Le Puy Route to St. Jean the Day After Easter, April 5

[andrewlaue]

My pilgrim partner and I will be leaving Le Puy for St. Jean on April 5, 2010. We walked from St. Jean to Santiago in 2002 and it quite literally changed our lives. I have several concrete questions.

How many days should we schedule for this journey? FIve weeks- 35 days or more?
It seems like a cell phone is essential for booking lodging ahead? What is the best way to get one?
Is 100 Euros a day for two people traveling together reasonable for food and lodging?
What is the most expedient way to get from Paris to Le Puy on April 5
We found in 2002 that less is more, the lighter the pack the better the journey. How much cold and wet weather wear do we need to tote?

So looking forward to getting our feet back on the path.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

How many days should we schedule for this journey? FIve weeks- 35 days or more?
It seems like a cell phone is essential for booking lodging ahead? What is the best way to get one?
Is 100 Euros a day for two people traveling together reasonable for food and lodging?
What is the most expedient way to get from Paris to Le Puy on April 5
We found in 2002 that less is more, the lighter the pack the better the journey. How much cold and wet weather wear do we need to tote?

Hi Andrew,
Here are a few answers based on my experience at a similar time of year: I left Le Puy April 14 in 2008.

It took me 44 days from Le Puy to SJPP, including four rest days, but many do it in not much more than 30 days. There are sections where the gite spacing forces you to make a choice between say 17km or 34km: I was never keen on 30+km days so in places I had a lot of shorter days.

I never took a cell phone: I used a phone card in phone boxes along the way. However, this had its limitations as the card wasn't useable in all boxes, and not all villages had phone boxes. Sometimes a gite owner rang ahead for me. I would take a mobile phone in France another time, but don't know where to buy.

100 Euros per day for two people should be absolutely more than enough. Most places that had demi-pension, with dinner and breakfast as well as the bed, charged 25-30 Euro.

It is easy enough to get to Le Puy by train from Paris, but you will have to take two trains, and change somewhere like Lyon or St Etienne from memory. They will help you with your choices at the train station in Paris as the transfer varies with the time of departure.

It is possible you will have some cold, wet weather in April. I encountered snow a couple of times, and had a very wet cold crossing on the Aubrac Plateau. (It snowed there the day after I crossed.) Once you have descended off the Aubrac Plateau it probably won't be as cold. I found the weather varied tremendously. A week after snow in Les Faux, it was 30C+ in Conques!

All the best- it is a lovely route!
Margaret

 

[ranthr]

Hello!
The best way to go from Paris to Le Puy is by train. You can buy tickets on TGV-Europe.com for the whole trip or at the station. You change train in Lyon and St. Etienne and if you come to Paris by air you can take the TGV directly from CDG- airport. I tried this in August and it was very easy and comfortable.
I used 35 days from Le Puy to Huntto. I had no restdays but some very short days. The weather was hot and the paths and roads were dry. You should read Margarets blog. It gives you a good picture of how different the days can be.
About the cellphone: I bought a French prepaid simcard in an Orangeshop in Le Puy. There are several of them in town. It did not cost much, 20-30 euros, and you had to fill it up in 14 days or so. I put 5 euros on it a couple of times on the way. You need an unbound cellphone. I brought an old one. With this simcard you do not have to pay for incomming calls, like I must if I use my Norwegian simcard abroad, and it is cheap to call to book a place to sleep.
At the gites you will have to pay 25 to 35 euros for a place to sleep, dinner and breakfast. I also stayed at Ch and some hotels and payed from 30 to 70 euros for media pension when I had a room for myself. I think 100 euros will be reasonable for food and lodging, even if it is more expensive in France than at the camino in Spain.
Bonne route! I guess you will have a wonderfull time. Bring good shoes. It is a lot of hard road.
Randi

 

[irishgurrrl]

Hello!
The best way to go from Paris to Le Puy is by train. You can buy tickets on TGV-Europe.com for the whole trip or at the station. You change train in Lyon and St. Etienne and if you come to Paris by air you can take the TGV directly from CDG- airport. I tried this in August and it was very easy and comfortable.
I used 35 days from Le Puy to Huntto. I had no restdays but some very short days. The weather was hot and the paths and roads were dry. You should read Margarets blog. It gives you a good picture of how different the days can be.
About the cellphone: I bought a French prepaid simcard in an Orangeshop in Le Puy. There are several of them in town. It did not cost much, 20-30 euros, and you had to fill it up in 14 days or so. I put 5 euros on it a couple of times on the way. You need an unbound cellphone. I brought an old one. With this simcard you do not have to pay for incomming calls, like I must if I use my Norwegian simcard abroad, and it is cheap to call to book a place to sleep.
At the gites you will have to pay 25 to 35 euros for a place to sleep, dinner and breakfast. I also stayed at Ch and some hotels and payed from 30 to 70 euros for media pension when I had a room for myself. I think 100 euros will be reasonable for food and lodging, even if it is more expensive in France than at the camino in Spain.
Bonne route! I guess you will have a wonderfull time. Bring good shoes. It is a lot of hard road.
Randi

Hi Randi

Just reading your post and noticed you bought a SIM card for your unlocked old phone - I plan to do the same - was it easy to arrange in the shop and what did you ask for? I speak French but I have images of me struggling to explain what I want!

 

[ranthr]

Hi Randi

Just reading your post and noticed you bought a SIM card for your unlocked old phone - I plan to do the same - was it easy to arrange in the shop and what did you ask for? I speak French but I have images of me struggling to explain what I want!

Very easy! Asked for a prepaid sim, they put it into my phone, checked that it worked. There is an orangeshop near the plaza on the way up to the cathedral, but several other shops too. I think I had to fill it up with a few euros every 14 days. This was 2009, last spring I brought an ipadmini and used free wifi instead. it worked well On my route from Le Puy to Figeac and on the Norte. But if you want to call places to sleep, a phonecard is OK.

 

[irishgurrrl]

Very easy! Asked for a prepaid sim, they put it into my phone, checked that it worked. There is an orangeshop near the plaza on the way up to the cathedral, but several other shops too. I think I had to fill it up with a few euros every 14 days. This was 2009, last spring I brought an ipadmini and used free wifi instead. it worked well On my route from Le Puy to Figeac and on the Norte. But if you want to call places to sleep, a phonecard is OK.

Ah great - I like easy! haha Thanks Ranthr

 

[scruffy1]

Bon Marche! The Weather Guessers are predicting nice temperatures and some rain for when you arrive, mild temperatures and improving weather as you walk along. Expect mud and slippery going from time to time-i became a confirmed gaiters man walking from Le Puy - a very good protection from wet mud and snow (Aubrac for sure!) You will have a wonderful Camino I am sure - Bon Camino

 

[irishgurrrl]

Bon Marche! The Weather Guessers are predicting nice temperatures and some rain for when you arrive, mild temperatures and improving weather as you walk along. Expect mud and slippery going from time to time-i became a confirmed gaiters man walking from Le Puy - a very good protection from wet mud and snow (Aubrac for sure!) You will have a wonderful Camino I am sure - Bon Camino

Thanks Scruffy1

I was planning to bring short(ish), lightweight gaitors as per link here: http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/mid-layer/IC101-2.html - Obviously not as high as normal gaitors but its mainly just to keep my boots and bottom of trousers relatively dry/clean in case we do meet snow/mud ... I hope they do the trick!

 

[Sraaen]

Hi Andrew,
Here are a few answers based on my experience at a similar time of year: I left Le Puy April 14 in 2008.

It took me 44 days from Le Puy to SJPP, including four rest days, but many do it in not much more than 30 days. There are sections where the gite spacing forces you to make a choice between say 17km or 34km: I was never keen on 30+km days so in places I had a lot of shorter days.

I never took a cell phone: I used a phone card in phone boxes along the way. However, this had its limitations as the card wasn't useable in all boxes, and not all villages had phone boxes. Sometimes a gite owner rang ahead for me. I would take a mobile phone in France another time, but don't know where to buy.

100 Euros per day for two people should be absolutely more than enough. Most places that had demi-pension, with dinner and breakfast as well as the bed, charged 25-30 Euro.

It is easy enough to get to Le Puy by train from Paris, but you will have to take two trains, and change somewhere like Lyon or St Etienne from memory. They will help you with your choices at the train station in Paris as the transfer varies with the time of departure.

It is possible you will have some cold, wet weather in April. I encountered snow a couple of times, and had a very wet cold crossing on the Aubrac Plateau. (It snowed there the day after I crossed.) Once you have descended off the Aubrac Plateau it probably won't be as cold. I found the weather varied tremendously. A week after snow in Les Faux, it was 30C+ in Conques!

All the best- it is a lovely route!
Margaret

By taking 44 days, Kiwi Nomad was able to document the Le Puy route better than anyone else I've seen. Her blog inspired me to do the Le Puy route and was invaluable en route. I'm sorry I haven't thanked you before. Thank you!

 

[ranthr]

Thanks Scruffy1

I was planning to bring short(ish), lightweight gaitors as per link here: http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/mid-layer/IC101-2.html - Obviously not as high as normal gaitors but its mainly just to keep my boots and bottom of trousers relatively dry/clean in case we do meet snow/mud ... I hope they do the trick!

Just the right gaiters for the camino! If you wear raintrouser too, put the leg over the gaiters. Gaiters are good for keeping stones out of your shoes too.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

By taking 44 days, Kiwi Nomad was able to document the Le Puy route better than anyone else I've seen. Her blog inspired me to do the Le Puy route and was invaluable en route. I'm sorry I haven't thanked you before. Thank you!

Thanks Sraaen- glad that you found my blog helpful.
Margaret

 

[irishgurrrl]

Thanks Sraaen- glad that you found my blog helpful.
Margaret

Love your blog too Margaret - really brilliant and great for the likes of us about to walk the route

 

[irishgurrrl]

Just the right gaiters for the camino! If you wear raintrouser too, put the leg over the gaiters. Gaiters are good for keeping stones out of your shoes too.

Great - I wasn't sure but good to know they will do the job - lighter and less sweaty than the full size ones which is why I ordered them.