Deviation towards Lourdes from GR65

[KiwiNomad06]

I receive a (free) e-mailed French language newsletter about all things Camino/Chemin, 'Les Zoreilles du Chemin'. In the latest issue there is a snippet about a new route that connects with Lourdes from the GR65 (Le Puy route) and also from the Arles route. (Please PM me if you would like the extract in French.)

I don't guarantee the accuracy of my translation, but as far as I can work out the facts are these:-

-You can download the maps for these routes in pdf form from http://www.chemindecompostelle.com/variantelourdes/index.html from January. (They are not quite available yet,)

1) You can leave the GR65 at Lectoure (Map 56 in the Miam Miam Dodo for Le Puy) and rejoin at Auch (Map 56 in the MMD for Arles) via the GR Coeur de Gascogne for 37km. You then follow the Arles route (GR 653) to Maubourguet (Plan 62) for 71 km. A little after Maubourguet you take the GR101 south to Lourdes for 46km, passing through Tarbes.

2) You can also leave the GR65 at Nogaro (Plan 65 of MMD of the chemin du Puy) and head south for 39km towards Maubourguet, where you will find the GR 101 for Lourdes.

They say that the first option lets you walk more on the Chemin paths, but that it's advisable to get hold of MMD for the Arles route for the section between Auch and Maubourguet. The second option lets you quit the GR65 at the last possible moment, but you need to walk more on sealed roads between Nogaro and Maubourguet because this route hasn't been marked.

You can subscribe to this newsletter yourself by sending a message (in French) to zoreilles@chemindecompostelle.com Or if you would like to see a copy first, please PM me with your e-mail address, and I can e-mail the latest edition to you.
Margaret

 

[sillydoll]

Thanks for posting this bit of news Maggie.
Now that my friend John - the perpetual pilgrim - has returned safely from walking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal - he has got me planning his next groot trek in earnest, from Santiago to Rome. He wanted to go back to Lourdes as well so its good to know that he can walk the Aragones in reverse to Lourdes and join the Arles route from Lourdes.
He can't decide between walking the Coastal Route http://www.viadellacosta.it to Italy or taking the inland road which is longer but not as strenuous.
Any Santiago to Rome walkers out there with some advice?