Vezelay Route--What a Mess!

[newfydog]

I spent the day perusing all the different options for the Vezelay route. I have the old yellow Voie Historique guide by the Chassains, as well as the new GR 654 guides just put out by the FFRP. For good measure, I ordered the LePere guide from Amazon.fr. I then put together various google earth tracks which supposedly follow one of those routes, and looked at the route on the IGN topo maps and found that they are about a dozen routes claiming to be The Way in that part of the world.

We'll be mountain biking the route starting in mid-May. I have no idea what route we'll follow, but I guess I'll dump a number of these tracks into the GPS on my handlebars and take whatever looks nice. I wonder what the marking on the trails will indicate.

I have heard that the voie historique has too much pavement, while the FFRP GR654 ignores history and does various stupid convolutions, just to avoid pavement. We don't mind paved roads as they go by quickly and painlessly on a bike, but we really love to get off the beaten path.

Any suggestions are welcome. Meanwhile, my google earth picture is looking pretty busy with options.

 

[AJ]

I used the Chassain guide in 2010. It was still being updated at that time and the route was mostly well marked. The maps are excellent though rather old. It was not a popular route then and it passes through mostly forest and small villages, frequently with neither shop nor bar. You will see more deer than people. I met a Dutchman in Gargilesse who had been following the GR. He ended up accompanying me , preferring Chassain.

Good Luck!

If you want my "as walked" itinerary, PM your email.

 

[newfydog]

I enjoyed the description in the Chassain guide of the other routes: " The route presented in this guide differs from other suggested "Vezelay routes", some of them bizarre and barely credible"

 

[jdpiguet]

I walked the route with the "yellow Chassin book" in 2007.
It was mostly small roads, forests or country side ways.
Some parts were really isolated and it was necessary to do some planning 2-3 days in advance in order to ensure a bed or the food.
But it was a really nice time, with a lot of nice hosts.

I had a look last year to the actual information available on the web: it's not easy to find out.
I found that most of the path is still the same as what I've done, the differences are in "les Landes" due to the construction of the A65 highway.

If you need more info, I have all the GPS tracks.

Buen Camino, Jacques-D.

 

[ParistoCapeCod]

Hi, we are moving to the Vezelay route to open a gite in Sauveterre-de-Bearn. Do you have the topo guide http://www.ffrandonnee.fr/boutique/topo-guide.aspx?ref=6542?

 

[newfydog]

Yep, got the FFRP guides. I like those guides, but I think I'm leaning toward the the Voie Historique rather than the GR. It looks like we'll come through Sauveterre, so maybe we can stop by for some cape cod steamer clams.

The trail from Namur to Vezelay look interesting, but won't fit into this years' schedule.

 

[jdpiguet]

Very few information is available in english.
If you need help translating from french, PM me!

Buen Camino,
Jacques-D.

 

[Harington]

The Voie Historique is now extremely well way-marked, especially in Limousin-Périgord where the Amis check all the waymarks three times a year. I was told, when I was a hospitalière in Sorges last September that Miam-Mian-Dodo is about to publish a guide based on the old Chassain route and info - with maps, I gather.

 

[scruffy1]

Use them both and create your own Chemin! Quite fun actually and both are well marked. The GR is indeed far too convoluted the asphalt met on the Chassain route is country lanes and side roads. The sections mentioned "très humide" in rainy weather means mud up to your sitting down place-do be careful! Do not rely on the lodging recommendations of the Chassain guide-terribly out of date since many are no long operating. Otherwise it is a lovely Chemin, very pastoral and very yellow! The yellow fields are not mustard but a plant called colza in French - rapeweed in English producing the seeds required for canola oil. Canola? Canadian oil low acidity much better name than rapeseed oil for sure!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Yeah, the French GR routes can be extremely convoluted locally -- there are legal reasons for this.

But sometimes they can even bypass a village, and IMO that's just stupid.

A map is essential when hiking/cycling in France, with fine enough detail that the smallest départementale D roads will be depicted. Then plan each morning's and each afternoon's journey accordingly ; avoid pointless detours by following little country lanes ; but avoid traffic and tarmac by making those detours instead.

There's no hard and fast rule for every local situation -- the trick is to be adaptive, and to look at the surrounding terrain more than at the maps.

 

[OssieMate]

I used the Chassain guide in 2010. It was still being updated at that time and the route was mostly well marked. The maps are excellent though rather old. It was not a popular route then and it passes through mostly forest and small villages, frequently with neither shop nor bar. You will see more deer than people. I met a Dutchman in Gargilesse who had been following the GR. He ended up accompanying me , preferring Chassain.

Good Luck!

If you want my "as walked" itinerary, PM your email.

Hi AJ,

would I be able to get your 'as walked' itinerary as I am about to start panning the Vezelay route for 2017. My email address is:

EDITED by moderator to remove email address.

Have a great New Year

Kind regards,

Ralph
Melbourne Australia

 

[AJ]

Ralph,

Send me the address via PM