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Starting in Pamiers , onto Lourdes and St. Jean Pied de Port

Thornley

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Frances x 2 , Norte x 2 , Le Puy x 3 , Portuguese x 2,
Mont St Michel , Primitivo .
Will be in Toulouse and have the chance of walking up to 4 weeks.

Does anyone know the path [ or GR ] from Pamiers westward ?
Has anyone walked from Narbonne / Carcassone towards the Pyrennes?

The train from Toulouse is one hour to Pamiers . Maybe there is a smaller town /village to start that has public transport from Toulouse ?

Any help appreciated as i think being on the Piemont Route could be incorrect.

Many thanks ,
David
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
David, we walked the Canal du Midi from Beziers to Carcasonne and kept going til we picked up the GR 653 (Camino de Arles) just before Toulouse and followed it to Marie Ste Oloron. I'm glad I saw the Canal Du Midi before all its wonderful trees are cut down (they are affected by a fungus) but in honesty 3 or 4 days would have been enough. We were constantly leaping aside for bicyclists and the flat path was actually harder on my physic than a few hills. I think the GR 653 would be a better walk. I was very pleased once we got out of Toulouse. The route from Toulouse (once past the suburbs) to Marie Ste Oloron and beyond is lovely and easy to follow.
There is a Miam Miam Dodo for the GR 653, definitely worth having.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Kanga, thanks for the last post,very, very appreciated .
We will head to St Blaise /Mauleon/St Just Ibarre after Oloron and end up in STJPDP.
Have a few friends there after all these years and get the train back to Toulouse before home.

Its just on 400km which will allow us to dawdle and take in the sights.
We will have an extra day in Biarritz .
I knew there was some good north of the murray :D
Thanks for the site, copied already.
David
 
Under the thread

From Narbonne-Plage to Puente la Reina (or Pamplona) ?
by FatmaG on 30 Nov 2011, 23:09

you can read my notes of the Voie du Piémont.

Bon chemin,
FatmaG
 
Just came back from a wonderful walk from Narbonne to Bayonne. Took the Sentier Cathare from Narbonne to Foix and then cut over to the Chemin du Piemont. Happy to supply more details but FatmaG's notes are excellent. One of the unexpected highlights of the walk was the last three days from STJPDP to Bayonne along the Voie de la Nive. Excellently waymarked, good accommodation, and beautiful scenery. Details can be found at: http://vppyr.free.fr/pages_transversale ... tp=accueil

Ultreia!
Sue
 
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sjagger said:
Just came back from a wonderful walk from Narbonne to Bayonne. Took the Sentier Cathare from Narbonne to Foix and then cut over to the Chemin du Piemont. Happy to supply more details but FatmaG's notes are excellent. One of the unexpected highlights of the walk was the last three days from STJPDP to Bayonne along the Voie de la Nive. Excellently waymarked, good accommodation, and beautiful scenery. Details can be found at: http://vppyr.free.fr/pages_transversale ... tp=accueil

Ultreia!
Sue
 
Kanga said:
sjagger said:
Just came back from a wonderful walk from Narbonne to Bayonne. Took the Sentier Cathare from Narbonne to Foix and then cut over to the Chemin du Piemont. Happy to supply more details but FatmaG's notes are excellent. One of the unexpected highlights of the walk was the last three days from STJPDP to Bayonne along the Voie de la Nive. Excellently waymarked, good accommodation, and beautiful scenery. Details can be found at: http://vppyr.free.fr/pages_transversale ... tp=accueil

Ultreia!
Sue
Sue I'm starting to look at options for next year and I like the sound of your walk. How difficult was it in terms of (a) walking (mountain climbing or gentle hills?) (b) accommodation and (c) human contact - other walkers?
 
Kanga said:
I'm glad I saw the Canal Du Midi before all its wonderful trees are cut down (they are affected by a fungus).
omg, they are cutting down all those beautiful trees! that is so sad!

more on the topic.

david:
I believe that in four weeks you can walk pretty much all vyppr from the mediterranean to sjpp. many towns along the way must have a direct train connection with toulouse (narbonne, carcassone) and some a direct bus connection. but vyppr is more difficult that voie d'arles in terms of terrain and constant up and down walking, not on the gentle hills. that's why it's also more beautiful, or beautiful in a different way.
kanga's suggestion for voir d'arles is a good one. the terrain is not as tough and you pass some really lovely towns. the little guide she suggested can also be bought in some tourist offices on vyppr for 3€ I believe.

sue:
mmm, brings back memories... where did you cut to vyppr from foix? directly to saint girons?

kanga:
the first day from narbonne to durban can be very tricky as I think it's not waymarked and the terrain is orientation-heavy. I bypassed it by going along golfe antique to Peyriac de mer and from there cut through to durban. there was still a tricky unmarked section, but a lot shorter.
sentier cathare is spectacular in every way. really recommended.
it does pass through some dry terrain with no water, supplies can be a bit thin on the ground (planning very necessary), and is constantly very up and down (much like vyppr) but the scenery and panorama more then make up for all the effort. the only tricky/dangerous/sporty section is a new section after peyrepertuse, but can be avoided.
the waymarking is good, the gites friendly (pays calling ahead). there is at least one gite per stage, often more.
in july 2012, when I was there, I met very few people doing the whole way and not that many day hikers. some huge groups of riders, though. probably because of the really hot summer. spring and autumn are the preffered seasons, I was told.
ign has published a 70.000 map with the whole sentier cathare on it and lots of useful info, very handy.
vyppr continues more or less in the same manner, but with more greenery (at least in high summer). the long tough section from bagneres-de-bigorre to lourdes can be avoided via a shorter route mostly on minor roads. recommended in bad weather.
 
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,-
Canal du Midi. All these beautiful trees are to be removed.
 

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Thornley said:
The train from Toulouse is one hour to Pamiers . Maybe there is a smaller town /village to start that has public transport from Toulouse ?

Yes -- and the local trains out of Toulouse are wonderful, so that you can simply turn up there, look at a map, and catch the right one. :arrow:
 
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,-
Kanga, thanks for the last post,very, very appreciated .
We will head to St Blaise /Mauleon/St Just Ibarre after Oloron and end up in STJPDP.
Have a few friends there after all these years and get the train back to Toulouse before home.

Its just on 400km which will allow us to dawdle and take in the sights.
We will have an extra day in Biarritz .
I knew there was some good north of the murray :D
Thanks for the site, copied already.
David
 
I am also inquiring about accommodations in Mauleon plan on starting there and making way to SJPDP want accommodations are there in Mauleon?
 
I am also inquiring about accommodations in Mauleon plan on starting there and making way to SJPDP want accommodations are there in Mauleon?

Nathanael,

Scan this handy tourist guide for Mauleon-Licharre. It is THE place in the Basque country to buy espadrilles , the local cotton shoes with rope soles. Humorously in the English version of the text these local shoes are called sneakers! The Chateau de Libarrenx in nearby Gotein-Libarrenx appears to offer inexpensive accommodation.

Happy planning,

Margaret Meredith
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.

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