Starting le puy on sept 20th 17 any tips?

[christineenglish]

Hi finally about to set off, after many attempts to carve out time at the right time of year - this will be my third camino/chemin. Frances in '12, Norte/Primitivo in 15, but always planned to walk Le Puy. Beautiful Auvillar was where I first revived my interest in the camino/chemin (first engaged by a friend who as a spanish history major had done the camino in the late 80s). Kids and career got in the way, but on a visit to Auvillar in '11 saw the pilgrims on the chemin and vowed to walk from there to santiago - had to truncate to SJPP to Santiago due to time constraints, so finally filling in the gap ++ Le puy to Roncesvalles.

Anyone else setting off around that time? Experienced Le Puyer's any tips?: any issues with the time of year late Sept to late October? This will be my first camino post 60 but lucky enough to live and hike in a mountainous area so should be fit enough, but any watch out's for "
la femme âgée pèlerine"? Bought miam miam dodo 2 years ago but cant put my hand on it presently - any thoughts on whether the app is sufficient? Thanks so much.

 

[Doogman]

Hi: I walked the Le Puy route in three sections: Le Puy to Conques; Conques to Lectoure; Lectoure to SJPdP. It is a wonderful route. You will enjoy it. All three times I walked during the summer months, so my experience may differ from you, but I found the first section had a reasonable number of people walking, but the latter two sections had significantly less. Quite often I was on my own. There were quite a few French walkers, so if you can speak a bit of French, that may enhance the experience. There are are quite a few "ups and downs", but it sounds like you are used to that, so it should not cause a problem. I would love to go back and do it again one day! Bon Camino!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

You will be on the backside of the season. Hosts do not sit around waiting for a pilgrim, so you should call ahead to see if they are open (and let them plan food). Gite d'etape provide only about one-half the accommodations, so you will need to rely on chambre d'hotes. Have fun! It should be a good time of year. Bon chemin.

 

[Kitsambler]

You will see more fellow walkers in the Le Puy - Conques section, and the numbers will tail off after Conques. This is true for every time of year, but will be especially true as late as you are running. There are two-week school holidays in France in mid-October, and some lodgings will close during those holidays; others will close afterwards. At the end of the month, Nov 1 is All Saints (Toussaint) and many lodgings close until Easter (Pascal). All of this is to back up what Falcon said about calling ahead -- even two or three days ahead would not be inappropriate at this time of year. Even if the lodgings are scheduled to be open, per MMD, if they have no bookings, they may take off to visit the grandkids. Be sure to enlist the assistance of your gite hosts for meals and onward reservations.

Weather will be changeable, as it always is during shoulder seasons. You will have some hot sunny days as well as some chilly damp ones. The elevation is lower after Conques, so you shouldn't encounter snow.

 

[TMcA]

Falcon is correct. Call ahead. Because when we walked this at the same time (late September-October) many gîtes and chambres d'hôtes closed on October 1.

Bon chemin.

 

[christineenglish]

Thank you so very much for all your insights - I will definitely be phoning ahead! and packing layers. Will be off the trail by October 20th so hopefully will find open accommodation til then, and I must admit do relish a quiet walk so thinner numbers not a problem so long as a hot dinner and a dry bed is to be found every evening

 

[Deleted member 3000]

a hot dinner

Remember that French businesses take Sunday and Monday off. Restaurants are not quite so bad, but finding a "hot dinner" after the noon meal on Sunday will be a chore in cities, and nearly impossible in villages. If you want a hot meal in a gite d'etape, you will need to self-cater on Sunday.

 

[gittiharre]

I haven't had to self cater on Sundays... did whole Le Puy Rd twice ( June and September) and this year 8 days from Le Puy. I found the route disappointingly touristy/crowded this year. There are not many seats to have a rest or picnic and it seemed every single one I came to ehen I needed a break was taken over the 8 day period. When I walked in 2012 there were nowhere near as many people on the trail. I usually stayed in Gites which offered demipension. Bed, 3 course dinner with wine and bfast. Approx Euro 35 to 42.
Fantastic route though. Take it easy the first few days? Quite a lot of up and down.. .but that has been said already.
Enjoy the peace after Conques...

 

[Magnara]

All of the above... plus there are some stretches where it was impossible to buy food during the day, even for a picnic - no corner stores where we stayed and nothing along the way - to get a baguette. So I would recommend carrying a small amount of backup food for those times. A couple of times we sat looking across a river at a village on the other side, no bridge to get over, and our tummies rumbling. Even the trusty apple and chocolate combo would have been a feast then.

 

[Kitsambler]

I always carried enough for 2-3 days of lunches with me; the opening and closing times can just drive you nuts. One time that had to be dinner as well. Get going on your basic French phrases if you haven't already.