billmclaughlin
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- SJPP/Burgos 2012; Le Puy/SJPP 2013; Aumont Aubrac/Aire sur l'Adour 2014; Burgos/Santiago 2016.
I found Dave's trip report useful a few months back (http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/trip-report-june-july-2013.20013/) so I thought I'd do one of my own.
I started in Le Puy on September 12 and ended in SJPP on October 12, following the GR 65 most of the way with an occasional variant. I took two days off, one in Figeac that allowed me to take the train to Rocamadour for an afternoon of tourism and another in Cahors because the Indian summer heat wave that pushed temperatures up to 29F/84C was really wearing me out.
Quite by accident while at dinner in Saint Alban sur Lamignole, I learned that two friends I hiked with in Spain in 2012 were a short way ahead of me on this route. After considering how I might lengthen my étapes to catch up with them, I decided it really wasn't possible and took a taxi about 30 km between Nasbinals and St. Côme d'Olt. Our rendezvous that night in Estaing was an unbelievable moment, but I'll have to go back someday since I missed some extraordinary terrain and scenery.
I carried the print version of Miam Miamo Dodo and had the electronic version on my iPhone as well. I also had the Michelin maps in their publication #161. Michelin is good for seeing what's in store without having to do the endless page-flipping and arithmetic that MMDD's illegible printed maps require, while MMDD was indispensable for accommodations. Having MMDD on the phone meant I never had to enter a phone number! I read Alison Raju's book on my iPhone as well, generally just skimming the sections for what I planned to cover in the next next day or so to get an idea of the terrain or a possible variant or site worth visiting.
I hoped to do the Célé route but found it impossible to get a reservation for my first night even when I tried varying the length of my opening étape. I only spoke to a few people who did that route and all had made reservations well in advance. I have no way of knowing how typical my experience was, perhaps just luck of the draw. Another reason to return.
The waymaking was terrific throughout. I went astray about half a dozen times and when I found my way back saw the marking I had missed. GPS and the MMDD route on the phone provided backup as well.
My favorite gites were Papillon Vert in Cahors, Trigodina near Hospitalet where I slept in a tent and thoroughly enjoyed the privacy, Lestos outside of Montcuq (despite the decidedly unpleasant man of the house), Chez Le Saint Jacques in Auvillar, and Ferme Bohoteguia in Aroue hosted by the incomparable Simone. I generally made a reservation one day in advance, occasionally just a few hours ahead. It wasn't necessary, but it worked for me.
Most of my fellow hikers were French and spoke only French. The proportions changed after Moissac, when we became more international, but the French were still a solid majority. I loved this, since I speak some French and my language skills grew quickly over the course of a month's immersion in the language. I met a few people who were doing this route without any French at all and they were managing, but it's a very different experience. Accommodations were well booked if not completely so for the first two-thirds of the chemin until the crowd thinned somewhat after Moissac.
My special thanks go to the clerk in Boutique Hal't Pèlerin in Espalion who helped me select a new pair of hiking boots after my old ones came apart, and to Dr. Eugène Salado, the dentist in Lectoure who made me his last appointment at 7:30 pm on a Wednesday. Lifesavers both!
I spent a few hours in SJPP at the end to say goodbye to friends who were spending the night there or hiking on, then caught the train to Bayonne where I treated myself to a serious seafood dinner after a month with no fish but a few tuna-stuffed hard boiled eggs. Then I took a day of R&R in St. Jean de Luz, a seaside resort near the Spanish border that I think has a reputation for elegance and expense but proved very congenial on a Sunday afternoon with a 20-person band of guitarists playing dance music in the town square at noon.
And thanks to all whose posts here helped me work out my plans for this trip. Next: the Arles route, I think. One Frenchman who has done one camino or another every year for 15 years told me I must!
Bill
I started in Le Puy on September 12 and ended in SJPP on October 12, following the GR 65 most of the way with an occasional variant. I took two days off, one in Figeac that allowed me to take the train to Rocamadour for an afternoon of tourism and another in Cahors because the Indian summer heat wave that pushed temperatures up to 29F/84C was really wearing me out.
Quite by accident while at dinner in Saint Alban sur Lamignole, I learned that two friends I hiked with in Spain in 2012 were a short way ahead of me on this route. After considering how I might lengthen my étapes to catch up with them, I decided it really wasn't possible and took a taxi about 30 km between Nasbinals and St. Côme d'Olt. Our rendezvous that night in Estaing was an unbelievable moment, but I'll have to go back someday since I missed some extraordinary terrain and scenery.
I carried the print version of Miam Miamo Dodo and had the electronic version on my iPhone as well. I also had the Michelin maps in their publication #161. Michelin is good for seeing what's in store without having to do the endless page-flipping and arithmetic that MMDD's illegible printed maps require, while MMDD was indispensable for accommodations. Having MMDD on the phone meant I never had to enter a phone number! I read Alison Raju's book on my iPhone as well, generally just skimming the sections for what I planned to cover in the next next day or so to get an idea of the terrain or a possible variant or site worth visiting.
I hoped to do the Célé route but found it impossible to get a reservation for my first night even when I tried varying the length of my opening étape. I only spoke to a few people who did that route and all had made reservations well in advance. I have no way of knowing how typical my experience was, perhaps just luck of the draw. Another reason to return.
The waymaking was terrific throughout. I went astray about half a dozen times and when I found my way back saw the marking I had missed. GPS and the MMDD route on the phone provided backup as well.
My favorite gites were Papillon Vert in Cahors, Trigodina near Hospitalet where I slept in a tent and thoroughly enjoyed the privacy, Lestos outside of Montcuq (despite the decidedly unpleasant man of the house), Chez Le Saint Jacques in Auvillar, and Ferme Bohoteguia in Aroue hosted by the incomparable Simone. I generally made a reservation one day in advance, occasionally just a few hours ahead. It wasn't necessary, but it worked for me.
Most of my fellow hikers were French and spoke only French. The proportions changed after Moissac, when we became more international, but the French were still a solid majority. I loved this, since I speak some French and my language skills grew quickly over the course of a month's immersion in the language. I met a few people who were doing this route without any French at all and they were managing, but it's a very different experience. Accommodations were well booked if not completely so for the first two-thirds of the chemin until the crowd thinned somewhat after Moissac.
My special thanks go to the clerk in Boutique Hal't Pèlerin in Espalion who helped me select a new pair of hiking boots after my old ones came apart, and to Dr. Eugène Salado, the dentist in Lectoure who made me his last appointment at 7:30 pm on a Wednesday. Lifesavers both!
I spent a few hours in SJPP at the end to say goodbye to friends who were spending the night there or hiking on, then caught the train to Bayonne where I treated myself to a serious seafood dinner after a month with no fish but a few tuna-stuffed hard boiled eggs. Then I took a day of R&R in St. Jean de Luz, a seaside resort near the Spanish border that I think has a reputation for elegance and expense but proved very congenial on a Sunday afternoon with a 20-person band of guitarists playing dance music in the town square at noon.
And thanks to all whose posts here helped me work out my plans for this trip. Next: the Arles route, I think. One Frenchman who has done one camino or another every year for 15 years told me I must!
Bill
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