From Le Puy to santiago! A Hitchhiker that become a hiker

[Barashon]

Hello Everybody!! amazing forum and people you have here

So a little bit about myselef - My name is Gregory, I'm 22 from Israel, I have been traveling through Hitchhiking for the past 6 months from Engalnd to Vietnam and I will start doing my way back very soon to walk the Camino De Santiago.
Last March I walked the Israel national trail which is 940 KM it took two months - it's not an easy track at all and many who I met on the way failed to complete it.

Because I have only three months in Shengen Area so I'm really tight in times and I will not have much time once I'm in Europe To arrange myself much more then I already have.

I want to start at Le puy - I will hitchhike to get there, and I want to finish at Santiago de Compostela or et the sea, depends on the time, I want to do it in two months because my last month is taken Possible?!?!

The thing is, I need to do it as cheap as possible - like 5 euro a day, maybe less. Possible?!?!
I have a tent with me and a sleeping bag and a traveling mattress, I have a pot but I send my traveling stove home when I was in China...

I need to buy hiking shoes because mine are no longer water proof, also I need hiking poles and maybe some other small gear - Do you know a cheap traveling store around Lyon?

So what do you think is it possible to camp all the way and to ask locals to have a showers at their home, also buying food only from the supermarket? Do I need A book guide to help me go through and get lost, where do I get maps, is there a sighn that I need to follow?

I'm planning to start walking on between the 20th and the 25th of May 2011.

On my hitchhiking journey I get to walk a lot with a backpack that sometime weights a lot so I feel prepared

Thank you very much for even reading this long and unorganize massage, I'm very excited to walk it!!

 

[ranthr]

Hei Barashon.
There is a big sportsequipmentstore in a walkingdistance from the centre of Le Puy. You can buy hiking poles and whatever you need there.
You ask whether you can live for 5 euros a day. My answer is no, even if you cook your own food.
I also doubt that you will be able to have your shower in many private homes unless you are an extremely charming and convincing guy. In France you could camp near a gite, ask for a shower there and probably get a yes. I have never seen so many signs about keeping off private properties as on my trip along le chemin in France. Although you now and then passed a farm where the owner was very friendly and helpful to pilgrims and most peolple say Bon jour when you meet them, you did not feel welcome in the same way as in Spain. If you are going to make your own food, be aware that you might not find an open shop everywhere. In the gites you will have to pay from 25-35 euros for a bed with French breakfast( not much food) and a dinner in the evening. With the foodprices in France I cannot see that you can live on 5 euros.
In Spain I guess you can take a shower in the communal refugies. In a few places you can stay and pay donativo. There are more shops along the camino where you can buy food and cheap menu del dia (10 euros) if you want to buy a meal.
It is not my meaning to strike you down but to give you a more realistic view on the cost. I think the time is over when the locals took care of pilgrims for free. There are a houndred thousand people walking through the area every year.
Prices have raised and become very close to our highprice level up in Scandinavia where I live.If you stay in refugios in Spain most people say an average cost will be 20 euros a day. Camping I guess you can manage on 10-15.
Anyway It is a beautiful trip. With your hiking experience I guess you could do in less than two months. Wish you an inexpensive and joyful camino. Ranthr

 

[Kitsambler]

Remember that France has over 100,000 miles of marked walking routes, so the vast majority of people walking in France are not pilgrims. The French take walking vacations frequently, 2-3 weeks long. So the infrastructure is oriented around this market. MMD does list campgrounds, which would be a place to take showers.

I'm afraid 5 euros a day would get you one ham-and-cheese baguette (on the days you were fortunate to find an open bakery), and maybe a piece of fresh fruit, at most. The route passes through very small towns, with the corresponding very small markets, and their higher prices. Discount markets aren't on the walking route.

If expense really must be minimized, and you really have only 2 months to walk, perhaps starting at SJPP and spending most of your time in Spain would be the best strategy.

Can anyone speak to the legality of hitchhiking in France?

 

[Barashon]

Thank you for replying!

Hitchhike in france is OK, I made my way fro England to Vietnam (where I am now) by Hitchhiking and also through France and Lyon is easy to reach, soon I'll start to do way back to get there in time.

I wanna believe you....I really do, but I can't, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about or maybe I'm naive but I think you can camp along the way without formal camping grounds, Carry food for 4 days on the back, water - I'm sure there will be place to fill on the way.

I'm going to walk the Camino De santiago and maybe I'll compremise on 10 euro a day but I can't believe that to do a hiking trip which consider to be a pilgrim journey aiming only to people with funds.
The only thing I have to do is to dream with open eyes and I could make this journey even with no money at all.

The most important things are showers and food - can I ask the gites to take a shower for free and keep going or it's a buisness held by buisness people.

How much rice and pasta cost in south of france?! How much just simple bread cost in south of france - Bread, rice and water can keep me alive for a long time. (sometimes cheese for the calcium )

can I make little fires to cook along the way or do they sell cooking gas for stoves on the way?

I got the privet massage about not needing a hiking shoes and that a walking shoes are enough but I think my backpack will be heavier then most of you and I need high hiking shoes for not twisting my ankle. I have many more question but I'm looking around the forum as well.

Thank you again

 

[jl]

I would think that you are most likely going to be asked to pay some sort of fee for a shower in the gites. Many of the gites in France are run by farms as a means of supplementing their income and so it is my feeling that they would want a fee of some sort - probably not much, but some, nonetheless. Most of the places along the Vezelay path are cheaper. I often (mostly) stayed in some refuges that were donativo - with a minimum donation of 5 Euros. There were even a couple of places that refused to take a fee, and so that path might be a cheaper option for you. Many of the refuges also provided access to food that could be purchased very cheaply so that pilgrims could cook a simple meal, and in some cases they donated food from their gardens.

Keep your dream - I beleive you should be able to do the Chemin cheaper than many of us do, but just remember that these people who support the Chemin / Camino and who are so generous with their time and hospitality are probably themselves living on a very limited budget.

All the best and Buen Camino, Janet

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Hitchhiking is legal in France; trespassing is not. The French are very hospitable, but fairly rule-oriented. They probably will not be too receptive to having outsiders come in and violate French customs on camping, but they won't be seeing you again, so that may not matter to you. It might make France less hospitable for those who follow you, but that also may not matter.

You could check with http://www.couchsurfing.org for places to stay, though most of the sleeping spots are in big towns.

 

[Caminando]

Thank you for replying!

Hitchhike in france is OK, I made my way fro England to Vietnam (where I am now) by Hitchhiking and also through France and Lyon is easy to reach, soon I'll start to do way back to get there in time.

I wanna believe you....I really do, but I can't, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about or maybe I'm naive but I think you can camp along the way without formal camping grounds, Carry food for 4 days on the back, water - I'm sure there will be place to fill on the way.

I'm going to walk the Camino De santiago and maybe I'll compremise on 10 euro a day but I can't believe that to do a hiking trip which consider to be a pilgrim journey aiming only to people with funds.
The only thing I have to do is to dream with open eyes and I could make this journey even with no money at all.

The most important things are showers and food - can I ask the gites to take a shower for free and keep going or it's a buisness held by buisness people.

How much rice and pasta cost in south of france?! How much just simple bread cost in south of france - Bread, rice and water can keep me alive for a long time. (sometimes cheese for the calcium )

can I make little fires to cook along the way or do they sell cooking gas for stoves on the way?

I got the privet massage about not needing a hiking shoes and that a walking shoes are enough but I think my backpack will be heavier then most of you and I need high hiking shoes for not twisting my ankle. I have many more question but I'm looking around the forum as well.

Thank you again

The camping shop in Lyon is Au Vieux Campeur, in the centre.

yes you can eat for 5 euros a day. As you know, this is pasta/rice/ couscous/sardines/soup,lentils ,odd vegetables thrown in. Cheap packets of soup start at 30 cents. If you can, shop at Lidl , LeaderPrice or Aldi. Cheapest pasta for example costs about 60 cents a kg. Eggs 1euro for 10. Couscous similar Price to pasta. Cheapest wine about 70 -100 cents. ALL depending where you shop. Cheapies are not easy in the countryside.

You NEED your gas stove. NOT fires or you risk really annoying people. The French/Spanish have had enough fires to make you want to avoid being caught. Israel similar.

If you are on a budget then those hiking poles will cost you several weeks food. Cut a stick. Likewise the new boots- several months food. Waterproof doesnt matter. You dont need expensive boots.

If you ask to use a shower, expect to pay, which is justified. Some pilgs do ask for this I was told, and many are upset when refused. Better to wash using water you've carried till you find a private spot.

For a 5 euro daily budget you will need to sleep outside - you can decide what minimum shelter you need. Forget the expensive boots and you can sleep in an albergue and meet the pilgs. In Spain that is. The gites d'etapes in France will cost you too much, even if they are good value.

You mention doing this with no money at all; there was a recent post on that. Might be useful for you to read. You say you can't imagine the camino being only for people with funds. Fine, but who will pay for your food and shelter along the way?

You can regard the camino as a hike, but it can be more than that.

Best wishes

 

[Barashon]

Thank you a lot for the long answers! I really appreciate it

I have shoes that served me well for a long time they still good for walking but they are not water proof, you say I don't need water proof but if it rains and I think it will they will get wet and will not dry fast and then my foot will suffer - can I get shoes on the trail if I see it's not possible?

walking polls - I remember buying cheap one's for 20 euro each - I usually walk with 2 because it feels like magic after seeing too many shin splits happaned to other people I think it's a must!

I'll defiently get my stove back - thank you for the advice, I will not make fire. Do they sell gas for traveling stove along the trail?

For the camping Issue, I do care about the feeling of te locals and I appreciate the hospitallity, I don't know how it will be but I'm sure you can find a peacfull spot that will interrupt to no one to pitch your tent - Am I right? or it seems like no one is camping through the Camino de santiago?!
I even hope to meet people with the same camping spirit...
I'm a memeber of couchsurfing and I've been hosted a lot and also hosted myself, I really in doubt about finding people along the trail but I'll check it out

Food - Is " pasta/rice/ couscous/sardines/soup,lentils ,odd vegetables thrown in" available on the road atleast once a week? are Peanut butter or Halva or Tahini and simple sliced/not sliced bread available along the trail?

writing about walking the camino for free was just imply on my point not litteraly, I understand that farmers and not corporations holding those buisnesses but how much a shower should cost - 1 Euro or 2, basin on my experience I can make a shower with 4.5 litters of water filled in bottles, so the question is - is water so accessible and there is planty of deserted places to make a shower outside?

The other path sounds great but he is little deserted, Ill think about the option though I really want to walk from Le puy.

It's not just Hiking for me, It's a journey which end one year and a half traveling which started with walking the israel national trail, the last stage before I'm going home, I hope to meet people, enjoy and really clear my mind.

the Israel national trail is not so walked as the camino the santiago and the generousity of people who are living near the trail or the people that I encountered is priceless so I'm looking forward for Walking the Camino De Santiago.

Even now while traveling beutiful Vietnam, the only thing that I'm thinking about is how I will walk the Camino!

Again, sorry for the long massage and thank you very much

 

[Caminando]

Maybe your budget isn't as severe as I believed? My mistake!

And you're kidding me about the peanut butter/halva/sliced/unsliced bread etc? :shock:

Enjoy!

Buen camino :arrow:

 

[lucaten]

Hey There,

If you sleep in your tent, it is possible to go all the way to Compostela from Le Puy with 5 euros per day.
In France the Albergues are much more expensive than in Spain and the average is 10 euros for accommodation in a share room with 6 people. Breakfast would be around 4 euros and dinner about 15.
Spain is cheaper, but in 2010 the prices has raised to 5 euros per night the cheapest albergue.

I did the St James's way last year in April from Le puy to Finisterra, and it was possible for me to spend 5 euros per day. Some days you spend nothing, others a little more than 5 but overall is within your budget.
I use my tent a lot, it is no legally correct, but there are plenty of places to pich your tent alog the way, you could also sleep in country churches, only in France as in Spain and do to the richer interiors are more controlled and often closed. you could take showers in the gites run by the local town hall, they are not in all the cities, but usually you would be allow to take a shower for free.
If you need any specific information you not hesitate to let me know,

Regards,
L