My husband and I did this in spring of 2018. The trail from Montpellier to Castres is fairly difficult. Be sure you understand the altitude gain and loss. Some parts are steep and very rocky. It’s a beautiful trail, but quite remote. Some trail finding skills are a plus. The villages between stops will not likely have food, and usually not water. Weekends and holidays will close down everything in the village, so you really need to be prepared with food. We never went hungry, but sometimes were srambling to get day end bakery goods before they closed, or get to a store to buy supplies. I think every village that has accommodation has a restaurant.
Castres makes a great rest stop, and after Castres the trail becomes easier. It’s better on resources, but still thin on the ground. Just before Revel, you come to a beautiful and quaint village called Soreze. It’s well-worth a half-day stop at the monastery to see the Musee Dom Robert. You can look him up. He created absolutely incredible tapestries, based on natural subjects. At least look on line to see if something you’d be interested in viewing. Soreze has stores and restaurants too. We loved the Arles for it’s natural beauty and solitude, but before reaching Somport Pass we saw very few pilgrims. Crossing the Pyrenees (4,000’ climb) was a steady climb and seemed easy after negotiating the ups and downs of the previous trail.
The Spanish side is a completely different environment, in terms of nature. Whereas France is wet and green, Spain is dry and adobe, Some parts reminded me of the badlands. The villages are ancient and picturesque. They will be empty, and not have much food, but there are small albergues and they usually supply meals. Be sure to stop at the haunting ruined monastery at Eunate. We weren’t allowed to stay there, but spent a couple hours just enjoying the peace.
We ended at Puente de la Reina. This camino is one of the most beautiful for it’s ancient, unchanged villages and natural surroundings that I’ve been on.