Start walking from Carcassonne on Sept. 2, 2017.

[MM HILL]

Anyone starting the same date?

 

[Anniesantiago]

How exciting! I love Carcassonne!

 

[natefaith]

Yes, super exciting! I love Carcassonne, too!

Enjoy it all and Buen Camino!

(!!!!!)

 

[lovingkindness]

Bon chemin et bon courage, MM. It is a lovely route to follow...

 

[mark connolly]

Starting in Lourdes on Sept 12th. Hope to meet up with you. Bon Chemin.

Mark

 

[Kanga]

Another vote for Carcasonne!

 

[Elsabe Beard]

Any information on the Piemont route welcome. How busy is this route? Accommodation? Best time of the year to do it?
Thanks for advise

 

[lovingkindness]

http://www.godesalco.com/plan

Any information on the Piemont route welcome. How busy is this route? Accommodation? Best time of the year to do it?
Thanks for advise

Bonjour, Elsabe.
Here are a couple of websites to help with planning:

http://www.godesalco.com/plan
http://vppyr.free.fr/vpp-index-partir.htm

Le voie du Piemont is sweet in May. There will be wild orchids and butterflies along the trail and an abundance of poppies, herbs and flowering grasses. The meadows are verdant and the hillsides are noisy with song birds chortling and scrapping...

When I set off in the first week of May, 2017 there were few other pilgrims for company. Until Lourdes I met just 4. They were following le Chemin de St Jaques whereas I followed the GR 78. Sometimes we met in the evenings. After Oloron-Sainte-Marie I hiked up to Le Col du Somport then followed El Camino Aragones. On the Spanish side of the Pyrenees the vegetation and geology altered somewhat. Hope this helps....

Cheers
Lovingkindness

 

[Elsabe Beard]

Thank you for the info

 

[donalomahony]

This thread might help! https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...des-and-walked-to-st-jean-pied-de-port.23497/

 

[Former member 99290]

http://www.godesalco.com/plan

Bonjour, Elsabe.
Here are a couple of websites to help with planning:

http://www.godesalco.com/plan
http://vppyr.free.fr/vpp-index-partir.htm

Le voie du Piemont is sweet in May. There will be wild orchids and butterflies along the trail and an abundance of poppies, herbs and flowering grasses. The meadows are verdant and the hillsides are noisy with song birds chortling and scrapping...

When I set off in the first week of May, 2017 there were few other pilgrims for company. Until Lourdes I met just 4. They were following le Chemin de St Jaques whereas I followed the GR 78. Sometimes we met in the evenings. After Oloron-Sainte-Marie I hiked up to Le Col du Somport then followed El Camino Aragones. On the Spanish side of the Pyrenees the vegetation and geology altered somewhat. Hope this helps....

Cheers
Lovingkindness

Bonjour @lovingkindness i know this is an old thread but I just stumbled across it and hoping you can clarify something. We are planning to walk the Chemin du Piemont in April, from Narbonne to SJPP. At Oloron we will ‘turn north-ish’ towards SJPP - we have already walked the Arles Aragones way (and loved it).

Back to my question - Your comment above says you were following the GR78 and others you met were following the Chemin de Saint Jaques but you sometimes met in the evenings . I didn’t realise there were two paths. Can you tell me the difference.

Thank you. Merci.

 

[jungleboy]

How exciting! I love Carcassonne!

Yes, super exciting! I love Carcassonne, too!

Another vote for Carcasonne!

And another!

Spoiler: Towers of Carcassonne

And it gets bonus points for the board game and for Kate Mosse's historical fiction books set there!

 

[MM HILL]

Bonjour @lovingkindness i know this is an old thread but I just stumbled across it and hoping you can clarify something. We are planning to walk the Chemin du Piemont in April, from Narbonne to SJPP. At Oloron we will ‘turn north-ish’ towards SJPP - we have already walked the Arles Aragones way (and loved it).

Back to my question - Your comment above says you were following the GR78 and others you met were following the Chemin de Saint Jaques but you sometimes met in the evenings . I didn’t realise there were two paths. Can you tell me the difference.

Thank you. Merci.

From the Camino Pilgrim website:
“From Carcassonne to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port you are on the GR78A or GR78, well waymarked throughout with the familiar red and white bars of the GR long distance paths. If you are continuing to Hendaye/Irún, there is a choice of routes, two only occasionally waymarked, on a mixture of footpaths and very minor roads; however, with guidebook and maps, direction-finding should not be a problem. As an extra challenge, you could opt for the demanding GR10 which is more Pyrenees than foothills!”

 

[Former member 99290]

Thank you @MM HILL that’s the sort of description I’d read and had assumed the GR follows the Chemin. But in digging further I’ve come across a few comments - in addition to the one from @lovingkindness - that lead me to think they don’t start in the same place and even, once they connect, there is some divergence though i get the sense that it’s minimal ‘here and there’

According to the French GR website, the GR 78 starts in Capestang

GR®78 Randonnée de Capestang (Hérault) à Carcassonne (Aude)

www.gr-infos.com

Whereas the Chemin du Piemont is described on most sites as starting in Montpelier or Narbonne (or Narbonne Plage). We will start from either Narbonne or a few stages along at Carcassone.

I haven’t looked at the GR map in detail but I’m guessing it connects with the Chemin in or just before Carcassone.

I was just curious but all will be revealed along the Way.

 

[natefaith]

And it gets bonus points for the board game and for Kate Mosse's historical fiction books set there!

The board game is so much fun....because of it we decided to visit Carcassonne years later, when we could.

Thanks for the link to the books. Never knew there was literature out there that was set in Carcassonne!

 

[jungleboy]

Thanks for the link to the books. Never knew there was literature out there that was set in Carcassonne!

This is probably a better link, to author Kate Mosse's official site. The historical fiction novels set in or near Carcassonne are the 'Languedoc Trilogy" (Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel), stories that take place in parallel time periods throughout history, and the new series The Burning Chambers, of which there are two books so far and another coming later this year hopefully. I think they're all wonderful!

 

[jungleboy]

The board game is so much fun....because of it we decided to visit Carcassonne years later, when we could.

I did it the other way around - visiting the city first and then discovering the game. I used to be an uber-fan of the game and although I haven't played in a few years now, I still have my collection which includes all the expansions from the first artwork version stored in a custom-made wooden box.

 

[natefaith]

I did it the other way around - visiting the city first and then discovering the game. I used to be an uber-fan of the game and although I haven't played in a few years now, I still have my collection which includes all the expansions from the first artwork version stored in a custom-made wooden box.

The next time you guys are in town, we should see if we're all up for a game.

We haven't played in ages, either. You sound like an even bigger fan, though, if you've got a custom-made box!

 

[jungleboy]

The next time you guys are in town, we should see if we're all up for a game.

Deal!

 

[BombayBill]

Bonjour @lovingkindness i know this is an old thread but I just stumbled across it and hoping you can clarify something. We are planning to walk the Chemin du Piemont in April, from Narbonne to SJPP. At Oloron we will ‘turn north-ish’ towards SJPP - we have already walked the Arles Aragones way (and loved it).

Back to my question - Your comment above says you were following the GR78 and others you met were following the Chemin de Saint Jaques but you sometimes met in the evenings . I didn’t realise there were two paths. Can you tell me the difference.

Thank you. Merci.

My 2 cents on the difference between a GR trail and a Camino trail is that a GR endeavours to keep you in the wild while a Camino trail will more likely take you through town. Sometimes you want the GR for the views ( first part of the Norte) and sometimes you want a snack and a cafe. The two often collide. A quick look at a map and consulting your stomach leads to the right decision.

@anamcara I notice you’ve done Arles and want to do Pièmont. I’m planning one or the other in 2022. Any thoughts on the differences?

 

[lovingkindness]

Bonjour @lovingkindness i know this is an old thread but I just stumbled across it and hoping you can clarify something. We are planning to walk the Chemin du Piemont in April, from Narbonne to SJPP. At Oloron we will ‘turn north-ish’ towards SJPP - we have already walked the Arles Aragones way (and loved it).

Back to my question - Your comment above says you were following the GR78 and others you met were following the Chemin de Saint Jaques but you sometimes met in the evenings . I didn’t realise there were two paths. Can you tell me the difference.

Thank you. Merci.

Bonjour @anamcara

Yes, there are two paths. I replied to a similar question elsewhere (quoted below). Here's the link: #19 and #21

".... I walked this route in May, 2017 without a Topoguide. I relied on the red + white GR signs, information gleaned at tourist offices along the way, and a pdf obtained from the ACIR office in Toulouse. Here's a link to the ACIR pdf of Voie de Piemont 2021. There were a couple of places where I missed the signs and went on a grand detour. [Edit: Sign confusion after Saint Bertrand de Cominges ; Sign confusion 10 minutes after Montserié. There are several trails in these two areas and I got bamboozled. An IGN map, guide book or Topoguide would have helped, Lol]

Most evenings I met up with pilgrims walking la Voie du Piémont which spends more time on asphalt and is a little less strenuous than the GR 78. We discussed and compared trails. I think there were two or three guide books available for la Voie du Piémont at that time. The others were using these. The two trails coincided at the end of most days.

*Here is another useful document for Voie du Piémont-Pyrénéen:
'Livret des Haltes-Saint-Jacques', edition 2021

*ACIR Compostelle: office hours"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*This conversation may also be of interest: le GR 78: Bagnères de Bigorre to Lourdes

* Here is a nice tourist brochure similar to one I picked up along the way: Two-page pdf

Hope these help. Happy planning.
-Lovingkindness

 

[lovingkindness]

PS I see that the link to ACIR pdf of Voie de Piemont 2021 no longer works. One can contact ACIR and ask for the latest pdf documents to be emailed free. Click here: ACIR - Demande de documents. La voie des Piemonts.

Cheers
LK

 

[Kanga]

And then you can take a break, like we did, and do many extra but very flat sections walking the Canal du Midi!.

 

[Former member 99290]

PS I see that the link to ACIR pdf of Voie de Piemont 2021 no longer works. One can contact ACIR and ask for the latest pdf documents to be emailed free. Click here: ACIR - Demande de documents. La voie des Piemonts.

Cheers
LK

Thanks so much for the above. Much appreciated. ❤ very much looking forward to the Chemin du Piemont.

 

[Former member 99290]

And then you can take a break, like we did, and do many extra but very flat sections walking the Canal du Midi!.

We really enjoyed our time along the Canal du Midi when walking the Arles Way some yeas ago.

 

[Former member 99290]

We had planned to start the Piemont in Narbonne but think it will now be Carcassone as time is a little shorter than originally planned due to other plans to have a week ‘en famille’ in the countryside with Domi’s girls and grandchildren in first week of school holidays. Can’t wait for that.

 

[Former member 99290]

I came across this list of ‘hebergements’ from Carcassone to Oloron St Marie - I guess I should add to Chemin du Piemont resources section. A link on the CSJ CSJ website

Hébergement | saint-jacques

www.lesamisdescheminsdesaintjacquesenterredaude.com

 

[Former member 99290]

notice you’ve done Arles and want to do Pièmont. I’m planning one or the other in 2022. Any thoughts on the differences?

Apologies for delayed response. Though I don’t know that I can help with a comparison as I’ve only walked the Arles so far. And we are deliberately not ‘investigating’ too much about the Piemont. We just want to start walking and will likely just consider our stages as we go and call a day ahead for accommodation. Due to other commitments, our time is limited so we will start in Carcassone and walk to SJPP and on to Bayonne.

I expect Piemont will have even fewer pilgrims than the Arles Way (which we loved and which had far fewer than the Le Puy, which is an all time favourite). And, for that reason, there are likely fewer pilgrim specific gites. I have no doubt it will be beautiful in terms of landscape, towns and villages. With the warm welcome and hospitality we enjoyed on the Le Puy and Arles.

Sorry, not much help to you. Bon chemin.

 

[BombayBill]

I created a 2022 thread under the Piemont route to gather some more updated resources and news. I agree too much planning can spoil the excitement. I like to know the route but not see every picture in advance.
see https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/piemont-planning-2022.73011/