billmclaughlin
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- SJPP/Burgos 2012; Le Puy/SJPP 2013; Aumont Aubrac/Aire sur l'Adour 2014; Burgos/Santiago 2016.
I set out on the Arles route, beginning in Montpellier. I saw only two other hikers on the first day and four on the second, and I confirmed with roadside hotel and restaurant folks that not many more than that could be expected at this season. Since I enjoy company in the evening and it helps to have a variety of personalities, I reversed course and took a train from Montpellier to reach the Le Puy route as quickly as possible.
I had 24 nights before I needed to be in Paris. I figured I would cover much the same ground as I had when I walked from Le Puy to SJPP in September/October 2013, but I would try to vary it by sleeping in places I walked through and walking through places I slept in. I still wanted to work with the weather and pay attention to how my body was feeling, so avoiding any repetition wasn’t going to control all my decision-making. In the end, I had 22 nights on the route, spent 10 of them in towns I’d stayed in before, just 2 of those nights in gites I’d been in last year. And I had spring weather instead of fall, which turned out to mean lots of flowers and (lucky for me) no rain at all, though others got caught in heavy passing showers.
I was the sole passenger leaving the train in Aumont Aubrac. The train station manager pointed me to a break in the fence as my best way of accessing the chemin and within 15 minutes I was walking with two brothers from Lille. Then we encountered a troop of 10-year-olds trying to persuade their donkey to cross a stream. I roomed in Finieyrols with two Frenchwomen and had a great dinner with the conversation entirely in French. I was more than thrilled to be back on the Le Puy route!
I had already skipped the earliest stages out of Le Puy. And rather than stress myself trying to reach SJPP, I planned an early exit from the chemin, since I wasn’t eager to visit Bayonne for a fourth time in 2 years. I managed to follow some different routes. I did the fantastic stretch between Nasbinals and St. Côme d’Olt that I skipped in 2013. I left the main route at Limogne en Quercy to hike north to spend the May 8 holiday in Saint Cirq Lapopie and then retraced a bit of my route to rejoin the main route and then detoured south just a bit to spend a night at the convent in Vaylats. I took a shortcut to avoid much-abused Decazeville, where I had lunched happily last year.
As in the fall, I made reservations one day in advance, occasionally just a few hours ahead. My favorite gites were Saint André in Saint Chély d'Aubrac, L’Orée du Chemin in Massip, Le Bouy in Lascabanes, La Maison du Chat Bleu (really table-d’hôte I suppose) in Auvillar, Le Pèlerin in Cajarc, Le Champ des Etoiles with home-made yoghurt and a toaster at breakfast and its wonderful garden/park for dinner outdoors in Condom, and Le Presbytère in Lanne Soubiran. One place I very much wanted to revisit was Le Papillon Vert in Cahors. There wasn’t a bed available, but lovely Jackie told me to stop by and say hello, which turned into an invitation to dinner with her and two paying guests from Paris and their 15-month old daughter. A very special evening, rather different en famille.
When I wasn’t leaving right after breakfast to continue hiking, the wonderful hospitaliere at the hotel/gite de la Paix in Aire sur l’Adour gave me the key to the back door and trusted me to leave the key when I left. I caught the midday SNCF bus to Pau, a city I’ve long wanted to visit. The other passengers were a Californian who was leaving the chemin because her hips had given out and a Parisian dentist who had retired to Pau. He bought us coffee and directed us to our destinations in the city. Pau was made for a great short visit, with its free bus service that circles the small city center, a chateau that’s worth a visit, and fine views of the snow-capped Pyrenees. I dined with my new California friend both nights there. She was hosted via Airbnb in an apartment near my hotel by a local woman who invited us up for pre-dinner champagne and pastry the second night. We spent a wonderful evening – another great workout for my French – as our hostess shared her life story, birth in Algeria, exile with her parents at the time of the cease fire, etc., and her knowledge of Pau. Then I caught the once-a-day direct train to Paris at 6:59 am, dined with a friend who lives there, caught a great exhibit of the art of Berber women, survived the long flight to Montreal on always-reliable Air France and the bus to Boston. Whew!
My fellow hikers were delightful, especially, Ulrich and Ursula, M. and Mme. Delattre, Renata and Reiner, Docteur Viel from Drudas and his friends, the Swiss couple who spoke Romansh, Benedict who bought my hiking poles, and so many more. The engaging atheist at dinner in Livinhac discussing the design of war memorials and the principles of laïcité, roughly the French version of the separation of church and state. The Communist party official who provoked some laughter by insisting on buying an American a drink. Among so many, Soeur Sandrine from Perigueux was a joy at every encounter and Vincent from Strasbourg proved a man of depth and warmth. And most of all Samuel from Zurich, with his mastery of languages, proved a perfect companion on and off for several days and nights, quick to laugh but ready for a serious discussion or even an argument from time to time, able to walk with me in silence for long stretches, too.
I’m ready to return in a year or two for a third Le Puy trek. Maybe I’ll start with a short day and then spend my second night in Monistrol, try not to spend a night in Conques or Cahors, definitely follow the Célé variant, stride straight through Auvillar to sleep in Saint Antoine, stay on the main route to visit La Romieu this time, etc.…. Plenty of possibilities.
Bill (aka Guillaume)
P.S. And how could I forget this? A special shout-out to the men's barber shop on the rue Nationale in Lectoure! Great guy and a great cut!
I had 24 nights before I needed to be in Paris. I figured I would cover much the same ground as I had when I walked from Le Puy to SJPP in September/October 2013, but I would try to vary it by sleeping in places I walked through and walking through places I slept in. I still wanted to work with the weather and pay attention to how my body was feeling, so avoiding any repetition wasn’t going to control all my decision-making. In the end, I had 22 nights on the route, spent 10 of them in towns I’d stayed in before, just 2 of those nights in gites I’d been in last year. And I had spring weather instead of fall, which turned out to mean lots of flowers and (lucky for me) no rain at all, though others got caught in heavy passing showers.
I was the sole passenger leaving the train in Aumont Aubrac. The train station manager pointed me to a break in the fence as my best way of accessing the chemin and within 15 minutes I was walking with two brothers from Lille. Then we encountered a troop of 10-year-olds trying to persuade their donkey to cross a stream. I roomed in Finieyrols with two Frenchwomen and had a great dinner with the conversation entirely in French. I was more than thrilled to be back on the Le Puy route!
I had already skipped the earliest stages out of Le Puy. And rather than stress myself trying to reach SJPP, I planned an early exit from the chemin, since I wasn’t eager to visit Bayonne for a fourth time in 2 years. I managed to follow some different routes. I did the fantastic stretch between Nasbinals and St. Côme d’Olt that I skipped in 2013. I left the main route at Limogne en Quercy to hike north to spend the May 8 holiday in Saint Cirq Lapopie and then retraced a bit of my route to rejoin the main route and then detoured south just a bit to spend a night at the convent in Vaylats. I took a shortcut to avoid much-abused Decazeville, where I had lunched happily last year.
As in the fall, I made reservations one day in advance, occasionally just a few hours ahead. My favorite gites were Saint André in Saint Chély d'Aubrac, L’Orée du Chemin in Massip, Le Bouy in Lascabanes, La Maison du Chat Bleu (really table-d’hôte I suppose) in Auvillar, Le Pèlerin in Cajarc, Le Champ des Etoiles with home-made yoghurt and a toaster at breakfast and its wonderful garden/park for dinner outdoors in Condom, and Le Presbytère in Lanne Soubiran. One place I very much wanted to revisit was Le Papillon Vert in Cahors. There wasn’t a bed available, but lovely Jackie told me to stop by and say hello, which turned into an invitation to dinner with her and two paying guests from Paris and their 15-month old daughter. A very special evening, rather different en famille.
When I wasn’t leaving right after breakfast to continue hiking, the wonderful hospitaliere at the hotel/gite de la Paix in Aire sur l’Adour gave me the key to the back door and trusted me to leave the key when I left. I caught the midday SNCF bus to Pau, a city I’ve long wanted to visit. The other passengers were a Californian who was leaving the chemin because her hips had given out and a Parisian dentist who had retired to Pau. He bought us coffee and directed us to our destinations in the city. Pau was made for a great short visit, with its free bus service that circles the small city center, a chateau that’s worth a visit, and fine views of the snow-capped Pyrenees. I dined with my new California friend both nights there. She was hosted via Airbnb in an apartment near my hotel by a local woman who invited us up for pre-dinner champagne and pastry the second night. We spent a wonderful evening – another great workout for my French – as our hostess shared her life story, birth in Algeria, exile with her parents at the time of the cease fire, etc., and her knowledge of Pau. Then I caught the once-a-day direct train to Paris at 6:59 am, dined with a friend who lives there, caught a great exhibit of the art of Berber women, survived the long flight to Montreal on always-reliable Air France and the bus to Boston. Whew!
My fellow hikers were delightful, especially, Ulrich and Ursula, M. and Mme. Delattre, Renata and Reiner, Docteur Viel from Drudas and his friends, the Swiss couple who spoke Romansh, Benedict who bought my hiking poles, and so many more. The engaging atheist at dinner in Livinhac discussing the design of war memorials and the principles of laïcité, roughly the French version of the separation of church and state. The Communist party official who provoked some laughter by insisting on buying an American a drink. Among so many, Soeur Sandrine from Perigueux was a joy at every encounter and Vincent from Strasbourg proved a man of depth and warmth. And most of all Samuel from Zurich, with his mastery of languages, proved a perfect companion on and off for several days and nights, quick to laugh but ready for a serious discussion or even an argument from time to time, able to walk with me in silence for long stretches, too.
I’m ready to return in a year or two for a third Le Puy trek. Maybe I’ll start with a short day and then spend my second night in Monistrol, try not to spend a night in Conques or Cahors, definitely follow the Célé variant, stride straight through Auvillar to sleep in Saint Antoine, stay on the main route to visit La Romieu this time, etc.…. Plenty of possibilities.
Bill (aka Guillaume)
P.S. And how could I forget this? A special shout-out to the men's barber shop on the rue Nationale in Lectoure! Great guy and a great cut!
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