Nearly two weeks on from start at vezelay, here are some of my impressions so far.
It's a walk in rural France, at its best, with very generous and welcoming people. It's quiet in terms of other persons walking, so far only two french medical students walking over one week. The holiday period(august) has, I think made acomodation options more in demand. I read that some hostels and refuges were closed as they were being used by Ukrainian refugees. I haven't experienced this, but then I am staying in a range of accommodations. Accueil pelerin a domicile, in municipal refuges, chambre d'hote, hotels, chalets at camping grounds and gite d'etape's. Many require booking the day before or arranging to pick up the key from the Mairie, if you have limited french language like me, using the phone can be problematic. But I manage and with help from the person I am calling, I am often successful and at the same time improving my language skills. Because of the high daytime temperatures I try and start walking early. But nothing over 35 degrees so far and is likely to be less as I progress. As I said this walk is thru rural France, forests, rivers, lakes small villages and incredible churches. There has been some road walking, that I could have avoided if I had known about before hand. I am using the voie de vezelay download plus a paper guide. Finally, no dog problems, great regional foods and wines, generous people, beautiful days and more to come.
From Gargilesse