Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[Pablo2007]

Hello all,

After completing SJPDP to Santiago last year I'm planning the next walk. I had an idea this morning that it may be usefull to start from Pau. A few reasons;
It adds a little more to the already long walk.. (Yes I know, SJPDP to Santiago is already plenty long enough ... Laugh).
Pau may also be easier to get to from Australia. Flight to Paris then fast train to Pau. Done as opposed to Paris to Biarritz then bus to Bayonne then train to SJPDP. Adds quite a bit to an already long trip from Australia.

But here is my problem I have been doing some searching this afternoon and cannot find a map with Pau on any french route. Can't find too many maps of routes in France at all actually compared to the amount of info and maps of the Camino once you are in Spain.. Ok maybe I'm having a bad day.

I know there is a route through Navareenx but I think that continue to Somport I may be wrong, I don't want to go over Somport because I prefer Roncesvalles and intend to see family in Pamplona.

So, has anyone walked from Pau? I thinks its about 100kms to SJPDP so 3 to 4 days I imagine? Any suggestions on stages between Pau and SJPDP.

Any help appreciated

Thanks

Pablo

[sillydoll]

Hola Pablo,
Pau is on the Arles Route. Once you get to Oloron Ste Marie you can keep going west and follow the Chemin du Piemont Pyreneen route

Arles Route through Pau

Arles.jpg (110.46 KB) Viewed 542 times

Chemin du Piemont

Lourdes to St Jean & Roncesvalles.JPG (23.55 KB) Viewed 542 times

to St Jean and Roncesvalles.

[jl]

Pablo, in 2005 I flew from Adelaide to Paris (via Singapore), caught a (TGV) train from Chales de Gaulle straight to Bayonne and then another (TGV) train to Toulouse. Here I had 2 nights rest, and a day to wander around a delightful city - pick up a credenciale etc, and then began walking the next day. The CSJ guide reccomends catching a bus out of Toulouse (I didn't ) and the guide book actually skirts around Pau - although the friend I ended up walking with in that region and I decided to go there anyway. We then headed up the valley to the Pyrennees and continued along the Aragonese Way before joining the Camino Frances at Puente le Reina. It is a really lovely part of France, and the Aragon is a very different and beautiful part (hot) of Spain. Hope this gives you more food for thought. Janet

[sillydoll]

If you decide to walk from Pau to Oloron Ste Marie and then to Pamplona, this is what your daily schedule could look like:

1. Lourdes Asson 23.3
2. Asson Arudy 18.8
3. Arudy Oloron 22.8
4. Oloron Hospital 23.8
5. Hospital Mauleon 14
6. Mauleon St Just 22.3
7. St Just St Jean 20.6
8. St Jean Roncesvalles 26.3
9. Roncesvalles Zubiri 22.7
10. Zubiri Pamplona 20,7

[Pablo2007]

Thanks Sil and Janet,
Plenty to think about.
I've been checking the rail links to Both Pau and SJPDP and there isn't a lot of difference after all.

Still the foothills of the Pyrenees in France a re beautiful, any excuse to spend a few more days there.

Last time I flew Syd, Sing, Paris, Biarritz, bus to Bayonne and train to SJPDP arrived at about 5.00pm and started walking the next day. It was great till about 11.300am when all of a sudden I felt like i couldn't take another step. OK so fear an panic slowed as I figured well its just as hard to go back and I can;t sopt here. After some lunch and a rest things got back to normal and made it to Burguette without too many problems. Day 2 I did a REALLY STUPID thing and walked from Burguette to Pamplona. (Its a long story as to why I did that but I won't be doing that again) I had a 1 day rest in Pamplona but it took a few days to recover after that from the Jet lag and the long second day walk. So Janet, your 2 days in Toulouse was a good idea.


Travelling from Australia (or any other long distance) we have the jetlag issue to contend with. While I was waiting for the bus at Biarritz to SJPDP I met an Italian and German guy and we chatted all the way to SJPDP, the German guy suggested that seeing we still had a few hours of daylight we could start off to Hunto ( or the refuge nearby I can't remember the name), anyway we declioned but he went off on his own at 5.30pm. Great if you have only had a flight of 2 hours to contend with that day. Mind you I was really tempeted to go with him, glad I didn't .... laugh

Thanks again for your comments

Pablo

[jl]

Jet lag is the reason that I always go direct to where I am going and have 2 nights in town before departing Pablo. On my 2007 Camino I went - Adelaide, Singapore, Paris (Charles de Gaulle) Lyon, Le Puy (via St Etienne) arriving mid afternoon (having left the morning of the day before). This meant that there was plenty of time to settle in (I always stay in a hotel / pension when I arrive just so that I get an undisturbed rest), and have a look around town before flaking. Then after establishing where the route departed from, and another early night, I was then ready to face the journey and whatever it might bring. That flight of 13 hours from Singapore is VERY long! Again, in 2009 I plan to the same except that this time I will fly into Zurich and catch the train straight to Geneva. keep planning! Janet

[Alan Pearce]

Hi Pablo
We flew from Sydney on 1st April this year to Paris via Singapore. After 2 nights in Paris to get over jet lag, we took a flight from the Paris domestic terminal to Pau [ pre-booked before leaving Australia ]. From Pau we walked the 8 km to Lescar, where I got my "Credencal del Peregrino" from the very helpful staff at the tourist bureau. They have the key there for the municipal refuge, and they gave us directions on how to find it [ the refuge, not the key ]. Local volunteers take turns in looking after the refuge, and the bureau rang Tony and Cecille who were on duty that week. By the time they came around, our group had let ourselves in, and they made sure we were comfortable before leaving us to ourselves. They were charming.
The walk the next day to Oloron Ste Marie was 32 km of hard going. We stayed that night at Maison Guerra LaRocque [ phone 05 59 36 09 99, or http://www.oloron-Ste-marie.com/hote/guerra-larocque/]. Pierre was a wonderful host and he speaks English due to his French/Canadian background. He also rang ahead to the monastory at Sarrance, and told them that three Australians would want accommodation there the next evening. Pierre cooked some fabulous pizza for our night-time meal, and breakfest was as good, with big bowls [yes, bowls ] of coffee to send us on our way. When we arrived at Sarrance a note on the door said the monastory would be unattended until 5pm, but would the three Austrians please let themselves in, so we did, along with a French/Canadian pilgrim we had joined up with along the way.
My companions decided to take a bus over the Pyrenees to Canfranc, but I walked to Somport the next day. It was a glorious spring day, there was still a lot of snow around, and that day became one of the many highlights of my camino.
Good luck on your journey. If your experience is anything like mine you will meet lots of other Aussies, along with pilgrims from everywhere.
Buen Camino
Alan

[Pablo2007]

Thanks for all the responses and info, much appreciated.

Here is a Collage my wife has just done from bits and pieces from my walk last year, Usually I'm not overly interested in scrapbooking but I like this one

Pablo

[Pablo2007]

I should have mentioned its on canvas and its about 75cm by 60cm. Now to find the right spot to hang it.

Pablo