weather on Le Puy route-starting 24 August

[happymarkos]

Hi
My wife and I start our walk on 24 August and hope to be in St Jean by 10 October. Not sure what sort of weather to expect along the way. We will be prepared for cold weather with thermals, icebreaker layers and outer shells to keep out rain and wind.
Will that do?
Also, planning to take a sleeping sheet and stay in a variety of accommodation; do we also need a sleeping bag? (I needed one last year when I walked from St Jean to Santiago in late April to June)
many thanks
Happy Mark

 

[cornishtim]

Just walked Le Puy to Conques at the start of June. Apart from one chilly day with some drizzle we were walking in temperatures of 37 degrees some days! A silk sheet liner was all that was needed at night as all places provide blankets. The icebreakers are great as tshirt or inner layer. Sounds like you are well prepared. Enjoy.

 

[gittiharre]

Hi, I have walked the Le Puy Route through all of September in 2009 and 2010 the Via Gebennensis and Robert Louis Stevenson Trail around the same time. I took a silk sleeping bag liner, there were blankets everywhere in gites. I walked in Shorts and took a pair of light 3/4 pants for the evening, a long sleeved merino lightweight, would be better than a short sleeved one and I took a lightweight fleece and the Lite Altus Raincoat/cape. I was totally warm enough. I had a buff, which I could put over the ears in cold wind. I did not bring gloves, no need. The coldest area potentially is the Aubrac and that is early on in the walk. I had great weather apart from a couple of days of heavy rain, warm though.
Hard to know though how it will be this year, weather these days is all over the place. Gitti

 

[happymarkos]

Just walked Le Puy to Conques at the start of June. Apart from one chilly day with some drizzle we were walking in temperatures of 37 degrees some days! A silk sheet liner was all that was needed at night as all places provide blankets. The icebreakers are great as tshirt or inner layer. Sounds like you are well prepared. Enjoy.

Thank you for your reply, it is really appreciated.
Any comments on the walking paths from Le Puy would be appreciated

 

[happymarkos]

Hi, I have walked the Le Puy Route through all of September in 2009 and 2010 the Via Gebennensis and Robert Louis Stevenson Trail around the same time. I took a silk sleeping bag liner, there were blankets everywhere in gites. I walked in Shorts and took a pair of light 3/4 pants for the evening, a long sleeved merino lightweight, would be better than a short sleeved one and I took a lightweight fleece and the Lite Altus Raincoat/cape. I was totally warm enough. I had a buff, which I could put over the ears in cold wind. I did not bring gloves, no need. The coldest area potentially is the Aubrac and that is early on in the walk. I had great weather apart from a couple of days of heavy rain, warm though.
Hard to know though how it will be this year, weather these days is all over the place. Gitti

Hi Gittiharre,
thank you for your advice, it is greatly appreciated. My wife was wondering if you took your own backpack and if so what weight you carried.
Any suggestions to pass on about the path from Le Puy? We plan to start fairly slowly and increase the distance as we go.
with thanks
Mark

 

[gittiharre]

Hi Mark, I carry my pack and the weight is around 6.5 kg including water and picnic lunch. It has taken me several walks to get it down to that. Happy to send you our itinerary by email. Just send me a private message with your address and I will reply. I/we started slowly and increased distances, it is a good plan for sure! Gitti

 

[newfydog]

we left LePuy the last week of August. It rained every night, but never rained on us during the day. You need to have your St James alms paid up.

 

[happymarkos]

Hi Mark, I carry my pack and the weight is around 6.5 kg including water and picnic lunch. It has taken me several walks to get it down to that. Happy to send you our itinerary by email. Just send me a private message with your address and I will reply. I/we started slowly and increased distances, it is a good plan for sure! Gitti

Hi Mark, I carry my pack and the weight is around 6.5 kg including water and picnic lunch. It has taken me several walks to get it down to that. Happy to send you our itinerary by email. Just send me a private message with your address and I will reply. I/we started slowly and increased distances, it is a good plan for sure! Gitti

 

[happymarkos]

Hi Mark, I carry my pack and the weight is around 6.5 kg including water and picnic lunch. It has taken me several walks to get it down to that. Happy to send you our itinerary by email. Just send me a private message with your address and I will reply. I/we started slowly and increased distances, it is a good plan for sure! Gitti

Hi Mark, I carry my pack and the weight is around 6.5 kg including water and picnic lunch. It has taken me several walks to get it down to that. Happy to send you our itinerary by email. Just send me a private message with your address and I will reply. I/we started slowly and increased distances, it is a good plan for sure! Gitti

Hi Gitti
excuse my ignorance, but how do I send a private message? I have looked at the icons etc and still can
it see how it is done
thanks
HappyMark

 

[gittiharre]

Sorry it used to be called private message. Now you go into private conversation and start one...

 

[susiew]

Hi
My wife and I start our walk on 24 August and hope to be in St Jean by 10 October. Not sure what sort of weather to expect along the way. We will be prepared for cold weather with thermals, icebreaker layers and outer shells to keep out rain and wind.
Will that do?
Also, planning to take a sleeping sheet and stay in a variety of accommodation; do we also need a sleeping bag? (I needed one last year when I walked from St Jean to Santiago in late April to June)
many thanks
Happy Mark

Hi Mark
I am starting 23 August in Le Puy and have taken all Gitti good advice....hope you bump into you and your wife on the Way....jumping out of my skin already...Cheers Susie

 

[happymarkos]

Hi Mark
I am starting 23 August in Le Puy and have taken all Gitti good advice....hope you bump into you and your wife on the Way....jumping out of my skin already...Cheers Susie

Hi Susie
we will be in Le Puy on the 22 and 23 August and start walking on the 24th.
Might see you before you start. We are staying at the Grand Seminare near the cathederal
mark

 

[Green Tortuga]

My wife and I start our walk on 24 August and hope to be in St Jean by 10 October. Not sure what sort of weather to expect along the way. We will be prepared for cold weather with thermals, icebreaker layers and outer shells to keep out rain and wind. Will that do?

In August, the weather probably won't be too terribly cold. When I hiked from Le Puy (I started August 11th, if I remember correctly), it was quite warm and for one particular week, completely miserably hot. Sleeping outdoors with nothing more than a T-shirt was a joy! But October.... you could certainly get some cold weather, I would imagine.

In the month or so it took me to reach Saint Jean, it only rained on me once during the day. It rained more often at night, but I was indoors for those times.

Needless to say, your experiences may vary. =) But that's what I had to deal with in August and September. (By October, I was deep into Spain--so I don't actually have personal knowledge of October weather in France.)

Buen camino!

-- Ryan

 

[Thornley]

Take a punt mate , no rain until Leon.
Sleeping liner only.
We commenced with 3 fifteen km days and it worked after the long flight
Enjoy this lovely way, completely different from Spanish and the section until Cahors will have the most walkers.
Many will drop off at Conques and you will have the 4 day - one week french walkers for company very often.
Bon Chemin Mark,
David

 

[happymarkos]

Take a punt mate , no rain until Leon.
Sleeping liner only.
We commenced with 3 fifteen km days and it worked after the long flight
Enjoy this lovely way, completely different from Spanish and the section until Cahors will have the most walkers.
Many will drop off at Conques and you will have the 4 day - one week french walkers for company very often.
Bon Chemin Mark,
David

David
thanks for your information. I did not expect anywhere near the numbers of the Spanish side and am surprised to hear about the local popularity of the walk from Le Puy. We are following Gittihare's advice and have booked through to Conques to make sure we have a bed each night. Hopefully after that it will be easy to find accommodation. When they want a deposit it makes it difficult to arrange from Australia. Any tips on how to do this? Mark

 

[happymarkos]

In August, the weather probably won't be too terribly cold. When I hiked from Le Puy (I started August 11th, if I remember correctly), it was quite warm and for one particular week, completely miserably hot. Sleeping outdoors with nothing more than a T-shirt was a joy! But October.... you could certainly get some cold weather, I would imagine.

In the month or so it took me to reach Saint Jean, it only rained on me once during the day. It rained more often at night, but I was indoors for those times.

Needless to say, your experiences may vary. =) But that's what I had to deal with in August and September. (By October, I was deep into Spain--so I don't actually have personal knowledge of October weather in France.)

Buen camino!

-- Ryan

Hi Ryan
thank you for your reassurance. We are prepared for cold with Icebreaker layers and outer shells; warm is good!
regards
Mark

 

[Thornley]

David
thanks for your information. I did not expect anywhere near the numbers of the Spanish side and am surprised to hear about the local popularity of the walk from Le Puy. We are following Gittihare's advice and have booked through to Conques to make sure we have a bed each night. Hopefully after that it will be easy to find accommodation. When they want a deposit it makes it difficult to arrange from Australia. Any tips on how to do this? Mark

Gittehare's a very good judge on this way Mark.
I don't have a clue about deposits .
We normally got the gite, chambre' or hotel to book the next two days for us.
If things got a bit messy with places being full we just had a shorted day on the hoof and usually stopped in towns where there was a good restr. for lunch
They will know the best places to stay and i found after Cahors all is well.

 

[susiew]

Hi Susie
we will be in Le Puy on the 22 and 23 August and start walking on the 24th.
Might see you before you start. We are staying at the Grand Seminare near the cathederal
mark

Hi Mark
I am staying at gite Capuchin on 23rd Aug. Hope to go to the evening pilgrim mass for a Blessing. Should arrive in Conques on the 4th Sept. I would be very interested to see your plan of stages and distance. I have booked 5 nights ahead so far.
I will look out for you in Le Puy.