basket for your use, which I liked. You could easily place your interior bag in it if you wish.
All of the gites had nice cotton sheets, pillowcase and blankets. They always appeared very clean. I brought a sleeping liner in June and it seemed perfect.

You will enjoy this walk, difficult as it may seem at times!

 

[bokormen91]

Mum and I walked that section in May this year - and this is what we found:
1 - Payment is cash in the majority of cases, I'd say over 95%. Quite a few places on the section between Le Puy to Conques have ATM's, I walked with my mum, and we swapped between withdrawing 300 Euro every 2-3 days, depending on where we were.
2 - When you can pay with card it does not seem to matter between Visa/Mastercard
3 - I use pack cubes, and would just put these in the basket provided by the places we stayed at (I did spray both my pack, and the pack cubes with Clako on the first day - just in case... And kept the bottle and sprayed it on my trouser/shoes when we were walking through tall grass. Still got a tick bite, though, just below my elbow - first one ever!!!)
4 - We carried sleepliners, nothing else. We stayed in a mix of communal gites, private ones, chambre d'hote and hotels. There were blankets in all places, apart from a few places that had duvets/full bed sets

Bon Chemin
Margrete

Edit - after seeing Chris's reply... It probably does depend a lot on where one stays... We stayed in quite a few "smaller" places, not the "usual" stages in any of the guidebooks. Many of these were privately run, and the hosts cooked (fabulous, faboulous) dinners (often 3-5 courses with wine). Might be why we ended up having to use cash a lot of the time...

 

[Camino Chrissy]

We enjoyed many of those smaller places with wonderful food, too. We just chose to use a credit card whenever we could to avoid going through our cash as quickly.

 

[Kitsambler]

Europe, especially rural Europe, was much slower to adopt the credit card mentality (dare I say frenzy?) of us North Americans. Hence the preference for cash. The issue with cards, for the gite owners, is the fees charged by the card company, which really slices into the thin profit margins of mom-and-pop businesses. The issue with cards, for walkers, is the fee charged by the local (French) card company in addition to the fee (possibly) charged by your own card company: double fees are quite common.

So, for cash withdrawals from ATMs, make sure your bank knows you are travelling in Europe, and have them set you daily max at no lower than 300 Euros. For credit cards, make sure you know your own card issuer's foreign transaction fee (and choose a card with no foreign transaction fees if possible).

 

[Camino Chrissy]

All good points, Kitsambler. I use Charles Schwab debit card for cash and my credit card does not charge me foreign transaction fees. Also, people should always ask the proprieters to charge the card in Euros, not US dollars.

 

[Ellerine]

My daughter and I are walking from Le Puy, starting 8 September.

Hi Felice,

I’ll be leaving Le Puy the day after you, walking to Conques over 10 days. Good luck and maybe we’ll meet along the way!

Ellie

 

[Felice]

Actually, 8th September is the day we leave home. We’re having a day in Le Puy first, and don’t start walking until the Monday. So you will be ahead of us, and we are very unlikely to catch you up as we will be walking at a snail’s pace to begin with!

 

[Ellerine]

we are very unlikely to catch you up as we will be walking at a snail’s pace to begin with!

Ah, well you never know!

 

[Felice]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I'll work on the assumption that it will be much like Spain when it comes to paying - cash is king. I had rather expected that to be the case, but had hoped I could use plastic now and then as you can in Spain.

In Spain, I have always used a Santander bank debit card as they do not charge fees at an ATM. For France, I have found out that Metro Bank gives fee free cash withdrawals whilst the Halifax clarity credit card is also fee free. I am currently investigating a Revolut card, but that only allows 200 Euros of cash withdrawal, though it is supposed to be cheaper when it comes to using as a credit card.

At least the days of cashing travellers cheques are long since gone!

 

[The_Moo]

Personal cheques have all but disappeared in the UK. I was amazed to see them still in use in France.

 

[Lleslie]

We walked Le Puy to SJPP late May thru June this year and still think of it everyday since being back We stayed mostly in gites and they were excellent, some of the food restaurant standard. We took cash, taking out €300 euro at a time. Most gites in the first few weeks took bedbug precautions, providing baskets/plastic tubs in which to put your belongings which worked well, one had us airing our sleeping bags in the sun for 30min before allowing it inside and another insisted I spray it with a fine crushed shell powder that apparantly shreds the bedbugs shells! Another put our packs in a plastic bag, sprayed into it with a bug spray then sealed the bag shut. The Abbeye in Conques provides plastic bags to put your pack in then you take it to your bunk room. Interestingly as we got further towards SJPP nobody seemed to worry about bedbugs and we took our packs to our rooms! No, we didn't get bed bugs Bon Chemin

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@Lleslie, I walked Le Puy to Auvillar the month of June and usually were given baskets at the gites to ut our belongings in and at the Abbey in Conque a plastic bag. Beyond that, I never had to deal with all the odd things you experienced as bedbug precautions. I already spray my pack and sleeping liner with Permathrin...I'm glad I didn't happen to stay at those places you described!

 

[Lleslie]

Hi Camino Chris, yes, we did find some of the methods a bit amusing Actually these were amongst the best places we stayed being purpose built buildings or annexes to older buildings. Really thought the quality of most of the gites we stayed at was outstanding. We stayed at the gite communal in Auvillar, great place Did you stay there? and from memory we took our packs to our rooms. Neither of us spray our packs, liners or sleeping bags.

 

[Susan Maria]

I use a Revolut cash and foreign currency card which works well. You can move cash in and out from your normal bank account using your phone and convert it to other currencies whenever you have an internet connection. The exchange rates are the best you get anywhere. Once I have euros on it, I use the card itself at an ATM, or pay with it at those few places that take cards. What's left at the end of the trip either stays there until the next trip or gets moved back into my bank account. Recommended.

 

[Susan Maria]

I'm in the UK...don't know if it's available in USA.

 

[AnnieG]

I returned three weeks ago from walking this route.
As I recall about half the gites accepted credit cards. I used a Visa card whever I could.
Again, I'd say about half the gites had you leave your pack outside the sleeping room. Most provided a plastic basket for your use, which I liked. You could easily place your interior bag in it if you wish.
All of the gites had nice cotton sheets, pillowcase and blankets. They always appeared very clean. I brought a sleeping liner in June and it seemed perfect.

You will enjoy this walk, difficult as it may seem at times!

 

[AnnieG]

Hi, do you have to post, or is there somewhere I could get a complete list of the stages, from Le Puy and where to stay? Thank you

 

[Ellerine]

Hi @AnnieG

I’m planning to go as far as Conques and found this guide on the Le Puy tourist office website which has stages and accommodation as far as Figeac. It’s in French but most of the information you need is in lists so it’s pretty easy to understand.

https://www.lepuyenvelay-tourisme.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ot-st-jacques2018_br.pdf

Another resource is https://godesalco.com/camino/podense but I haven’t used this.

Cheers,

Ellie.

 

[Lleslie]

Hi AnnieG we used the Miam Miam DoDo guide book, it is in french but has an up to date list of accommodation with phone numbers, email, and languages spoken. We also had the Lightfoot Guide to the Via Podiensis by Angelynn Meya (it is in english) that has accommodation options in it as well ( I got it from one of the online book stores). These books have suggested stages but we worked out our own on the distances we were comfortable with and the availibility of accommodation. We did book our first ten days before we left due to the transhumance festival and long weekend public holiday in late May but after that only booked a day or two in advance.

 

[Lleslie]

Also just googled accommodation list for GR65 and sacramentopilgrims.com has a comprehensive list with distances

 

[AnnieG]

Hi @AnnieG

I’m planning to go as far as Conques and found this guide on the Le Puy tourist office website which has stages and accommodation as far as Figeac. It’s in French but most of the information you need is in lists so it’s pretty easy to understand.

https://www.lepuyenvelay-tourisme.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ot-st-jacques2018_br.pdf

Another resource is https://godesalco.com/camino/podense but I haven’t used this.

Cheers,

Ellie.

Thank you Ellie. Thats great. I have looked at the second one but found that some stages were different. Eg. it has different places listed. I am planning on doing up to Condom maybe.. I do want to walk fro 3 weeks at least, this time.

 

[AnnieG]

Also just googled accommodation list for GR65 and sacramentopilgrims.com has a comprehensive list with distances

thank you so much.

 

[AnnieG]

Hi AnnieG
Thank you for your response. yes I will get that book at the Le Puy cathedral book shop for sure as many have recommended that.

 

[Ellerine]

Thank you Ellie. Thats great. I have looked at the second one but found that some stages were different.

Ah, I haven’t used that second link but know it exists. I’m not sure how updated that info is, the Le Puy brochure is for 2018 so should be current. Sounds like others have given you some good leads.

I’m setting off from Le Puy on 9 September but only doing 10 days’ walking. Keep us posted of your progress - good luck!

E

Updated to add: @AnnieG see also https://www.gr-infos.com/gr65e.htm

 

[Estelle Marais]

My daughter and I are walking from Le Puy, starting 8 September. We have a couple of practical questions about gîtes. Your help will be much appreciated to assist us so that we take the things we need and not much else!

1. How to pay? Do they, in general, take credit cards, or is cash required? At an average of 40 euros a night, we're going to need a lot of cash if cards are not accepted.
2. If cards are taken, is there any preference between mastercard or visa or are both OK?
3. I gather that many gîtes make you leave your pack outside the sleeping room. Is it OK to just remove my inner dry bag en masse and take that in?
4. What bedding is usually provided? Undersheet plus pillow slip? Blanket? I'll be taking my silk liner anyway, but I like something between me and the mattress as I'm a very 'active' sleeper!

 

[Estelle Marais]

I I just came back from walking le Puy. on arrival there in the Cathederal please buy the Miam Dodo guide. Very helpful. All the gites and routes in there. You need to pre book from Le Puy to conques. Very busy and mostly all the gites full. the rest to St jean is ok. Most gites take credit cares, but the rest prefer cash. Small gites. Sleeping cost is 17 E. Supper 14 - 17 E and breafast 6 E. Breakfast only coffee and bread and jams. I suggest you buy a yoghurt the previous day for breakfast just to start or eat some nuts. there is quite a lot of coffee shops where you can have a better breakfast on the way.

Estelle