Trip Report: June/July 2013

[Dave]

Hi everyone,

I just made it back to the US after two months of Camino-ing. I started in Le Puy, followed the GR 65 to St. Jean, then turned right and followed the GR 10 to Irun. Once there, I was joined by a group of my students and we followed the Camino del Norte until transitioning to the Primitivo. After Santiago, we continued on to Muxia and Finisterre.

I was on the GR 65 from June 20 - July 8. Some observations follow...

• As this was the beginning of a long walk, I was trying to avoid taking on hard copies of guidebooks. As such, I didn't get a copy of MMD and instead used the kindle version of Alison Raju's book. It's older than I would like (the info is from 2009), but it generally served me well. The distances were badly off for the section before Aire-sur-l'Adour, but otherwise I didn't notice any major problems. (It's worth noting that I was not following it closely, though, so I may have missed other route changes.) Few gites and facilities noted in the book have closed, though obviously many others have opened. There are many copies of MMD floating around the route, though, so I looked at it frequently. The two books are quite complementary--MMD is great for the visual overview of the route and summary of facilities; Alison offers a lot of specific advice on the route. Here's hoping that the latter gets an update soon.
• It's worth noting that the waymarking is excellent. I needed the guidebooks primarily to a) make decisions when the route split, b) plan food stops, and c) select gites
• Some of my favorite gites were: La Tsabone in Monistrol, Charazac in Pasturat, Ultreia in Moissac, and Halte Pelerin in Lectoure.
• I took the Cele River route. I don't know what the other route is like over this stretch, but I have a hard time imagining that it is superior. The Cele river valley is stunning, especially the section between Marcilhac and Pasturat. It's worth noting that Raju's book doesn't help a lot with this option. I rejoined the main route in Cahors--I wouldn't want to miss it.
• I've seen some people ask which section could be cut if you were short on time. I enjoyed the whole walk, but if I had to cut one part, it would be the last section, from around Condom to perhaps 50km before St Jean. Lots of flat, agricultural zones here.
• The abbey in Conques was quite polarizing. Most stay there, but many grumbled about the abbey's approach to fighting bedbugs--they require you to place your pack in a plastic bag filled with "natural" insecticide. It smells pretty terrible and inevitably gets all over your hands.
  
• This may be the best route I've walked in terms of church access. The vast majority of churches I tried to enter were open--and it's my understanding that many of them are actually unlocked at all hours. Romanesque lovers in particular should walk this route.
• After reading a lot of posts in this forum, I booked most of my beds in advance. This was probably overkill for June, with one exception. I think it was wise for the first section, from Le Puy to Conques. After that, the traffic dropped dramatically.

Overall, I loved the walk. Those making it should bear in mind that the vast majority of other pilgrims are French, but many will speak at least a little English. Nonetheless, I certainly felt more isolated here than I did in Spain, where I speak passable Spanish. Some dinners were very lively, with people making a great effort to include me. On others... I got to focus more fully on the food.

Thanks again to all for the advice offered in this forum. It led me in a lot of good directions and even the excess reservations allowed me to focus more on the walking and less on beds. I really enjoyed the walk.

Dave

 

[billmclaughlin]

Dave,

Thanks for this report. It confirms most of what I've managed to figure out, reminds me to keep working on my passable French, and delights me as a devotee of Romanesque. I was also wondering about what to skip if I run short of time, so thanks for that suggestion. I'm setting out from Le Puy on Thursday September 12 and will book the first 4 nights to get through the weekend, and then just see what's needed. I'm generally a fast walker, which helps avoid bed anxiety, but if others are making reservations then I figure I'll need to too.

I'm also planning on the Célé variant. Did you stray off it at Bouziès to visit highly touted Saint-Cirq-Lapopie?

Bill

 

[Dave]

Missed it! I turned right in Bouziès and generally followed the river towards Pasturat and then on to Cahors.

If you're flexible and comfortable going farther, you should have no trouble with beds. If there's a specific place that you want to sleep, it's worth reserving. But, if you're more open, there are plenty of gites out there.

Dave