The good, the bad and the ugly!

[fortview]

A beautiful route ( the parts we walked ) ! More a " walkers" route , than a pilgrimage, and mostly French walkers. Loved the compost toilets, and picnic spots.
Stayed in some great Gite's, very clean, with fantastic four course meals. The demi-pension option is brilliant.

Good idea to stock up when you see a shop, as there is little or nothing between stages. Empty villages, mostly closed shops if it's lunchtime or between Friday and Tuesday. It helps to have some cheese, chocolate , sardines and fruit, and maybe a couple of pieces of bread saved from breakfast.

The ugly part is that we managed to be attacked by bed bugs twice. ( And no, it wasn't through taking them with us!). I'm naming and shaming the Hotel Moussier in Saugues, having been informed by the wonderful people at the Domaine de Sauvages, that everyone who stays there gets bitten. We should have taken a good look at the mattress etc, but didn't. Big mistake. I got badly bitten, and killed one of the bed bugs to show the owner, but she wasn't around. I had a very bad reaction, and had so much inflammation that there were red tracks going up my veins. I was on the point of going to a doctor, but some antihistamine tablets from a helpful hospitalera did the trick.

The next time was at the Gite Communal in Conques, and was even worse. We phoned ahead to our next booked Gite, and they said we couldn't stay there as they were unable to help us. We ended up renting a small apartment for three days so we could treat all our stuff, and taking extreme precautions not to affect the apartment . We managed to buy several aerosol cans of Pouxit from the pharmacy, which contains Permethrim, and spray everything that couldn't be washed on a high heat.

We are home now, with some lovely memories and photos of a gorgeous, but troubled Chemin, and wish a Bon Chemin, to those yet to walk.

 

[Glenshiro]

I stayed in the Hotel Moussier in Saugues in 2012 and remember texting my wife that its classification was somewhere between "Basic" and "Grim."

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi fortview, wow, so sorry to hear about the problem. I am glad that your reaction, though extreme, didn't cause a medical emergency!

But your mention of Saugues brought back such wonderful memories from when I walked from LePuy almost 15 (GASP) years ago! We stayed here https://www.logishotels.com/fr/hotel/hotel-la-terrasse-2558?partid=661
I remember a wonderful meal, and most of all remember how the waiter/owner rolled over a cheese cart at the end of dinner. At least 25 different cheeses, each one with a little hand written sign explaining which local farm it was from. I have often thought of that cheese cart!

 

[Theatregal]

Ohhh my dear friends - 2 attacks? Horrible. Happy to hear of your good experiences and memories though and hope all is well now that you're safely home. Maybe you'll post some of your lovely photos?

 

[fortview]

I stayed in the Hotel Moussier in Saugues in 2012 and remember texting my wife that its classification was somewhere between "Basic" and "Grim."

Sounds about right!

 

[fortview]

Ohhh my dear friends - 2 attacks? Horrible. Happy to hear of your good experiences and memories though and hope all is well now that you're safely home. Maybe you'll post some of your lovely photos?

Thank you dear Theatregal! To think that I didn't believe bed bugs existed when we walked five years ago! As usual, all our stuff is in the shed awaiting the freezer treatment, although I think we're clear of them now. If I can work out how to, I will post some photos !

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I'm heading to walk the LePuy route in June. I just received my guidebook in the mail and have already made notations to avoid these two establishments. I love writing notes in the guidebooks' margins as I do research and gather information on this forum.

 

[fortview]

I'm heading to walk the LePuy route in June. I just received my guidebook in the mail and have already made notations to avoid these two establishments. I love writing notes in the guidebooks' margins as I do research and gather information on this forum.

You are in for a treat! Bon Chemin, and happy researching!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I'm heading to walk the LePuy route in June. I just received my guidebook in the mail and have already made notations to avoid these two establishments.

I hope the bed bugs stay put...

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I hope the bed bugs stay put...

I know! That's definately a concern for sure! I will be spraying my "stuff" with Permathrin, as usual.

 

[Magnara]

I'm heading to walk the LePuy route in June. I just received my guidebook in the mail and have already made notations to avoid these two establishments. I love writing notes in the guidebooks' margins as I do research and gather information on this forum.

We stayed at the gite communal in Conques. The lovely ladies on the desk said, with an apologetic little smile, "We are very full, but we can fit you in - if you are willing to sleep in a dorm with 15 teenagers from a school group." I had visions of midnight feasts happening, and lots of giggly noise all night. But instead it was very sweet - when we walked in the room sounded like a tree full of birds, and then a bit later one very politely said to me, "May we please turn out the light now?" And then there was silence. Gorgeous (and no bed bugs.)

 

[fortview]

We stayed at the gite communal in Conques. The lovely ladies on the desk said, with an apologetic little smile, "We are very full, but we can fit you in - if you are willing to sleep in a dorm with 15 teenagers from a school group." I had visions of midnight feasts happening, and lots of giggly noise all night. But instead it was very sweet - when we walked in the room sounded like a tree full of birds, and then a bit later one very politely said to me, "May we please turn out the light now?" And then there was silence. Gorgeous (and no bed bugs.)

What a lovely story.
There is no one on the desk now. You put the money in an honesty box. It feels very delapidated. The worst part, for me ( apart from the bed bugs) , is that the toilets are down some steps outside across the courtyard, and it was raining! There is a sweet kitchen area up some other steps, but no shops open in Conques, so nothing to cook! All in all a rather Dickensian experience!

 

[galliano]

Hi fortview, wow, so sorry to hear about the problem. I am glad that your reaction, though extreme, didn't cause a medical emergency!

But your mention of Saugues brought back such wonderful memories from when I walked from LePuy almost 15 (GASP) years ago! We stayed here https://www.logishotels.com/fr/hotel/hotel-la-terrasse-2558?partid=661
I remember a wonderful meal, and most of all remember how the waiter/owner rolled over a cheese cart at the end of dinner. At least 25 different cheeses, each one with a little hand written sign explaining which local farm it was from. I have often thought of that cheese cart!

And here is that "cheese cart" in all it's glory. What to choose? Photo taken in september 2007.

 

[peregrina2000]

Oh, how wonderful! I see that the only difference is that they went from handwritten notes to something that looks computer generated, but I can see that there are still indications that the cheese came from the ferme of Madame s0-and-so. I had often wished I had taken a picture, thanks so much for sharing it galliano!

 

[Moominmamma]

I'm heading to walk the LePuy route in June. I just received my guidebook in the mail and have already made notations to avoid these two establishments. I love writing notes in the guidebooks' margins as I do research and gather information on this forum.

We're walking it in July for 2 weeks and although I haven't got the guidebook yet I'll note this down! Fingers crossed you have a trouble-free trip. Le Puy is lovely, and we're hoping to have at least a day there before we start this time (we arrived there this summer as we're doing this camino in stages owing to work and family).

 

[Thornley]

s. Empty villages, mostly closed shops if it's lunchtime or between Friday and Tuesday

Between Le Puy and Conques i dispute this very much

 

[Kitsambler]

If you are walking in July, be aware that the school holidays will commence around 7 July and run on through August.

 

[caminka]

gite d'etape cummunal in conques had the same bedbug problems last year. I learned this from gite d'etape communal in livinhac, a day further on, where they asked everyone where they slept the day before, and immediately treated everyone who stayed in communal in conques. the deteriorated conditions were though to be because the gite now operated on an honesty box, so noone is really there to check the pilgrims and walkers in, explain the rules etc. I do hope they clean it!

I stayed in the monastery gite, a wonderful experience. highly recommended. they guard 10 beds for pilgrims with no reservations that are available on the first-come-first-get basis. all other beds (something over 80) are reservable.

I was bitten in gite d'etape in durfort-lacapellete. I left the note in their guest book, with all dead bedbugs on display. (I spent the night on a small plastic stool in the shower as there were bedbugs hiding in the padded bench in the living area, too.) I left very early, called the gite ultreia in moissac, the irish owners were wondereful, and it was all sorted out without trouble.

what pleasantly surprised me was a call from the owner of the gite in durfort-lacapellete, who called to thank me for the warning, saying he didn't know of bedbugs. he has closed the gite for a couple of days for for a thorough cleaning and disinfecting.

 

[sharon w]

The monastery in Conques is an excellent place to stay. There are dormitory rooms and also smaller rooms. We were travelling in a group of 3 and had a room for 3. Very reasonable price for Demi pension.