Any advice would be appreciated

[PhoebeM]

Hello fellow pilgramers. I am hoping to walk part of the French Pilgram, starting in Le Puy and going as far as I can in approximately 2 weeks. I am planning on leaving from Le Puy on the 25th June and finishing on the 11th or 12th July. I previously have completed the Camino from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago with my mum which was an amazing experience.
I have been told that the Le Puy pilgrim is a little bit more difficult as you need to book accommodation in advance, there are not as many people that speak English and there is not one specific guide book containing maps, accommodation etc, like the John Brierley book.

Any information/help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am thinking that to alleviate some of my fears, that I will book the first 4-5 nights of the Camino, as I gather after that I will hopefully get the hang of things etc. I am fit and happy to walk long or relatively long days. I would so appreciate any suggestions of where to stay for the first 5 nights, especially in accommodation where it will be friendly and easy to meet people. Sadly I don’t speak French and unfortunately I can’t see myself picking up much before I begin the Camino, so probably places that are English friendly would be best

Also how far do you think I could within this time frame??
I am so excited to be on the road again and for all the adventures ahead
Thanking you in advance
Cheers
Phoebe

 

[futurefjp]

I'm doing the same route from last week in May for as long as I can afford to walk towards Santiago. I any advice at all would be gratefully recieved.:grin:

 

[robertt]

Guys, if you comb through this forum you'll find all your questions dealt with more than once. Take the time. It's worth it.

The Le Puy route is popular, so you'll have many others on the route. You can make friends from Day One, and with the right friends you can sort out most things.

It's a wonderful walk. You can learn about it from hundreds of entries on this very forum and from a number of blogs, including one which inspired me before I left:
http://chemincamino08.blogspot.com/

Bon chemin

Rob

 

[ashleygf]

I echo Robert's comments. Use the Forum to get some ideas .There will be enough bi lingual help to get you through. If you want , you can book the first couple of nights, but then go with the flow.
You will have a WONDERFUL time.

Serendipity ....

 

[Farmer John]

[qu.and there is not one specific guide book containing maps, accommodation etc, like the John Brierley book.

Salut Phoebe!

The Cicerone Guide by Alison Raju "The Way of St James" France, Le Puy to the Pyrenees is excellent. It lists all the gites d'etap and addresses and phone numbers as well as detailed walking instructions. I'm planning on using it when I go in May.

Bon Chemin,
Farmer John

 

[Kitsambler]

In two weeks you can reach Figeac (this includes a rest day to explore Conques). Possibly one or two stops further, depending on weather and your fitness, but Figeac has good transit connections.

I walked the route with Miam Miam Dodo, which includes all accommodations, recommended restaurants and necessary services for a kilometer on either side of the marked route. (The last version of Raju's book that I saw had very few lodgings listed - has this changed recently? I don't see how she could be including a comprehensive lodging list in her small book.) MMD also includes schematic route drawings at such a scale that one day's (for me) 15 km walk covers 3 map pages. So there is a lot of detail there. That, together with the waymarks, is quite sufficient.

There are several daily blogs (see the blog section immediately above) from those of us who have walked the Le Puy route the past few years. Lots of good info and details there.

 

[roncarlien]

We walked the entire route in Le Puy to SJPP,fall of 2011, an ideal time as it gets cooler the further you go. By all means obtain the Miam Miam DoDo guide. Available in Le Puy. Also we used the Alison Ragu guide "The Way of St James France" from Cicerone Guide series. I'd suggest taking both. We found it necessary to make reservation 3-4 days ahead. Tourist information Offices are located in many of the larger towns and are quite helpful, they will call for you to make reservations, they speak some english. A great planning tool can be found at http://www.godesalco.com/plan/podense. Check put that website as they have elevation maps that will give you an idea of the terrain. It is much steeper than the Spanish camino but we think the better of the 2. You should take a small french dictionary/phrase book to help. Many french speak some english but are shy about trying. You will meet many folks that will help you. There is a very steep trail from Rochegude to Monistrol D'Allier, if it is raining take the road. One Gite we did not stay in that we wish we had is called Domaine de Suauvage, if you can arrange your itinerary I'd suggest you stay there overnight. Learn about the open/close schedules for stores as you can get stuck with nothing open for supplies. Generally stores are closed all day Sunday and sometimes Saturday PM. Some places also close on Monday and some also on Wednesday PM. So inquire wherever you are staying about closed days for the following days you are on the trail. Often stores are closed around noon until 2-3pm so you have to carry lunch with you. In larger towns more stores are open in small villages there are more closed periods. We stayed for the most part in Gites that provided breakfast and dinner, but sometimes prepared our own. We used an older mobile phone and had an ipad and used that whenever there was an WIFI connection, Skype is cheaper than mobile phone connections. Lots of WIFI connection are available. You'll have a wonderful time and meet great people.

 

[PhoebeM]

Thank you all for your wealth of information, much appreciated.
I will make sure I have a better look at the forum, as I am sure all my questions are answered here

 

[Kanga]

We've walked the whole route and finished up just relying on Miam Miam Dodo for accommodation (when we walked in early spring we only needed to book from day to day). We used a smartphone with GPS and preloaded maps (so no phone or Internet connection necessary) for route finding - although the path is well signposted from time to time we went off route (eg to get to Sainte Cirq) . It's glorious and the infrastructure is excellent.