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English speaking walkers on the Le Puy route

lbpierce

Linda Breen Pierce
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino Frances 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
I walked the Camino Frances the last two years and am considering the Le Puy route for 2015. My French is very limited, but I'm not too concerned about making reservations with the help of Gite hosts, etc. I'm more concerned with whether I will be able to interact with fellow walkers if most of them are French. In searching this forum about this issue, I see posts from 2011 and 2012 talking about how few English speaking walkers there are on this route, and I'm wondering if this is still the case, or whether there are any trends for more English speaking walkers to do the Le Puy route. Would appreciate any feedback from folks who have walked this route this year or last year. Merci!
 
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Last year there were very few English speaking pilgrims. If you are lucky, you will meet a Quebecois or low country resident who speaks English. It is hit and miss!! There are French who speak English, so hope for one of them walking parallel with you.
 
There are some great French teachers who offer private instruction via video Skype. I chat with them a few times a week for a few months before each trip, and now can communicate just fine in French. It really does improve your experience.
 
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My experience (earlier timeframe than your question, 2010-2011) was that about 15% of walkers spoke English. In addition to the Americans and the occasional Antipodean, there are the Canadians (including many Quebecois), the Low Countries, and the Germans. MMD indicates which lodgings speak English. I favored these, and it seems other English-speakers did also. I was able to get along just fine with my very limited French. That's not to say you shouldn't take advantage of the upcoming winter months to buff up your French! But do not let that concern stand in the way of your trip.
 
Thanks for all your replies. I think I will feel comfortable enough with fewer English speakers and brushing up/testing out my French will be part of the challenge and adventure.
 
I am English speaking
 
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I am English speaking only pilgrim planning to walk the LePuy route. I hope to begin walking Saturday, September 13. I arrive in a LePuy tomorrow. I walked SJPDP to Santiago in 2012 and had no problem speaking only English. Many friendly pilgrims and locals made the pilgrimage a joy despite my limited language skills.

Babaluz
 
My wife and I walked from Le Puy to Cahors this May. While most of the pilgrims were French we usually found people on route, or in accommodations, who spoke some English. In any case language or lack of much French was not an issue. Step out and enjoy!

Ray
 



We have simple school French, which makes it easier to have a bit of conversation, but it's not necessary , it's amazing what you can manage with sign language, a cheerful attitude and a very basic bit of French - just learn a few phrases about who you are, where you come from, where you are going.Take the pages from a phrase book that are useful, to get a meal, a bed etc.. Any more French would be good, and would add to the engagement with people along the way, but you don't need it to survive.
Maggie Ramsay(The Italian Camino - Amazon)
 
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We are on the Le Puy Chemin right now and in Golinhac. As others have noted, on the camino frances you walk with pilgrims. On the Le Puy, you walk with the French. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but just a reality. There is no sense of a camino but, rather groups of 60+yr old French groups or couples on a weeks stroll.
Little English speakers but that makes it interesting. When we chat with folks, we still find each other interesting, but it is different when there are groups of friends out walking on their personal holiday.
It's all good.
The weather is fantastic and the food is better than fantastic!
 
Been walking from Cahors now for the last 2 plus weeks. AMAZINGLY few foreigners. By that I Mean 4 Canadians and 2 Holland . Luckily the wife speaks passable French .
As previously mentioned mostly 60 plus enjoying a walk . The hosts will have some English if you choose via the MMD
 
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Thanks.
 
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I've had a bit to do with languages other than English and one thing I'd say to non-French speakers on the Le Puy route is to be a bit more formal than usual, even if you are speaking English. An example: remembering to say hello and goodbye even to people nearby and not just to those you are dealing with. People sometimes think they need French, but, especially around those great folk of south-central France, what you really need is a bit more formal greeting and use of titles. It's not stuffiness, it's lubrication.

The funny thing about the extra bit of formality in France is that you can actually miss it when you step into Spain or get back to Australia. (Not that I want Australians to change. We're adorable as we are, aren't we?)
 
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I lived in southern France for several years a few decades ago and fell completely in love with the country and the people. It remains my home and it will be where I return after I retire to live. Many French people speak some English, but are hesitant to use it. The counsel already given is what you should rely on; learn a few phrases and try to use them as often as possible. When they see that you are trying they will feel more comfortable helping with the English they do know.

Regardless, know that you will be welcome as a pilgrim and/or tourist. They will appreciate your eagerness to speak French and to get to know the French culture and people. This is a land of treasures around every bend and in every village. Few places in the world make me feel as comfortable as southwestern France.
 

Agree so much, Michael. I find myself missing Le Puy and the Auvergne (especially), the people being a big part of that feeling. I have hopes of getting back there, maybe to do the Regordane or Stevenson...or both! Great part of the world to retire, no doubt.
 
When my husband and I started walking the French Caminos a few years ago we had only a few remembered French phrases from our schooldays. It's never detracted from our enjoyment. We observe closely and try to obey the unwritten and unsaid rules - every society has them. But people generally are very kind and tolerant. The trick is to use as much French as we can muster, with lots of gesturing, smiles and laughter. It's extraordinary how much communication can take place even without a common language.
 
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No matter how limited your French, if used with humour, gesture and apology, it will more than get you by.

Used, in France, with any degree of presumption or arrogance and you might as well head back home!

The French are intensely proud and rightly defensive of their language - it is both a language under threat from the increasingly ubiquitous internet use of English as well in itself being, historically, a relatively new language (prior to the French revolution, 1789, only about one eighth of the population spoke what we now know as French).

But schooldays French used with smiles and gestures will get you by and make you friends.
 
I walked the Le Puy en Velay route (Le Puy to Saint Jean Pied de Port) this year from August 5 - September 14. LOVED IT!!
I walked the French Camino (Roncesvalles to Santiago) in the fall of 2012 and the Portuguese Camino (Porto to Santiago) in the fall of 2013. I loved both of these Caminos as well. I was concerned with comparing the Caminos to each other, and was able to leave those concerns behind. Each Camino is different and that proved very true to this one.
I knew I would be challenged on this route because I don't speak French and I'd read that there were fewer pilgrims than the French route. My inability to speak French was a detriment, but not a game changer. I found that if I could eek out my three go to phrases in French - a greeting, the fact that I don't speak French and then ask if they spoke English - then almost everyone met me half way. There was a lot of pointing and sign language going on, and that made for quite a few laughs.
This was more of a contemplative Camino for me, and I was ready. There was a group of us starting out in Le Puy. Everyone found their own rhythm and before long I was walking alone in God's country. I loved walking by myself during the day - I prayed, sang to myself and prayed some more. I found quite a few pilgrims from France, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, Germany who spoke English, so I did have many opportunities to talk with others and become friends with them!!
I met a 62 year old woman from Germany who spoke 6 languages. She and I walked at different speeds, but managed to run into each other all the way from Le Puy to Lectoure where she needed to finish. I also met an 84 year old French grandmother walking from Le Puy to Conques with her three French grand daughters, 19, 16 and 14! We became fast friends when the grand daughters began translating for their grandmother and me. I use google translate now at home to stay in communication with the grandmother! Their friendship is a blessing beyond words. I also met a 39 year old Belgian man who was walking from Le Puy to Santiago. We also ran into to each other many times over the course of five weeks. We said goodbye many times before we just had to stop saying goodbye. Our final goodbye was in Lichos (I was in my bedroom in a Chambre d'hôte. I heard some voices out the window. I looked out and there he was, walking past the house on the Camino! This is truly the Camino way)
After completing my walk, I went to Paris with my husband and celebrated my 60th birthday on September 16th! This was a wonderful finish to an already incredible trip.
I'm so grateful that I've not let my fear or anxiety get in the way of my walks along the Camino.
 
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Just got back in from dinner in Auvillar. We were the only ones in a tiny restaurant which was, essentially, in the owner' home. I never doubt my ability to read people and I believe I read this lady as one that wasn't in the mood for another "pilgrim"....whatever that means. Or maybe wasn't in the mood for an English speaker. There was just something in the first 15 seconds. We used our best French, which isn't great, and did the normal asking about her home, etc. and the entire thing turned into her thanking us for being so interested and sympathetic and having a love of life. It was great.
It was also a perfect example of what kindness and interest in someone else's life can do, along with making every attempt, no matter how bad, to use their language.
 
I have been on the Le Puy route for a few days in september 2012 and hope to be back next year (may/june 2015). Being able to cope with some French is a lot different from real conversation. I have no big problems making reservations or ordering food in French, but prefer more meaningful conversation. That is not possible for me in French. I have met some other foreigners in september 2012 and hope to meet new foreigners if I get back in the spring of 2015. Also because most French walk in groups and that makes it harder to feel the real camino experience of people who travel alone and get to know each other on the camino.
 
Magnara said:
.......Maggie Ramsay(The Italian Camino - Amazon)
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There's an ITALIAN Camino as well!! Wow. Will go on my list of future Caminos!!
Suzanne ))))))
 
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Was in Lectoure last night. Tons of British expats there and we were surprised all the time there as to how many people spoke English. It was also the first time we found subtle and not-so-subtle anti-pilgrim sentiment. We stopped at a bar/restaurant and there was one table left outside. The owner wouldn't let us go there.....we had to be the only ones seated inside so we left. We met people later who were locals and they said he was known as a jerk. We stayed in Hotel Bastard (love the name) and we had to leave our boots in a "special area" for Pelerinos. It was beautiful weather and all was clean so it wasn't necessary. No big deal but it was different than what we have been experiencing elsewhere. On the way to Condom today, there was the first sign/pictograph saying 'No Urine" with pictures of male and female characters peeing. Also had our first farmer run out of his house and start screaming at us from a long distance. There was the road and a heavily used footpath on the side of the road beside his field. No different than everywhere else. There were two private property signs an inch away from the footpaths. Within 15 seconds of us going on the path, he blew a whistle and started yelling. We didn't know what was going on so we thought we were going the wrong way. When we got off the path, he went back in his house. It was fine for him to assert his rights to private property but, again, this was unusual because it was a path literally three feet off the road that was incredibly well worn. We would never think to deny his rights to keep people off the 12 inches of his property but it was interesting as he was really making a point for some reason. He must have had problems of some type recently.
 
The food is fantastic at the Hotel Bastard, but one of the best gites on the Chemin is L'Etoile Occitane in Lectoure. It has you leave your shoes at the door as well. "Dechausse"

In June 2013 it was quite common to keep shoes out of the abode. Fear of bedbugs has reached paranoid level, and nearly every other gite would not permit backpacks in the dortoire. One even supplied a cotton sleep sack because it would not permit sleeping bags, either. I kept my Crocs at the top of my pack so I could go straight from boots to Crocs. It is a policy that helps keep communal places clean. I am surprised that a hotel would dechausse, though!

Bon chemin.
 
lbpierce said:
Thanks for all your replies. I think I will feel comfortable enough with fewer English speakers and brushing up/testing out my French will be part of the challenge and adventure.
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I have walked this route for the last 3 years and only met one other Brit. Other English speakers are usually Australian or South African. I sometimes found myself the only English speaker in a gite - but everyone was appreciative of my efforts in schoolboy French!
 
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We started from Le Puy on Sep.8th, and are in Arzacq-Arraziguet tonight. We both had French in high school (many years ago!) but have coped with making reservations by phone, ordering from menus etc just fine. There have been a few communal dinners when we couldn't join in the conversation and were the only English speaking pilgrims, but that doesn't happen often. Most of the French people have really appreciated our efforts, and try to meet us halfway. In fact many times we have started out speaking French, and the other person will say "you can speak English"!
Regarding anti-pilgrim sentiment- we have only had one negative experience, and we believe we were at fault. It happened in Lamothe, a tiny village between Montreal-du-Gers and Eauze. We had been walking for two hours and were more than ready for a break. We spotted a picnic table beside the trail that was under a shelter, so appeared to be a pilgrim rest stop. There was a clothesline nearby, and a gite across the road, so we assumed the shelter had been provided by the gite. We no sooner sat down and took off our boots than a man at the gite doorway yelled at us "prive!" and angrily gestured for us to leave. We gathered up our belongings, and found a table a bit further down the road near the church. There were no private property signs near the shelter, or we would not have stopped there. I think it surprised us more than anything, however in retrospect, we felt that the gite owner's reaction was a bit excessive. Had he come out and asked us if we'd like to buy some cold drinks, we would have happily done so!
 
I have some French from high school, but have started relearning it (and Castillian Spanish) through Pimsleur language courses. I remembered more than I first thought!
 
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I walked the Camino Francis in September and October and from Vianna I kept meeting up with a 39 year old belgium chap... he was tall and blonde, always smiling and looked much younger than 39. I bumped into him in Santiago on my last day and was so happy to see him again... I wonder if he is the same guy?
 
Sounds like Gregory M! Great guy to bump into along the Camino. He e-mailed me this week to update me on his Camino through Spain and now back home in Belgium and back to work as of this past Monday.
 
I walked from Le Puy to Espalion last year, May 2013, met up with Australians, a couple of Americans and a Canadian but no Brits. We re-met the Australians this year and did L'Aire sur Adour to SJPP and once again a sprinkling of Anglos. But why not take this opportunity to plunge in and learn French on your Camino, you don't need the English speakers to do it. Good luck.
 
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The trail is beautiful but it's a lonely trek if you don't speak french.
 
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