Starting from Le Puy day after Ascension Day

[Luka]

In May I hope to continue my camino from Paray-le-Monial. It seems that I will arrive in Le Puy exactly on Ascension Day. This means that my first walking day on the Le Puy route would be on Friday after Ascension Day. I expect many French walkers starting their holiday or a long weekend off then. Any experience on this? Could it be better to set out from Le Puy one or two days later?

 

[nellpilgrim]

Completely off topic sorry but I have the fondest memories of Paray-le-Monial a lovely Romanesque church with or least it did have, if memory serves me right (it was over 35 years ago!), a pretty funky ecclesiastical jukebox you put your money in and picked your hymn of choice! Years later I came upon an old photo of my Grandmother on her parish pilgrimage (Glenflesk in South Kerry Ireland) in a long open topped coach outside the church at Paray-le Monial in 1913-it was intriguing to think of us crossing pilgrim paths so to speak.

 

[SYates]

... This means that my first walking day on the Le Puy route would be on Friday after Ascension Day. I expect many French walkers starting their holiday or a long weekend off then. Any experience on this? Could it be better to set out from Le Puy one or two days later?

Simple answer - Yes! Buen Camino! SY

 

[Scott Sweeney]

Then perhaps our paths will cross.

 

[MichaelC]

I'm looking forward to following your experiences! I'm also looking at an Ascension weekend departure from Le Puy in 2016, which would give 80 days to reach Santiago a few days before the Feast of St. James.

For those that have done this: is it a crowded but manageable weekend to start, or is so busy that it becomes a hassle?

 

[Thornley]

In May I hope to continue my camino from Paray-le-Monial. It seems that I will arrive in Le Puy exactly on Ascension Day. This means that my first walking day on the Le Puy route would be on Friday after Ascension Day. I expect many French walkers starting their holiday or a long weekend off then. Any experience on this? Could it be better to set out from Le Puy one or two days later?

Some would have organised walks from the wednesday Luka.
Go early or start sunday , a short day and staying in gite with food provided.
They love their Holy days more than the unions like the RDO's

 

[KiwiNomad06]

The French won't just celebrate Ascension Day- they will turn it into a long weekend. In fact some of them will take advantage of the two long weekends they get with Pentecost coming up the following weekend- the Monday after Pentecost Sunday is a public holiday- to go walking for a ten day stretch. It might just mean you have to be a bit more organised with accommodation than you want to be, but it should still be possible. Leaving on the Saturday or Sunday might get you a little out of sync with the bulk of walkers.
Margaret

 

[ranthr]

In Condom everything was closed after 2 pm on Ascension day. Do not know if it is the same in Le Puy but be aware if you need to buy anything.

 

[Luka]

@nellpilgrim wonderful story! You mean this church?

 

[Luka]

Thanks all! @KiwiNomad06 that is exactly what I was thinking. That the French might combine certain holidays. There is Friday 8 May (end of WW 2), Thursday 14 May (Ascension Day) and Monday 25 May (Pentecost). All kind of combinations possible, but it seems logical that the busiest starting days from Le Puy will be:

Friday 8 - Sunday 10 May
Thursday 14 - Saturday 16 May

I hope that if I somehow try to avoid to arrive around those days in Le Puy I will be behind or before the 'bubble'. And yes, I am aware of the chance that shops will be closed. That is a bit of a nuisance anyway in French villages ;-)

 

[SYates]

... All kind of combinations possible, but it seems logical that the busiest starting days from Le Puy will be:

Friday 8 - Sunday 10 May
Thursday 14 - Saturday 16 May

I hope that if I somehow try to avoid to arrive around those days in Le Puy I will be behind or before the 'bubble'.

Yes, starting before or after this bubble sounds like a VERY SANE PLAN to me! Buen Camino, SY

 

[Luka]

OK, then I will try to arrive Tuesday 12 May in Le Puy or Saturday 16 May. On my way to Le Puy this means squeezing a bit or relaxing a bit more.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

My guess is that the French will be on the trail by May 7 and 8 (many fewer on the 9th), so Sunday and Monday will also be good starting dates. They all will have reservations, so you should have them, too. Bon chemin.

 

[Luka]

Thanks falcon, I know I have to make reservations anyhow. Why do you think the French will start on May 7 and 8? And not for example on May 14 and 15, combining Ascension Day and Pentecost?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

not for example on May 14 and 15

They will! You proposed the 16th as a good date, and I agree. I have been on the Le Puy route in May, and every weekend seems to be a holiday. The somewhat work-averse French take an extra day or two around holidays, but far fewer will bridge two holidays, and those seem to be doing several weeks. Everything is busy, so selecting a departure date that avoids the big rush will not mean everyone has disappeared. Just plan on chambres and hotels more often.

 

[Luka]

Thanks again! If the French tend to add an extra day or two before or after the holiday weekends, then leaving Le Puy on Sunday the 17th seems indeed a better option than Wednesday the 13th. This means I have to organize a delay of two days on my way to Le Puy. And yes, there will still be many other walkers and I will still need to make reservations, but I assume it will help me to avoid the biggest bubble.

 

[nellpilgrim]

@nellpilgrim wonderful story! You mean this church?

Yes that's the one Luka! There was, and still is, a great devotion to the Sacred Heart in South Kerry and my Grandmother and Grandaunts were it seems as adventurous as they were devout! The touring bus she went in was a sort of convertible coach with a roof that folded down in sections-a pretty swanky way to travel! My Aunt just informed me that she has my Grandmothers Rosary beads which she was told were brought back from Paray-le-monial by her mother. So now she's going to give them to take on my next pilgrimage which is awfully sweet of her.

 

[Luka]

Yes, I have made up my mind. From Paray-le-Monial I will take the GR3 instead of the Voie Boléne / Voile César. This will make the stretch from Paray-le-Monial to Le Puy one day longer (and a lot more mountaineous, but I like that). This means arriving in Le Puy on Friday after Ascension Day. That night I will just find out how busy the albergue is. If many French hikers, I'll spend an extra day in Le Puy and start out on Sunday. If not, I'll walk out of Le Puy on Saturday.

 

[Kitsambler]

You definitely don't want to get caught in a bubble, as the bubble travels along, filling up the lodgings, in the succeeding days. So these bubbles start on the leading edge of long weekends, and Saturday/Sunday of normal weeks. I would think Monday thru Wednesday after Ascension would work for you. The Ascension-weekend starters will be ahead of you, and the Pentecost-weekend starters will be behind you.

 

[mla1]

Falcon and others - for a Saturday 8th May start date would walking a shorter or longer day help get put of the "bubble"?
ml

 

[KiwiNomad06]

May 8th is another May public holiday in France ;-) Victory in Europe Day. Margaret

 

[mla1]

I am envious of their holidays! I made a typo in the post above -- I have been thinking not about May 8th, which is Friday, but about Saturday May 9th. Hopefully the long weekend walkers would start on the Thursday or Friday and maybe fewer on the Saturday....

 

[Luka]

@mla1 I am only guessing, but taking into account that Friday May 8th and Thursday May 14th are public holidays in France, I would expect there will still be a bubble on Saturday May 9th...

@Kitsambler I think you are right, but this would mean that (apart from the detour I am already considering) I would have to spend 3 or 4 nights in Le Puy waiting. I actually hope that French hikers in the Ascension weekend or combining Ascension and Pentecost will for the biggest part start walking on Friday after Ascension.

The thing with May is that there are just too many French holidays to combine... I'll take into account I'll have to make reservations and will probably try (like mla suggested) to walk more unusual stages.

 

[SYates]

@Luka , also bear in mind that, no matter how much and careful you plan, reality on such a long pilgrimage might be quite different. Meaning you might actually reach le Puy well before or after Ascension Day! SY

 

[Luka]

@SYates of course, que sera et cetera ;-)
The thing is, I am starting my pilgrimage about 250 kms from Le Puy, in a part of France where there aren't albergues every 5 to 10 km or so. This means it is pretty easy to predict when I will arrive in Le Puy (under normal circumstances). A day earlier or later soit, but well before or after Ascension, then I should either take a bus or get sick on the first 10 days...

 

[Luka]

Second thoughts... I found another possibility: a scedule that would let me arrive in Le Puy on Tuesday (12 May) before Ascension, which would make me walk out of Le Puy on Wednesday before Ascension. Should be before the crowds.

 

[Kitsambler]

Should be before the crowds.

Not a bad plan, as long as you keep going and book a bed those first four nights out of Le Puy. The "pack" will be hard on your heels!

 

[Luka]

Actually that might be another advantage of being ahead of the pack instead of behind. I have walked the first two stages out of Le Puy before, in 2012. Then as a 'dessert' after two weeks of walking. The others were walking their first days. I noticed I walked faster than most of the others and actually didn't quite understand why everyone had a bit of a hard time with the climbs and descents. It wasn't half as mountaineous as my stages into Le Puy. This time again when I arrive in Le Puy I'll have walked already 200 kms or so on the pretty mountaineous GR3. As the 'pack' will walk their first kms out of Le Puy, I might walk a bit faster than most of them and make the 'gap' a bit bigger.

 

[lovingkindness]

Happy trails, Luka, all the best....

 

[Luka]

Wow, I just started to make reservations... 3 whole months in advance...

Just for the weekend of Ascension. I don't like the idea, but I have become a bit scared of the French hurds ;-) The thing is, none of the gite owners I contacted reacted surprised. None of them asked something like: are you sure about the date? Or: will you inform me if your plans change? One of them wrote me I had the last bed in the auberge... This was for the night of Ascension itself.

Of course the chance that I'll have to cancel them all because of change of plans is huge, but this was the least I could try. For the weekend of Pentecost I'll just let go. Then I'll be on the way for almost 3 weeks, and probably more in a 'the way provides' state of mind and more prepared to sleep in a haystack ;-)