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From Le Puy to Lordes

A

alojzija.moric

New Member
Hello pillgrims!

I am planning to go for a walk from Le Puy to Lourdes in July. Has anyone experiences with this route? Please, I would like to get a map of this walking...Also I would like to know, where can I get a pillgrim passport in Le Puy?

Thank you and God bless you!
Alojzija
 
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Hi Alojzija,
You can get a pilgrim passport in Le-Puy-en-Velay at the sacristy in the Cathedral. You can see the maps from the Miam Miam Dodo guide here: http://www.chemindecompostelle.com/Selection/CarteFrance.html If you want to buy this guide, it is also available in the sacristy in the Le Puy Cathedral.

To get to Lourdes you walk on the Le Puy route (GR65) as far as either Lectoure or Nogaro, then deviate.

1) You can leave the GR65 at Lectoure (Map 56 in the Miam Miam Dodo for Le Puy) and walk to 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.

Descriptions of these routes came in a (free) e-mailed French language newsletter 'Les Zoreilles du Chemin'. 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.

The second way is a more recently created route. It said there would be maps of this route to download in pdf form (from June).http://www.chemindecompostelle.com/variantelourdes/index.html
Margaret
 
I have attached a simple walking plan from Le Puy to Lourdes based on the information I was able to locate on the web. Basically you travel along the Le Puy route to Lectoure and then head south to connect with the Arles route. A little further on you head south again via GR101 and walk to Lourdes

This link describes the connecting section between the Le Puy and Arles routes
http://www.xacobeo.fr/ZE1.12.veL_Lec-Auch.htm

This link describes the connecting section to Lourdes from the Arles route
http://www.xacobeo.fr/ZE1.12.veL_Mau-Lou.htm

There seems to be some issues with the actual distances for these two connecting sections, so I have over stated the amounts listed in the spreadsheet, especially for the GR101. However if somebody knows the actual distances I welcome your comments

Trust some find this information useful
 

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falcon269 said:
Some more information from Peter Robins' site on getting to Lourdes from several directions:

http://pilgrim.peterrobins.co.uk/routes/lourdes.html
Click to expand...

I did see Peter's site. Most of the information included routes leaving Lourdes (assuming that you are starting there). I was more interested in the information on how to get to Lourdes from either Arles or more importantly Le Puy.

The information I have in the spreadsheet includes two key connecting trails that allow you to get to Lourdes. Lourdes for many is an important Christian destination, more important as Santiago in Spain. In face the number of people that go to Lourdes (50 million I read somewhere!) exceeds the number that go to Santiago

The good news only less than 20,000 actual walk the Le Puy route and even less try to walk to Lourdes each year, as compared to the Camino Francis route which has more than 200,000 walking the route each year!
 
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jirit said:
....two key connecting trails that allow you to get to Lourdes....
Click to expand...
Looks like a wonderful walk. Thanks for the links.
Do you know of any good english guide books for the route & accommodation, including your two connecting trails?
Col
 
Col the marked route that I wrote about that takes you off the Le Puy route to Lourdes has only recently been marked. So there might not even be a French guidebook to it yet, let alone an English one. Margaret
 
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Oh sorry about that, I will try and see if there is an alternative. Yes, I did use the Miam Miam Dodo guide from Le Puy- it was available in the sacristy in the Cathedral in Le Puy. Some people manage without it, but it was my 'bible'.
Margaret
PS Hmmm just checked and see what you mean- the pdf describing the route is 'unavailable'. Am not sure if that means the route has not been fully marked, or if the website hasn't been updated...
 

Hi Colin

The only online documentation I have found are the two links. If you use Google, you can translate the information into English. From what I can determine the route is marked (how well I am not sure) and there are places to stop and stay (but probably not pilgrim style places)

The Lourdes tourist office has a good link of the route into Lourdes from the Arles route
http://www.lourdes-infotourisme.com/web ... -gr101.php

It claims the route is 65km but the other site suggests it is 55km - my current spreadsheet has the longer version

Here is another site that provides some more information about this section and where you can buy some French guidebooks on this area including this route
http://www.hautes-pyrenees-rando.com/new-gr101.html
 
For those that are interested my wife and I have just completed our walk from Le Puy to Lourdes france. We have posted some photos we took along the way on our little green Tracs blog and on our Facebook fan page. I will be adding some more photos and more text about the walk later in July.

Neville
 
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Finally got around the posting some photos from my various camino walks, including my most recent walk in France from Le Puy to Lourdes

https://picasaweb.google.com/113275942061875339803
 
What memories come back! I only saw the Aubrac in the harshest conditions, but still loved it. Your photos confirm that I really need to see the region in fine weather. And I love that sausage lying all alone before a plunge into aligot.

Great work there, jirit

Rob
 
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lovingkindness said:
Stunning photos, Jirit....and all that yummy food...
Click to expand...

I heard from somebody who knows French food well, that it can be sometimes great and sometimes terrible.

Such was the case with us. We found the food generally best at the private gites and the worst at the religious places - the food quality ranged from truly horrible to extremely delicious.

Mind you you can not beat having a coffee and chocolate pane for breakfast, each morning
 

Unfortunately for us. it rained most of the time as walked up through the Aubrac region. It was only the day we arrived in the village of Aubrac itself, that the weather actually cleared up which was nice and offered some great views from the tower we were sleeping in.

But the food in this region was special as you pointed out.
 
I found the food OK...never great and only occasionally not so good.
The worst part for me in at dinner in the Gites was the French custom of long distance chatting before the meal and between courses.....all in French, of course. These were not separate conversations but rather each person taking time to give a long discourse on (for me) unknown topics. :shock:
Those of us with no French could only sit and wait. Once in a while I would be next to someone who spoke English who would give me the high ? points.
I did not go to any upscale restaurants and the local restaurants served about the same quality food as those in Spain.
Others will had had a different experience.
 
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robertt said:
I only saw the Aubrac in the harshest conditions, but still loved it. Your photos confirm that I really need to see the region in fine weather. Rob
Click to expand...
I have to jump in here to say that I have had the absolute joy of seeing the Aubrac Plateau in completely different weather conditions! In 2008 on Day 1 of crossing Aubrac the rain started about mid-morning and was heavy and incessant. I felt like I was on the verge of hypothermia I was so cold and wet. Then on Day 2 we were advised to take the road over the pass because of how wet the chemin would be; and the mist was so thick you could barely see two or three metres ahead of your nose most of the time. A highlight of this mist though was seeing part of the 'round' towers of Aubrac suddenly loom to my left out of the mist. This was a very medieval moment, and I could imagine the bells ringing to help past pilgrims find their way to safety.

This year I had the completely opposite experience. The sun was shining both days, and the temperature must have been close to 30C. (Dehydration and sunburn were the dangers instead of hypothermia!) On Day 2 I saw the views I hadn't seen at all in 2008, and I truly was in heaven, feeling like I was walking along on the sky of the world. Then came the descent down to the village of Aubrac. I was completely gobsmacked to find that the towers were square- as my impression through the mist had been that they were round!!!

Some people wondered if I might be 'bored' this year re-walking some parts I had walked before. But mostly I had quite different weather, and it is truly amazing the difference the weather makes to your impressions of places when you are walking!
Margaret
 
Patti and I walked from St Jean to Santiago in May/June of this year. A wonderful experience and now we are planning our next Camino. We are thinking of going from Le Puy to Lourdes, and onto Pamplona. Then take a bus to Fatima in Portugal and walk to Santiago on the Portugese route. We have the time but is this too ambitious?
 

Hello Georgia

My wife and I took five weeks to cover the route from Le Puy to Lourdes via the Le Puy and Arles route. We start mid May and finished the last week of June, so your timing is ideal for walking this section

However this leaves with little time to continue on to Spain (Puente la Reina) from Lourdes and then do the route in Portugal.

So bottom line May and June is not enough time to do all of it
 
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Hi Col

I could not find any english guidebook for the entire route, so we took Alison's kindle version for the Le Puy section and I uploaded some jpeg maps and PDFs of the translated text for the connecting sections on to my iPad and took these too. For the small Arles section we walked we just winged (though I did make a spreadsheet of places to stay and carried this on my iPad
 
We are going to spend as much time as it takes to walk both routes. Never know when we will get back or be healthy enough to walk again.
In Portugal I was thinking of taking the train to Fatima, spend a few days there, and the bus or train to Porto for the final walk to Santiago.
Your pictures of the Le Puy route are very inspiring. I know this route will be different than the Camino Frances and probably more difficult. Another exciting adventure. After a year preparing for the Camino Frances, reading the forum, watching videos and Radio Buen Camino, I think I had the route memorized and felt very comfortable. This new route is so much less travelled and discussed I don't feel like I can mentally prepare for it. But that's OK. Every step will be new, every place will be new, every experience will be new. I know that as much as I love the people of Spain and the way they treated these Pilgrims, the people of France will embrace us also.
 
I know this route will be different than the Camino Frances and probably more difficult.
Click to expand...
It is not more difficult, but there are fewer stopping places, and most of the pilgrims are French. It is more expensive, and the demi-pension, where you eat with the host, is more prevalent than the albergues with cena in Spain. As to the terrain, it has its ups and down, but nothing as high as the Pyrenees. The size of accommodations is smaller, so calling ahead is always a good idea, and essential if you are staying in someone's home.

Bon chemin!
 
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