Wifi

[TravellingSonn]

Hi all,

Curious to know what the wifi connections are like along the Le Puy route?

Buen camino
Sonia

 

[grayland]

First and very important is that it is pronounced "wee fee" in France and Spain. Anything else will get you a blank stare.

I don't think I saw a internet cafe anywhere along the LePuy route earlier this year, so they must be few.

Using a smart phone or iPad is more likely to get you connected. Many bars and restaurants have "wee fee" available to connect to if you ask. They usually will give you a password.

Some gites have a computer and may let you use it. I did not find this common.

 

[Tukeram]

Keep in mind all pilgrims who have smart phones eg iPhone etc:
Check out VIBER
As long as you and the person you are calling anywhere in the world has WiFi you can text or talk for free.
Currently my daughter is working in India and I reside in Australia so using VIBER we can text or talk for free.
FREE means she uses free WiFi in her hotel and I use my home WiFi. Cost is minimal.
Voice is often a little like using a walki talki as if one person interrupts another it cuts them off but you soon learn to hold on till the other person has finished before adding your own.

Hope this helps some of you guys

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I just re-walked the section of the Le Puy route as far as Conques, and had my iPod Touch with me. I didn't find wifi very often on this section. I got in the habit of writing blog posts via e-mail and they would all just sit in my outbox until I reached wifi- then whoooooshhhhh a whole heap of them were sent at once. One place I was able to send them from was when I ate at the cafe attached to some yurts at Rieutort d'Aubrac. By contrast, in Spain on the sections of the Camino Frances that I re-walked, I easily found wifi most days.
Margaret

 

[KatWanderlust]

Hi Sonia,

As mentioned above WiFi is not as readily available in France as in Spain, especially the 1-2 weeks from Le Puy. From memory (I walked in 2010) there is a little more access after Conques but it was every few days at best.

Keep an eye out for the WiFi logo on the windows of bars, cafes, restaurants and quite often little grocery stores. It can be tucked away so look hard! I also found the local stores in little villages sometimes had a computer setup for the public to use, or try the Tourist Office.

Other than that not a lot of Internet Cafes along the Way, and many of the refuges back then weren't setup with computers for Pilgrims like in Spain. However if you're desperate and ask nicely I was often able to use the office computer at the gite to let Mum know my father and I were still alive :wink:

Buen Camino!

 

[MywaySA]

I cycled the le Puy route in June this year and could connect most days. Whenever we stopped for coffee or so I first asked for WiFi (pronounced wee fee as somebody mentioned). I had an iPhone and it was possible to use facetime to phone home to South Africa - it worked very well

Free WiFi at eg MacDonalds was not very effective and slow. I found the WiFi ar cafe's where they give you a password much better. I also posted to facebook and my kids could then follow my progress and I remember very few instances where I couldn't connect.

With cycling though you cover more grounf so probably went through bad patches without realizing it

 

[Stellamaris]

I just come back from the Le Puy route (still on jet lag! ) to Zubiri (Spain) and I found out that i could have Wifi very often in the gites and often in café so I could connect with my Ipad.
Bonne route
S

 

[TravellingSonn]

Fabulous! Thanks all for your input, especially the pronunciation of wifi. Wee fee sounds very cute.