Via Gebennensis September 2012 Le Puy Geneva Help Wanted

[linnea.borealis]

My husband and I are leaving in a week to walk from Geneva to Le Puy (16 Sept. to first week in October). I've read Gitti Harre's excellent blog, and looked at a few others. Any additional advice, suggestions on places to stay, etc. are welcome. Weather? I suppose we can expect anything from hot to cold? Linnea (who walked from Le Puy to Finisterre in 2010. caminobleu.blogspot.com/)

 

[Kitsambler]

Friends of mine walked from Geneva to Le Puy in May 2012; their blog is here: http://www.myheartsmith.com/blog.html

Apparently waymarks are not frequent/well-placed enough to prevent wandering off the track. If you have GPS capability, that would help.

 

[LaurentV]

Hello,

To help you from Geneva to Le Puy, I recommend 2 guidebooks (if you haven't already bought them):

TOPO-guide GR65 : Genève - Le Puy
http://www.nature-randonnee.fr/topo-gui ... e-gr65.php
This one will gives you historical and touristical informations and it comes as well with all the maps in 1:50,000.

And the Yellow guide (in french and german):
http://chemins.amis-st-jacques.org/?page_id=6
This one will gives you all the addresses and phone n° about where to eat, sleep, etc...

You can find them in Geneva, either in Payot or FNAC bookstores; both situaded in Rue du Rhône.

But, if you have the time, I would definitely recommand you to take the "detour" via the Abbey of St Antony, Valence, and the High Plateaux of Ardèche. For this one, you'll need the Green guidebook as long as two IGN French maps n° 156 and 157. I did this last year it was fantastic. The only thing, you'll have to walk arround 24 km per day because there'll be nothing to stay in between, but it worths it.

Hope that helps and buen camino !

Laurent

 

[linnea.borealis]

Thank you, Laurent! I have the IGN 156, and the Yellow guide, and also the little German book (which I can't really read). So, I will look for the French TOPO guide, which I didn't know about. I haven't yet found the detour route via St. Antony and Valence. How many days would it add, and how many 24 km days? Does the detour follow one of the grande randonnees? Linnea

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Linnea, here is the detail about the Topo-Guide: http://loisirs.ign.fr/sentier-vers-saint-jacques-de-compostelle-geneve-le-puy-650.html
Strange as it may seem, I have just ordered this myself, though I expect it will be several years now before I get back to France to walk, seeing as I have only been home two months from my recent walk!
Margaret

 

[linnea.borealis]

Thank you, Margaret! You are the best!

 

[gittiharre]

Hi, glad to hear you are going to walk this route, ther are a couple of places around Chavanay where you can stay in a castle, donation, can't remember details, keep an eye out, apparently superb, Gitti

 

[LaurentV]

Hi Linnea,

From Gillonnay to Le Puy following the GR65 it's 180 km. If you take the detour to Saint Anthony it's 211 km, so basicaly 30 km more. And yes, the detour follows coupled of GRs.

I cannot tell exactly how many days it will add and I didn't follow exactly the stage of the Green guide as I carried my tent with me, but there's at least 6 days when you'd have to walk 24 km.
But this depends : do you want to carry your food and prepare your diner in hostels (gites) or do you want to stay in B & B's (or hotel) with a half-board (diner + breakfast) ?

If you have a map you can check by yourself, from Gillonay the way goes to :
Roybon, the Abbey of Saint Anthony, Romans s/Isere, Glun, Saint-Péray, Alboussière, Chalencon, Saint-Agrève, Saint-Front and Le Puy.

But the Abbey of Saint Anthony and the view (and quietness) will compensate this extra effort :wink:

Hope that helps and let me know if you need for infos !

Laurent

 

[linnea.borealis]

Thank you, again, Laurent! It sounds most appealing. We will most likely stick to the regular route, but going off the beaten track does beckon. We don't want to carry a tent, at least not on this trip, and we are not as young and strong as we once were, although I'm not ruling the option out yet. I suspect the Via Gebennensis will be more rugged than the Le Puy route continuing on from Le Puy. LInnea