French routes?

[Kristin Johnson]

Hi all,
I am excited to be doing the walk this summer (2014) and have set aside 80 days to complete my journey. I know I want to do the Camino Frances after reaching SJPP- however, I would really like to start out farther away in France somewhere.

I will be walking alone, and know next to no French, but am fluent in Spanish and English, and am an experienced hiker. I hope to sleep outdoors for most of my walk, and live very minimally throughout my journey.

I am also on a very limited budget so the cost of getting to the starting point of my Camino is something I am committed to keeping as low as possible.

My questions:

Which route would you recommend for walking starting somewhere in France?
How difficult is it to get there?
How well marked is the trail?
Is there an English or Spanish guide-book?

Thanks so much for the help!
Muchas gracias
Moitos graciñas

 

[bokormen91]

I have not walked the Vezelay route, I have walked from Le Puy to SJPP, and done some other walks in France.

Depending on routes, there are guide books available in English. I have limited knowledge of French and Spanish, but have not found language to be an issue. Patience, a smile and willingness to try seems to go a long way. I have used Miam Miam Dodo and French topo guides, and whilst I'm sure I miss out on the finer details in the topo guides, I can generally guesstimate the "useful" information.

As for camping - I have not done it myself, but have met others that did. The cost of campsites are often similar/equivalent to staying in a gite. Some gite's might let you camp in their "garden", others will not have the space available as it might be a house in the middle of the village.

If you follow way marked trails, they are likely to take you through a lot of small villages, farmland etc etc. A lot of it will be fairly populated. From the people I met; expect to leave early, set up late. Some land owners might not have problem with you camping on their land, others will, so seek permission, or ask in "tourist office/mairie/bakery" etc for suggestions. National parks have their own regulations, and here I often find that trails have been "designed" allowing you to appreciate the landscape. Many other places, trails seem to follow what would have been the "normal/traditional" way of moving between 2 villages. You might be outdoors in nature, but it is not "the great wilderness".

Whilst there are routes that are considered to be "part of the Camino", France has an excellent network of waymarked routes, many that cross or overlap, so one option would be to decide where in France that you'd like to spend time, then design the route yourself. Some people like forests, some like mountains, some like the coast. You know best what scenery you enjoy the most I find this website great for planning, and you can save and print your own maps http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil


Decide on where you want to start, then where to fly in. Depending on your route choice, cities like Paris, Geneva, Barcelona, Toulouse are all viable options. Then use trains/buses to get to your starting point. Often tickets are cheaper if you book them 3 weeks in advance and/or if you avoid departure times that co-incide with people's work hours (ie a train that leaves at 10am might be significantly cheaper than one that departs at 8 am).

Hope this is of some help and Buen Camino

 

[LesBrass]

Hello - if you're on a tight budget try this site - France Passion - http://www.france-passion.com/gb_formule.php It's intended for campervans and the overnight stops are free but folks maybe happy to have walkers and campers?

Also, if flights are cheaper to the UK than France - you could have a look at either http://www.easyjet.com/en/ or http://www.ryanair.com/en both fly into smaller regional airports from the UK - which may make it easier to get to your starting point? They are low-cost/no-frills airlines and you can get very good prices sometimes.

happy planning!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The Chemin du Puy is the best starter route in France. Vezelay and Tolosana have less infrastructure. All the good guidebooks are in French, but you probably can navigate them without knowing the language; the maps and accommodation guides are almost self-explanatory. Miam Miam Dodo is the most useful of the guides in French.

 

[scruffy1]

The Miam Miam guidebook will see you through but it is light on camping sites. The Chemin is well marked from Le Puy and the book will give you distances if you choose not to use the gites offered. The pocket sized Michelin Chemins de Compostelle: Le Puy-en-Velay-> Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port # 161 will give you good maps, distances, and topography for a much cheaper price-available at bookstores, kiosks, and stationary stores at Le Puy and all along the Chemin. France is more expensive then Spain, food and lodging, and I too suffer from little or no French. This was surprisingly no problem since in many places Southern France has been inundated with the British, the Dutch, and the Germans seeking a cheaper and more exotic place to live-they bought up farms and houses and are now in competition with the French for the tourist Euro. The French have suddenly discovered that they do understand some English and can even speak it when needed-truly a miracle.

 

[Kristin Johnson]

Whilst there are routes that are considered to be "part of the Camino", France has an excellent network of waymarked routes, many that cross or overlap, so one option would be to decide where in France that you'd like to spend time, then design the route yourself. Some people like forests, some like mountains, some like the coast. You know best what scenery you enjoy the most I find this website great for planning, and you can save and print your own maps http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil

Thanks bokormen91! I had no idea there were so many trails in France, this looks like it could be a good option for me!

 

[Kristin Johnson]

Thanks Skruffy1, its good to know that the guidebooks would still be understandable, and have good maps!

 

[jl]

Hi Kristin, I have walked both the le Puy ('07) and the Vezelay path ('09)). Though there are more gites on the le Puy path there are also many more walkers and pilgrims (there is a difference!). The refuges on the Vezelay path tend to be a lot smaller, a lot cheaper, and with a lot less pilgrims it means there are usually beds. The only tricky spot when I walked was the Limousin region, where there are fewer refuges. I walked alone, in July / August and found the infrastructure quite manageable, though I recognise that this was 4 1/2 years ago, I would imagine the infrastructure should have improved rather than deteriorated. I really enjoyed the Vezelay path. Janet

 

[Larazet]

Hi all,
I am excited to be doing the walk this summer (2014) and have set aside 80 days to complete my journey. I know I want to do the Camino Frances after reaching SJPP- however, I would really like to start out farther away in France somewhere.

I will be walking alone, and know next to no French, but am fluent in Spanish and English, and am an experienced hiker. I hope to sleep outdoors for most of my walk, and live very minimally throughout my journey.

I am also on a very limited budget so the cost of getting to the starting point of my Camino is something I am committed to keeping as low as possible.

My questions:

Which route would you recommend for walking starting somewhere in France?
How difficult is it to get there?
How well marked is the trail?
Is there an English or Spanish guide-book?

Thanks so much for the help!
Muchas gracias
Moitos graciñas

We could host you for the night if you like? We live between Condom and Montreal. Just send me a private message and I will let you have our phone number. I hope to be completing my Camino in May, from where I had to finish last year.

 

[Thomas1962]

When making plans, just be aware that Spain is much cheaper than France. If you only buy food in supermarkets and sleep out, the difference isn't that big. But if you take coffee in bars, or sometimes eat out and sleep in albergues, I would guess that France is at least 50% more expensive than Spain.
If budget is an important lead, you can consider to start in another point in Spain or do the frances and the northe or the plata.

To get to a starting place in the optimal way I use
http://www.rome2rio.com/
combined with
http://www.skyscanner.nl/

Have a great camino!

 

[FatmaG]

Hi Kristin,
the question is whether you would like to meet other people or not.
Whether you are fit or not
Whether you are adventurous or not

If you are a fit, adventurous and solitaire person, you could easily walk the Piémont way. (not many pilgrims, ups and downs approaching the Pyrenees, at times stages without "comfort" of albergue or even a shop to buy food)
If you are fit and solitaire, you might walk the Vezelay route (longer stages and few people) or the Arles route (at times long stages and quite demanding in the Haut Languedoc and as well less pilgrims, even in summer)
If you feel better in company with people (i.e. in the evenings to exchange about the day) and you want the comfort of a good infrastructure (plenty of allergies at a reasonable distance), go for the Puy route. (I must admit, I personally did not yet walk the Puy route, but plenty (PLENTY) of people say that this is the most beautiful way in France)

Good preparations, and buen camino

 

[Deleted member 3000]

the Puy route, but plenty (PLENTY) of people say that this is the most beautiful way in France

I am one of those. I have walked Vezelay once, and Le Puy and Tolosana twice each. The Tours route is said to be flatter than the Vezelay route, so it is not on my list at the moment. Le Puy is the best in my opinion (the other two were quite enjoyable, too). It is more expensive. I generally had the demi-pension at about 31E per night, then the lunch and coffee expenses pushed the total to over 40E per day in gites and pensions, much more than that for hotels. Self-catering is rarer than in Spain, so that cost reduction method is less useful.

 

[Sraaen]

I did The Le Puy route in May and Tours in Sept. Both 3013. Le Puy was downright magical and Tours was not so much.

Le Puy route is beautiful the whole way (except a couple of days around Aire sur L'Adour - the "Big Agro" section). Its very well marked but like Falcon pointed out, kinda pricey. Every little village on the route has a Tourist office and they're really, really helpful; most if them will set you up with accommodations for the next day if you want. Have you ever heard of a dish called Aligot? It's a cheesy garlic mashed potatoes that seems to be the official dish of the first 2/3rds of the route.

The Tours route is pretty industrial these days and poorly marked. LGV construction (high speed rail from Paris to Bordeaux) makes it even more so. That said, it passes through some great historical cities like Poitier, Saintes, Bordeaux and Dax.

80 days is perfect for a fairly leisurely Le Puy - Santiago walk. I'm jealous. Beware of national holidays in May. I think there are 8 of them. The French are big hikers and accommodations can be scarce.

 

[Kristin Johnson]

Hello all!
Thanks so much for the feedback! I have decided to do the Le Puy route to Santiago, departing the last week of May. I am very excited for the trip!

 

[gypsy9]

Hello all!
Thanks so much for the feedback! I have decided to do the Le Puy route to Santiago, departing the last week of May. I am very excited for the trip!

Bon Chemin Kristin.
What influenced your decision at this time?

 

[Kanga]

Hello all!
Thanks so much for the feedback! I have decided to do the Le Puy route to Santiago, departing the last week of May. I am very excited for the trip!

Great decision. May the wild flowers greet you, the sun fill your heart with warmth, the rain nourish your soul, and the road give you strength.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Very close to your route on May 25!

http://www.destinationsuddefrance.com/Sortir/Grands-evenements/Fete-de-la-Transhumance-en-Aubrac

 

[Kristin Johnson]

Bon Chemin Kristin.
What influenced your decision at this time?

Hi.
I was looking for a route that would provide me enough infastructure to get help fairly quickly if I needed to, but also a route that afforded me some great diversity in the natural scenary, and walking off of major roadways. I am walking alone, and camping most of the time, so I needed a route where I could buy my food fresh from a market, farmer, or grocery store instead of eating at a gite, or a cafe. I also needed an area that provided enough tree cover for most of the route to be able to camp. I am on a very limited budget and will be walking pretty austerely, and without a campfire. I also wanted a longer walk, that would let me sort of 'ease' into the pilgrim experience in a quieter way, before I got to SJPP. The Le Puy route seemed to hit all of these points, as well as being fairly easy to reach via train with only a few transfers from CRG int'l. I feel pretty confidant in my choice of route, and have found the forum to be so helpful in getting the information I need. Thanks again, all!
Bon Chemin
-Kristin

 

[Kristin Johnson]

Very close to your route on May 25!

http://www.destinationsuddefrance.com/Sortir/Grands-evenements/Fete-de-la-Transhumance-en-Aubrac

Thanks!