Best towns/villages/cities for rest days on Le Puy route

[MM HILL]

i am planning to take 2 or 3 rest days along the route. Looking for recommendations on which villages/towns/cities to take the rest days. If I only take 2 days, where would you recommend? If I take 3 days off, where would you recommend? Many thanks!

 

[gavin01]

There are 3 great towns you'll pass through - Figeac, Cahors and Moissac. If you stop anywhere smaller you won't have enough to keep you occupied. I spent 2 days in Moissac during their music festival and had a great time. I suggest you look at the municipal calendars and see if there are any fun fetes/events that you can join in on.

 

[jsalt]

I’ve found that I can’t plan rest days; they just happen. It depends on the weather, who I’m with, how far I walked that day . . . All the main towns on the Puy route have certain attractions (well, most of them), so you could stop off anywhere, or not at all. Sorry, I’m not helping much am I? I stopped for 2 nights in Figeac and Moissac. I could probably quite happily spend 2 nights in Conques too, just to sit there and marvel at it. Jill

 

[MM HILL]

There are 3 great towns you'll pass through - Figeac, Cahors and Moissac. If you stop anywhere smaller you won't have enough to keep you occupied. I spent 2 days in Moissac during their music festival and had a great time. I suggest you look at the municipal calendars and see if there are any fun fetes/events that you can join in on.

Thanks Gavin01. Between Cahors and Moissac, if you can only pick one, which one would you choose and why?

 

[Davey Boyd]

I'm not really into the big towns. Figeac, Cahors, Moissac, Conques meant nothing to me. Too big, too touristy and too inpersonal. I prefer meeting the locals. My best rest days were in Aubrac, Livinhac le Haut and Estaing, there are other small towns/villages just as good.

If you do stay in Moissac stay at the wonderful Gite Ultreia run by the beautiful Irish couple Rom and Aideen Bates , both pilgrims with a warm welcome and much knowledge and wisdom they will pass on to you. And the food they serve is glorious! A truly pilgrim experience on The Way. And check out the singing nuns in the church too!

Bon Chemin!

 

[billmclaughlin]

A jour de repos in Figeac: I took the train to Rocamadour. It was a great day off the trail at an extraordinary site.

I'm not a big fan of Cahors, though I whiled away a day there once recovering from hiking on a very hot day. I wrote postcards, dined very well, enjoyed the covered market.

Once when traveling by train in France, I missed my after-lunch train and had to spend a few hours relaxing. I strolled along the canal, found good benches to read some Balzac, and found some ice cream.

Choosing among them? the weather and your feet are the best guides.

 

[Canucks]

Check out the beaux villages......they are on the list for a reason. Conques was nice, Lectoure was good, Moissac, and aire sur ladour were some that we spent rest days in.....also partially because of where they were on the route and the timing for rest.

 

[mla1]

Loved Lectoure!

 

[AlwynWellington]

Lauzerte just before Moissac. Not much to do but chill out in the town square.

At Moissac you may also consider La Petite Lumiere next to the statue of Our Lady. Also a lovely place to chill out and watch the world go by. And go to watch the comings and goings of the (massive) European cruising boats and the operation of the locks on the Two Seas Canal.

Then, further along, consider Eauze with its museum that shows, inter alia, that women from Roman times liked bling as much as modern women do.

However, in my view, the Le Puy chemin does not have anything approachin Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos and Leon, all found after Saint-Jean.

 

[mla1]

Once I start walking, I find it hard to stop for a day....So my rest days are very short stages followed by lazy afternoons. I had a fabulous one in Lauzerte, staying in the Gite Les Figuiers (one of my favourite gites). Arrive early. Leave your pack by the gite and go have a long fabulous lunch. Back to the gite to check in (and because it was a rest day - I had reserved a single room) and rest! Beautiful village, great gite.
For me the best 'rest day' would be in a village big enough to have a couple of coffee and eating options, and a boulangerie, but small enough not to make me feel like I should be doing significant sightseeing. A single room is nice but not necessary.
Montcuq, Lauzerte, Lectoure, Auvillar, Le Romieu.
And then there are the VERY lazy afternoons at the gites in the countryside - no village, just the gite. I had a very nice afternoon with some other pelerins at Gite Maison Labarbe in Lanne-Soubiran. The house was for sale last year so I am not sure if the gite is still open.
Another gite that would be very good for a partial rest day would be the gite in Saint-Antoine just after Auvillar. Very small village. Gite has a great garden. There is a good restaurant.
One of the differences I noticed between the Le Puy route last year and the VDLP this year -- many more chances in France to stay in a place outside of a village or town - in gites on farms or just in houses in the countryside.
ml

 

[billmclaughlin]

However, in my view, the Le Puy chemin does not have anything approaching Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos and Leon, all found after Saint-Jean.

"anything approaching" is ironically the problem. You pay for the glories of those cities with the trek in and out.

I'd add to the afternoon-off towns above Montréal du Gers for lunch under the arcade on the square. Look for a wine-tasting in little Pimbo. Conques has obvious attractions plus chaussons aux pruneaux, and Cajarc has options too.

 

[Kitsambler]

Conques and Moissac for sure, for their historic abbey churches. Figeac, Cahors, Lectoure, Aire sur l"ardor (which always sounds like "Ursula Door" to me) and SJPP are all quite similar in their value if not appearance, being largish towns with many services, large markets, and numerous restaurants. Do plan an extra night at SJPP to decompress from your pilgrimage before transitioning to the stress of contemporary life.

 

[SYates]

My favourite rest day on the Le Puy route was in Concques, especially the evening was magical after all the tourist buses left. Bon Chemin, SY

 

[Thornley]

i am planning to take 2 or 3 rest days along the route. Looking for recommendations on which villages/towns/cities to take the rest days. If I only take 2 days, where would you recommend? If I take 3 days off, where would you recommend? Many thanks!

Figeac on market day.
Then i would stop earlier than normal when approaching an interesting , [ most mentioned prior ] cities, villages or towns .
We always stop by lunch time , 1pm , and take in the sights.
Lane - way eateries for the locals and pick the best restaurant for lunch.

Then walk the extra distances and find the beautiful gites in the country side where food , pool [ summer] and gardens are a plenty.
Its not a walk where you hurry , its 1000% different than CF.
We have returned 3 times and stayed in places we missed the previous years because of preconceived ideas where to stay.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

i am planning to take 2 or 3 rest days along the route. Looking for recommendations on which villages/towns/cities to take the rest days. If I only take 2 days, where would you recommend? If I take 3 days off, where would you recommend? Many thanks!

Cahors was my favourite place along the route. Perhaps due to the festival "La fête de la musique", or something, the same day. (As someone pointed out: look in a calendar for these events in different towns.) And it wasn't a commercial thing with hoards of tourists, just local people and bands playing in the streets more or less spontaneously.

In fact, as someone pointed out above, there are no big cities like Burgos or Pamplona on the Le Puy route. Le Puy en Velay, where you start, is the largest city, after that comes only smaller ones until you reach Spain!

/BP