Walking Geneva to Le Puy in May

[Sallyc]

A friend & I are planning to walk from Geneva to Le Puy starting in May. We have walked the Camino Frances & this route appeals because its less travelled & not as long. We would really appreciate any tips & experiences from others who have walked this way. We know we will be challenged by language- very basic French spoken by us only. We have the yellow guide book: Chemin de Saint-Jacques de Geneve au Puy en Velay, & will be relying on the maps & symbols in this as the French & German text is more or less incomprehensible to us! Any other information or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[newfydog]

We used this guide:

https://www.ffrandonnee.fr/boutique/topo-guide.aspx?ref=650

And this is my French teacher, with whom I chat with via video Skype:

http://www.french-in-aude.com/

Bon Chemin!

 

[gittiharre]

You can have a read of my blog. Walked this route in 2009 it was great..happy to answer any questions.

 

[Sallyc]

We used this guide:

https://www.ffrandonnee.fr/boutique/topo-guide.aspx?ref=650

And this is my French teacher, with whom I chat with via video Skype:

http://www.french-in-aude.com/

Bon Chemin!

Thanks Newfydog! The French teacher may come in handy!

 

[HeikeB]

Hi, I started on my own in 2012 from the Geneva train station after having walked about 1/3 of the St. James route from Pamplona, Spain. I walked that with a girl friend and felt very strong and thought I could do this part on my own to Le Puy. Wow, was I mistaken. I'm a woman, now 62, and in pretty good shape. I knew very little French then. It's not like Spain at all. There are Gites along the way, but you are better it you reserve with people that host pilgrims. You need to set those up at least one day before. The first night my German friend in Switzerland called the gite in Beaumont. There was only one in my guide. It took me a while to find the scallop shells in Geneva, but I finally found them based on my French guide. I did get lost but people were very helpful. Many knew English. However, it took me most of the day to get to Beaumont. The gite was great in that I met 4 women and ended up hiking the rest of my trip with one from the next day on. It was good that she knew French and had her own German guidebook.

I suggest you at least get Rick Steve's pocket French book and study some French so you can make phone calls and reserve places for the next day or two. That said, I found the hiking much more challenging with lots of rocks and steep hills. However, it was/is very beautiful country and I fell deeply in love with France. Because it is not traveled a lot, you need to be very careful of some of the difficult areas unless you are a very good hiker. I doubt if I could have done it without my new found companion. We became very close friends and will be meeting in Le Puy this summer to hike some more.

I hope that helps some.

 

[Sallyc]

You can have a read of my blog. Walked this route in 2009 it was great..happy to answer any questions.

Hi, I started on my own in 2012 from the Geneva train station after having walked about 1/3 of the St. James route from Pamplona, Spain. I walked that with a girl friend and felt very strong and thought I could do this part on my own to Le Puy. Wow, was I mistaken. I'm a woman, now 62, and in pretty good shape. I knew very little French then. It's not like Spain at all. There are Gites along the way, but you are better it you reserve with people that host pilgrims. You need to set those up at least one day before. The first night my German friend in Switzerland called the gite in Beaumont. There was only one in my guide. It took me a while to find the scallop shells in Geneva, but I finally found them based on my French guide. I did get lost but people were very helpful. Many knew English. However, it took me most of the day to get to Beaumont. The gite was great in that I met 4 women and ended up hiking the rest of my trip with one from the next day on. It was good that she knew French and had her own German guidebook.

I suggest you at least get Rick Steve's pocket French book and study some French so you can make phone calls and reserve places for the next day or two. That said, I found the hiking much more challenging with lots of rocks and steep hills. However, it was/is very beautiful country and I fell deeply in love with France. Because it is not traveled a lot, you need to be very careful of some of the difficult areas unless you are a very good hiker. I doubt if I could have done it without my new found companion. We became very close friends and will be meeting in Le Puy this summer to hike some more.

I hope that helps some.

Thanks Heike, thats very helpful. I will definitely concentrate on improving my basic French over the next few months.

 

[Sallyc]

You can have a read of my blog. Walked this route in 2009 it was great..happy to answer any questions.

Hi Gitti, Thanks for the offer & I would like to read your blog- where do I find the link to it please? How did you manage with the language?

 

[newfydog]

Thanks Newfydog! The French teacher may come in handy!

There is plenty of time, and while there are few things more miserable than language classes, I'm always SO glad I did them once I'm on the road. Every bit of language enriches your trip.

 

[SYates]

I can also recommend duolingo.com, free and fun. My best tip for this route would be to pay extra attention where/when shops are open. For example there was, in 2014, only one shop open on the first stage and no ATM directly on the route for several days. Bring Euro to cover those first days! Bon Chemin, SY

 

[gittiharre]

Hi Gitti, Thanks for the offer & I would like to read your blog- where do I find the link to it please? How did you manage with the language?

www.gittiharre.blogspot.com

 

[gittiharre]

Hi Gitti, Thanks for the offer & I would like to read your blog- where do I find the link to it please? How did you manage with the language?

www.gittiharre.blogspot.com
I speak French reasonably...

 

[Sallyc]

www.gittiharre.blogspot.com

Thank you Gitti, I look forward to reading it. Cheers Sally

 

[gittiharre]

T

Thank you Gitti, I look forward to reading it. Cheers Sally

My blog comes up with my current project by the way. I am cooking my way through the entire Rick Stein Venice to Istanbul cookbook. Another kind of camino I can do at home haha. On the right you see a column of dates. As you expand these you get the name of the routes I walked. The earlier accounts have a photo link to an album and I embedded the photos in later parts of the blog as I got better with technology.

 

[gittiharre]

Hi Gitti, Thanks for the offer & I would like to read your blog- where do I find the link to it please? How did you manage with the language?
]www.gittiharre.blogspot.com. For some reason I missed this before. Very sorry.

 

[Kitsambler]

Any other information or advice is greatly appreciated.

I walked the first half in July 2017, stopping at Le Grand Lemps which is where I will resume again in September 2018. Details are in my blog (see signature block below or directly at https://kitsambler.wordpress.com/). In short, it is much more French than the route through Switzerland and fewer pilgrims than from Le Puy onward. May is a popular season in France with several long weekends; advance reservations strongly recommended. I learned a little French with Duolingo and the Michel Thomas courses, and can navigate the French/German-language guides in a basic fashion.

 

[gittiharre]

Interesting reading Kit's account. Such different perspectives. I stayed predominantly in private homes Accueil St Jacques or gites communales and my budget was more 40 - 43 Euros or so max. Could have been a bit less, but I tended to give a 35 Euros minimum to accueil st Jacques hosts.
I also found the route very quiet and rural. For me 18 days Geneva to Le Puy worked well....no rest days.