Walking the Camino, The Chemin de St. Jacques and/or the Stevenson Trail from Le Puy

We have just returned from a few days in Le Puy en Velay, the start of the French section of the Camino, the Way of St James to Santiago de Compostella and the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail. We did not intend to walk any long distances. We had visited the city two years ago when we walked the Stevenson Trail to St Jean du Gard. On that occasion we arrived late in the afternoon, left early the next morning and so saw little of the city. This was a mistake. On this trip we learned several hints that could be of interest to the walker intending to travel one of these routes.

• The tourist office issues a free town plan.  This shows the walking routes out of the centre. We noticed at least two groups of walkers trying to find their way out of the centre. In our experience this is always the most difficult stage of a walking trip. Even though the route is waymarked with the red and white stripes the French use, these are easy to to miss. 
• It is worthwhile spending a few hours in Le Puy. A visit gives you an excellent feel for a mediaeval city. The cathedral and the museums are well worth visiting. The view from the cast iron statue of the Virgin Mary on a volcanic neck repaid the effort we had to invest in getting up there.
• While you are there, you might want lunch. The staff canteen in the Hotel du Départmente, next to the cathedral offers excellent food to visitors very cheaply. We ate poached salmon, ratatouille and macaroni and a farmhouse yoghurt for 7€ each. We could have had a full meal: starter, main course, pudding and cheese, with coffee for 10€. The canteen is run by an organisation offering employment to people with learning difficulties, so you can be well fed and have a warm feeling that you have helped someone. Just the right attitude to start the pilgrimage. 

• 

  One of the many historic buildings in the centre of the city

  If you don't want to carry all your stuff or you need to leave or join a party underway La Malle Postale (www.lamallepostale.com) offers baggage and people transfer along the major walking routes in the area. Some of the information on services offered is in  understandable but slightly odd English, but all of it is available in French. This is an extremely valuable service in an area where public transport leaves much to be desired.
  

  

  The statue of the Virgin towering over the city centre

  
  

  

  The doorways are fascinating

St Germain de Calberte to St Jean du Gard (22 km 350m)

We'd been asked the day before when we wanted to depart from the village and replied that we would be happy if we could eat breakfast at 08:00 and be on our way by 09:00. The farmer was surprised because a lot of walkers like to leave early in summer to avoid the worst of the heat. This was not a problem for us. I think if I'd been planning the trip I would have made an overnight stop in the next village on the route: The oddly named St Étienne Vallèe Française as the day before had been too short and the last day was a bit long. It would have meant however that we would have missed out on the visit to the Ferme de Lancizolle.

Our sleeping quarters at the Ferme.

On our way to breakfast. (The dog moved as we approached.)

We were dropped off in the village, bought some bread and sent off on our last day along a path running parallel to the D984.

The view back towards St Germain

Later on we joined the road for a few km, but traffic was light on a Sunday morning. We ate our sardine sandwiches in St Étienne Vallèe Française and then climbed over our last ridge (600 m). The way up was not difficult, but the drop on the other side was interesting, steep and rocky.

We dropped into the Gardon Valley through the hamlet of Pied de Côte.

We turned left at the D907 and followed it. It was not that pleasant. The traffic seemed to be moving very quickly. What it is like in summer I am hesitant to think. Fortunately after two km or so we could nip off along a footpath away from the road marked by red and white stripes. We crossed the Gardon and walked down the right bank into St Jean.

The railway station is one end of an historic steam line, but unfortunately does not offer services connecting with the French mainline services. It is very quaint but a decent rail service or even a bus service to Alès would be preferable. (There is a good bus service to Alès except in the school holidays when there is one bus a day!)

St Jean railway station.

We stopped in the comfortable Hotel Les Bellugues converted from a silk spinning mill and ate like Robert Louis in the L'Oronge. Next day we took a train home and since we had failed to obtain a Prem ticket it cost more than twice the outward fare.

April 20 Cassagnas to St Germain de Calberte (15 km 200 m)

The weather was cold and windy. We had the odd snow flurry later in the day. Today was billed as a short day. We set off and walked up into the forest.

This was a mistake. We should have explored the village of Cassagnas first. 

There is a holiday village with café at Serre de la Can on the way through the forest, but we were too early by a few weeks. The café was shut so we continued in to St German de Calberte and arrived too early at 14:00. Pickup time was 17:00. Our instructions were insistent that we did not ring the farm. It was a working farm. We had a quick coffee in the one bar in the village and found a brochure describing a walk around a series of posters in the village.
We zipped up our jackets and followed the trail, past the Protestant church, the Catholic Church, an exceedingly bare statue and a social centre that during WWII was home to 42 Jews. The Protestant vicar helped these people stay hidden. The Postmaster or -mistress binned any letters of denunciation. The Gendarmes kept their eyes shut when necessary and the school teacher registered any kids under false names.  These people survived even when the village was searched by the Vichy Militia.

Robert Louis Stevenson also came here. I don't know whether he found a sheltered spot by the Polyvalent Hall but we did and ate the remains of our packed lunch. We popped into the village supermarket and returned to the café for a second cup of coffee. At 17:00 the farmer arrived from the Ferme de Lancizolle in his well used Land Rover and as we dropped off the edge of the world into the valley below, he asked what time we'd arrived. We told him and he asked why we hadn't rung him? I suspect one can be too polite at times.
The evening was interesting. We were the only two English speakers speaking Mancunian French with ten native French speakers. We didn't say much, but it was a long jolly evening with a lot of laughter and excellent food: Nettle soup, rabbit paté, roast rabbit with sautéed potatoes and a powerful green bean with garlic sauce, cheese and chestnut and chocolate mousse. Chestnuts still feature heavily in the more ethnic menus.

April 19 Florac to Cassagnas (16 km 200 m)

We had a wet and grey start to the day. It stayed grey all day but the rain slackened off later. We needed some victuals, so spent time wandering around the centre of Florac. This a slightly shabby but quaint town centre, somehow very French. There are a number of souvenir shops, travel agents and the like. We were in tourist country again. We found a grocery and stocked up before taking the red and white route along a moderately busy road.

We walked in indian file on the left hand side of the road for a km south of the town and then turned left across an historic bridge, then left again to follow a minor road/track running parallel to the N106 road and the former route of the metre gauge railway line to Florac across the Mimente River.

In spite of the flowers

and being watched by two deer up in the woods above us, we managed to avoid stepping on an iridescent beetle on the path.

We dropped down to St Julien d'Arpoan, crossed the river and climbed to the track of the former railway line. One item we missed walking the Stevenson Route was somewhere to eat a picnic, especially on wet days. It was raining quite hard at this point, so we walked round the back of barn used by the local cheese making or egg cooperative and ate our lunch sitting in the entrance porch. Much to our embarrassment a delivery lorry turned up  and we had to pack up quickly. We walked along the old railway line to Espace Steveson. There is a serious difference between continental Europe and Great Britain, at least the Great Britain of recent years. This can be summed up in the words "Health and Safety". Neil is walking across a railway bridge in the photograph below with a tree high drop to the river below. There are neither railings nor warning notices. The French authorities assume that cyclists and walkers have enough sense of self preservation not to walk or cycle too near the edge.

We walked on to the Espace Stevenson a pension, restaurant and campsite based on the former railway station in Cassagnas.

We enjoyed a jolly meal with four other walkers: Mushroom tart, salad, home made sausage with herbs and swiss chard, potatoes gratin, chestnut brownie and fromage blanc with chestnut jam and a demi of red wine between the two of us. A good night!

April 18 Le Pont de Montvert to Florac (About 20 km, about 350 m)

We knew that today would be hard work. The suggested official GR70 route is 28 km long and involves climbing 545m. There is a minor short cut by taking the GR68 path which saves 4 km. We were worried about this. The landlord of the Auberge des Cévennes told us of a short cut.We took it. He reckoned we would save 10 km on the day. We doubt this but we saved at least 5 km and about 200 m climbing. The landlord used a highlighter on our TopoGuide to sketch out the new route. The official route climbs just over 200 m from the village up to a plateau at about 1100m and climbs further south to a ridge at about 1300 m and then turns west along the ridge to climb to 1400 m before dropping to ca 1100 m by the Col du Sapel.  His route branched off SW on the plateau at point shown in the Le Chemin de Stevenson Topo Guide at point 37, followed a minor road to reach the D20. At this point we were recommended not to follow the D20 but to follow a forest path right and loop round to the D20 later.
We were pleased to have this ace up our sleeve, as we could not leave Le Pont before we picked up the makings of lunch. The baker's shop was shut on Thursdays and the other shops did not open until 09:00. We were somewhat late leaving. We panted up the steep slope to the plateau.

The view back into Le Pont.

We crossed the plateau and followed the landlord's instructions.

Following the forest path and four other walkers in the know.

We then followed the D20 for several kilometres. The road was quiet. In the hour or so we were walking along it we saw 4 or 5 vehicles. We realised why when we arrived at the Col du Sapel. The road downhill was marked as difficult and dangerous.

The view to the the north with the snowfields on Mount Lozère just visible.

The Col du Sapel

We followed GR 70 to junction with GR 68 along a forest road. We had good views down to the road taken by RLS.

 The flowers were superb:

At the junction we climbed to follow GR68, but not that far. GR70 seemed to be less of a good bet, because we would need to walk on a busy main road and it was further. We went steeply down into Florac.

On our way into the village we passed another Carrefour supermarket. Our hotel: Hôtel des Gorges du Tarn, yet another Logis de France was at the other end of Florac. The room was excellent with TV and WLAN, so we could download the "Guardian". The food in the restaurant was good but the portions were somewhat  small:  Salad with goat's cheese, zander (pike perch) with polenta and veg, cheese and fruit salad or yoghurt. Walkers need serious amounts of stodge. We drank a glass of reasonable but expensive  Chardonnay.

April 17 Le Bleymard to Le Pont de Montvert (18 km 630 m)

Sunny morning. We crossed road into the Carrefour supermarket and bought goodies before climbing steeply out of village through woods to reach a plateau and then the ski centre. The peak loomed before us, but we put one foot in front of the other and carried on.

We and two French guys had a little trouble finding our way out of the centre. (Go to the right of road and head towards pyramid where you pick up the red and white stripes.) It was a long easy climb to the summit on muddy tracks. We had good views from summit though there was haze in the distance.

Neil playing Beau Geste.

We started down the south slope which was covered in deep snow, although the north slope was almost snow free(?). We found the route more by luck and following other people's tracks and went steeply downhill in a stream.

We followed the stripes into the hamlet of Finiel and had a Cornish afternoon with great piles of granite boulders scattered like cannon balls in the fields. The hills in the background are the Cevennes.

The path was interesting and steep. We'd noticed on several days that we could see our destinations, long before we got there, but the steep descents into the villages were such that it always took us longer to get there than we expected.

Le Pont de Montvert has a Mediterranean feel about it and it was surprising to see people in shorts and T shirts sitting on the café terrace. We met Celine, the young woman from Cheylard. We found our hotel over the bridge. We stopped in the Auberge des Cévennes. We had an enjoyable meal of soup, pork fricassee, cheese and creme caramel that evening.

The Auberge des Cévennes is the building with the balcony

The bridge at Le Pont de Montvert where dreadful things happened in the name of religion.

April 16 Chasserades to Le Bleymard (17 km 280 m)

The weather was warm and sunny. We posted a batch of cards in the Agence de Post aka a posh B&B in the centre of Chasseradès. Then we walked up past the church following the red and white stripes. By the cemetery we had good views of the viaduct and more snow sheds.

We dropped after the cemetery to walk under the viaduct and then climb on road initially along the railway. We left the railway line and climbed further. We had a last good view of the viaduct.

As happens we were putting the world to rights when we missed the turn off by a cistern, but returned after 10 minutess and found it. The path was steep and we were breathless by the time we reached the D120 on a steep short cut. The signposting in the woods could be better. We dropped down to the ruins of Serremejan in yet another valley, crossed the river and ate lunch.

Then climbed along a forest road often blocked by trees. French footpaths through forests are often wilder than their German equivalents.

We followed a lightly waymarked road past the Sources of the Lot and crossed our third valley of the day to followed the river to a ford. One of us got wet feet. She was not happy. We climbed again and reached Alpiers a hamlet near Bleymard. We followed the Chemin de Stevenson down to Bleymard and found the Logis de France Hotel Remise. As usual there was the collapse of stout party. I had no recollection of the meal, but it was up to the usual Logis standard.
We tried to use the hotel's WLAN without much success, but discovered on the next day, the Carrefour supermarket on the way into town that we passed had WLAN. You had to ask at the desk to get the mot de passe (password).

April 15 La Bastide to Chasserades (12 km 330 m)

This was our hotel of the night before.

 

We crossed the railway line past the classic French railway warning notice and climbed up  over a spur on forest roads. Weather fine sunny with cloudy periods.

From the heights we could see Mont Lozère that we were due to ascend in two days time and were glad we had gaiters to wade through the snow.

We dropped down off the heights in Chabalier, a hamlet where one seems to put dummies in the garden. They can't be scarecrows.

We found a spot to eat lunch,

 crossed a stream

 

and arrived in Chasseradès which had a curiously Northern English moorland feel about it. The railway snow sheds in the background suggests that winters are hard hereabouts.

It was a short day and we arrived early at 14:00 plus minus. We found our hotel, the Hotel Restaurant des Sources. I fell asleep and slept the sleep of the just until 16:00. I had a bad night the night before. Washing was soaked and hung out to dry before we walked round village. Judith found a copy of "Kidnapped" by RLS and disappeared. An excellent dinner: Soup, paté, beef bourgonne, cheese and apple and banana tart. We had a long discussion in English with our neighbour in the dining room – a college teacher in Toulon. He too was walking the route.