I have a dream

[Ajda]

I'm dreaming of walking Le Puy route. So far, this is only a dream, but still got a few questions

Is it possible to book accommodation in advance the whole month? (I don't speak french, so i would ask my friend at home to make call for me from my home)

Is 1700€ enough for walkin from Le Puy to Finistere (just for accomodation and food)?

And now - the most popular question - Is it safe for young women alone? Ok, I know for Spain (CF), what about France? I don't speak french, not even a word.

I learn spanish - just a beginning, and (obvious) i speak english, and a little bit of german. How many people speak only French? Will I 'bored to death' because I will not have to talk to someone in France?

It is a well marked path?

Thank you for your answers.

Ajda

 

[jl]

Hello Ajda, I don't speak French either, but I used to ask the tourist office to book the next
night/s for me. They were very obliging and that meant that I wasn't restricted to a set plan and I could walk as much, or as little, as I wanted the next day. I would think that you would find it restrictive if you book the whole of the Le Puy path before you go - it will give you no options for changing. The path is very well marked, and as an "old' woman I found it very safe. People are very friendly and helpful along the way. It is a very beautiful path - with great variety, from steep mountains to flat plains. I walked in 2007 and so I will not comment on the cost - maybe some of those who are walking it now will add to that thought. I will say however, that the gites one stays in are often more expensive - but that is because they include breakfast and dinner as well, thus the cost is not based on the same structure as in Spain, where meals are usually paid for seperately. When I walked the cheapest of these type of gites was 17 Euros and the dearest was 34 Euros. There were also some that cost somewhere around 10 - 12 euros, but then food was on top of that. Cheers, Janet

 

[ranthr]

Hello Ajda!
I went from Le Puy in 2009, started 15.08. Since I do not speak much French I booked all my nights before I left. Used the http://www.chemindecompostelle.com and sent mails to the places I wanted to stay. I am 61 and did not want the insecurity of not knowing where to spend the night. I stayed in some gites and at some CH or hotels. If you stay in the gites you will pay 25 -35 euros for a bed and media pension. You have to ask for media-pension when you book. Some places it was not easy to get food elsewhere than in the place I slept. The tourist offices are helpful, but sometimes the gites are full. Some of my fellow walkers said they had dificulties in finding a place to sleep and started booking for some days ahead.
Of course when you have booked ahead your days are set. For me there were some days I would have liked to go further. I had some short days but no restdays.
Your concern about safety: Never heard anybody feeling unsafe. There are not as many peolpe as on the camino in Spain. Some days I saw nobody at all while walking, some days only the hunters sitting on theirs chairs in the forest. If you stay in the gites you will probably find other young people to walk with.
The road was well marked, but you have to pay attention. A couple of times I was a bit uncertain about where to go but then a new read and white sign appeared to asure me.
I was a bit frightened about the language, and there were most French speaking people. But many of them tried to speak English with me. Also met Australians, people from New Zealand, Germans, Canadians m.m.
Good luck with your planning.

Randi

 

[Ajda]

Thank you for your very hepful answers.

I know it's not the best thing to book all the way. But on the other hand it would mean some kind of safety (for me) - i would know i have a bed somewhere on the way. Randi thank you for warning about gites and meals.

The Puy route - is very lonely path? (in the deep forest, mountains or is it near towns and villages). If i'll walk this route, i'll walk in june - august. I guess this is the busyiest time for Le Puy?

What about water on the way? Is it similar as on C. Frances or is it a problem?

Thank you again for answers!

Ajda

 

[jl]

Hi Ajda, I didn't find the Le Puy path lonely at all, and I was walking it in July / August. It is not crowded in the same way that the Camino Frances was, which means that there is not a constant stream of people, but you will see a dozen or so other walkers (not all are pilgrims) during the course of any day. Yes you do go through woods, and the path, like all GR paths in France will take you on a scenic tour, but I can't say I was ever concerned at any time. Eventually you drop into villages - either because the path takes you through, or because you need to go there for accomodation.

I never once had to struggle for a bed on this path, whereas on the Vezelay path at Bar sur Seine my son and I slept in a ditch because we could not find a hotel open on our first day out, and then later at St Jean de Luz on the coast I slept under the stars because every bed in the town was full. On that occasion the locals encouraged me to go and sleep on the beach, but I just found a grassy spot in shadow and stayed there overnight, leaving at dawn before anyone saw me! This last occasion I was on my own and still felt quite safe (and I am a middle aged woman who has never travelled until starting on these Caminos, and who speaks neither French or Spanish).

best wishes, Janet

 

[gittiharre]

Hi Ajda, feel free to have a look at my blogs on this forum. I have walked the Le Puy route and the Frances on my own and felt safe all the way. I also walked 400 km on the Austrian route, which I did find a little lonely compared to the others. Budget wise I can't remember exactly, I wrote down what I spent per day somewhere on this forum in the Le Puy route section. I think it was 30 Euro in Spain and 37 in France, may be a bit less, but I stayed in nice gites all the way in France and had demipension. You can live more cheaply if you self cater, but I loved the shared meal scene in the evenings.
A demipension bed in a gite with breakfast and 3 course dinner with wine is around 25 to 32 Euros per night and I usually bought picnic type lunch and went out for a pre dinner drink. In Spain the refuges range from 5 to 10 Euros, a pilgrim dinner is around 10 Euros and breakfast at a bar 4 Euros, a sandwich for lunch around 5 Euros, if you self cater, often fellow pilgrims would chip in and cook a shared meal, you can get away with quite a bit less.
Love, Gitti