June 15, 2025 • 59 mins
What’s it really like to walk a long-distance trail in rural France? In this episode of Join Us in France, titled Hiking Chemin du Puy and Célé Valley, host Annie Sargent talks with Rowena Sjovall, a solo traveler from the U.S. walking the GR65 and the scenic Célé Valley route.
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Rowena shares her detailed experience hiking the Chemin du Puy, one of France’s most popular pilgrimage trails. She talks about trail conditions, signage, and the variety of landscapes—rolling hills, deep river valleys, and charming medieval towns. If you’ve wondered about hiking from Le Puy-en-Velay toward Cahors or incorporating the lesser-known Célé Valley variant, Rowena offers honest insights.
The conversation covers practical tips too. What kind of gear should you bring? How easy is it to find food and lodging? What’s the vibe among other hikers? Annie asks all the right questions to help listeners decide if this kind of trip is for them.
Whether you're planning a Camino in France or just curious about rural walking holidays, this episode delivers both inspiration and real-world advice. Don’t forget to subscribe to Join Us in France for more episodes like this, where travel dreams and logistics meet. Perfect for slow travel lovers, Francophiles, and adventure-seekers!
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(00:15):
This is Join Us in France,episode 550, cinq cent cinquante.
Bonjour, I'm Annie Sargent and Join Usin France is the podcast where we take
a conversational journey through thebeauty, culture, and flavors of France.
Today, I bring you a conversationwith Rowena Sjoval about her
(00:35):
incredible journey hiking theChemin du Puy and the Célé Valley.
Tune in to hear about the challenges,the stunning landscape, and practical
tips for anyone considering thisawe-inspiring hike adventure.
This is all about perseverance anddiscovery, as are most hikes, right?
(00:59):
This podcast runs on chocolatine,caffeine, and the support
of lovely humans like you.
You book itinerary consults, takemy VoiceMap tours, ride shotgun in
my electric car, come to the bootcamp, or pledge a few Euros a month
on Patreon, and I love you for it.
Want to keep me going and skip the ads?
(01:21):
There's a link for thatin the show notes as well.
Head to joinusinfrance.com/boutique foreverything else, and merci beaucoup.
For the magazine part of the podcastafter my chat with Rowena today,
I discuss swimming in the Seine.
Yes, this summer 2025 2025, in Paris.
(01:43):
Being a notable chicken, I wouldn'tdo it, but surely some of you
intrepid travelers will jump right in?
You will find all the links andfull episode transcripts on the page
that lists all episodes by monthat joinusinfrance.com/episodes.
And if you'd like a handy summary ofthe conversation with all the useful
(02:07):
links, subscribe to the newsletterat joinusinfrance.com/newsletter.
It's the best way to stay in the loop.
Bonjour, Rowena Sjoval, andwelcome to Join Us in France.
(02:30):
Bonjour Annie.
Lovely to see you.
So you were at the bootcamp,so we know each other.
And after the bootcamp, you cameback to France to do something
absolutely crazy that a lot of peopledo though, so you're not crazy.
A lot of French people do.
Yes, a lot of French people do.
A lot of visitors from all over the world.
(02:50):
Ah, I think so.
Yeah, but I didn't meet many.
I didn't meet any of them.
Maybe one Korean couple at the verybeginning of what we're going to talk
about today and the rest, I was literallythe only American that I had come across.
Interesting.
Maybe the time of year.
(03:11):
Tell us what crazy thing you did and whatmotivated you to do this and where did
you start, where did you end, all of it.
Yeah, so, this past September, I hadwalked the Chemin du Puy-en-Velay,
I guess it's called many, manydifferent ways, Le Puy-en-Velay, Via
(03:33):
Podiancy, or, you know, the easiestone is the GR65, soixante cinq.
It is one of the four French pilgrimageroute that connects to the Compostela, one
of the Caminos, which is the... three ofthe four connects to the Camino Francais,
and then the other one I think connectsa little bit further south from it.
(03:58):
Anyhow, so I turned 55last year, prior to that...
Young one, young one.
I wanted to do something really specialand something that I was going to
remember for a while for my 55th birthday.
So I just dug in, and dug in, andthen I remembered when I was in
(04:21):
Lyon, France, Lyon, in April 2023,
I had come across right in frontof the cathedral, I had come
across a marking for the Camino.
It's this, like a metal marking for theseashell, or it looks like a seashell.
(04:43):
So what I did, and I rememberedthat, so I Googled it to see, okay,
where was this going to lead me to?
Although back in 2017, I hadplanned to walk part of the Camino
or with a couple of friends fromhigh school, but that fell through.
So that's why I kind of likethought about that because it's
always been in the back of my head.
Yeah, you picked it up where you left off.
(05:05):
Yeah, so when I researchedwhere that marker led me to, and
that's how I discovered the LePuy-en-Velay, and so, that's it!
You decided to do it.
Yeah, literally, I was in the showerwhen I thought about it, and I got out
of the shower, I told my husband, Iknow what I'm going to do for my 55th
(05:25):
birthday, I'm walking across France,and you can come with, but if not,
that's fine, I can do it by myself.
And what did you do?
What, did he go or no?
He did end up going with me and walkedthe first five days of the whole thing.
So yeah, I did it.
I planned it all.
(05:46):
I got it all plannedbefore the boot bootcamp.
And then when we were in one of our callsat the bootcamp, you had mentioned that
we are going to visit Pech Merle and alsoSaint-Cirq Lapopie, and I think I got so
excited, I remember getting so excitedbecause I had also planned to get off
(06:07):
the trail, the GR 65 and walk the CéléValley, which is the valley along the Lot.
And that's what we aregoing to talk today.
You know, I was so happy that it gave mea glimpse of what I was going, I have yet
to see more of what I have yet to see.
Yes.
(06:27):
So how did you plan this trip?
I mean, I know for the Camino, there'sapps, there's books, but the Célé
Valley, are there books and things?
Yes, there are booksand also there are apps.
And there's also a couple of Facebookgroups that is dedicated to that route.
So I went on there too.
(06:48):
And I used a book, a guidebookcalled Miam Miam Dodo.
Yes.
Which is Eat... What is it?
Eat, eat, sleep?
Yes.
Yes.
It's eat and sleep becauseMiam Miam is oh, I want to eat,
and dodo is I want to sleep.
Yeah.
So, Miam Miam Dodo puts outall these guidebooks and one
(07:09):
of them is for the Célé Valley.
But I had to wait to get it becausewith my research, I found out that their
guides are, they get updated every year.
It's a book, but they update the bookevery year because that reflects,
perhaps what gîte had closed or what hadnew ones that had reopened, you know,
(07:32):
difference in prices or the differentofferings that a gîte might have.
I got that and then also I just like, fromthat, I was able to, because I planned
everything on my own, so I was able toplan my stages as far as how far I'm going
to walk, and also where I'm going to stay.
(07:56):
And then also like little bits ofinformation, like, okay, where is there
going to be water access, because Ididn't want to carry... Water is heavy,
because I also carried my own pack.
It also gives you information, whetherthe gîte, you know, speaks English,
(08:16):
Spanish, German, all that stuff.
Or if they provide demi pensionor, you know, you're on your own.
Yeah, demi pension is meals.
Yes.
Yes.
And it's usually a dinner and breakfast,but most of them did, if it's not a
demi pension, there is breakfast or somesemblance of breakfast, which is great.
(08:41):
So I use that, and then as far as app,I use an app called Komoot, which is
a hiking app, and before I left, Ijust downloaded, I did it for each of
my daily stages, I downloaded it, youknow, it kind of have like kind of
a backup, but the trail itself, thesignage is so great, you cannot get lost.
(09:09):
That's cool.
Right?
Literally, like, for me, because I'vewatched some YouTube videos right before,
and I've seen people that have said thatthey had taken another trail off of Le
Puy, because there is another trail thatstarts in Le Puy, which is the Stevenson,
but it's not a pilgrimage trail.
(09:31):
In a couple of videos people hadtaking that route, and after walking
two, three hours later, they realizedthey were on the wrong trail.
So that one is harder to follow.
No, it's not.
It's just, you just got topay attention to the signage.
Because somehow a lot of the AmericanYouTubers that I saw that was talking
(09:54):
about the signage, they assume thatthe GR 65 is just the red and white.
As long as you follow thered and white, you're fine.
No, you have to follow the redand white and the correct number.
Mm hmm.
So, for Le Puy, it was the 65.
Right.
And Komoot has, I mean, the app will showyou as you walk, like, you're a point on
(10:19):
the map, you can see where you're going.
Yes, you can see where you're goingas well as different, maybe, off
trails or roads that are nearby.
And that is great becauseit helps you prepare.
There's only one day where I had to take ataxi because the path was flooded, getting
(10:41):
into the trail was flooded, and it'slike, I'm not going to cross that flood.
And I ended up having towalk along a busy road.
And it's not just a little country road.
It was a main road.
It was outside of thevillage called Navarangue.
Okay.
(11:02):
But this is already past the Célé Valley.
But with the Komoot, it gives you,it tells you all the other stuff
there, so in case you have to cutor something, so it's really great.
And you know, and what I did is Idownloaded the map before I left.
So it was already saved.
So I don't need Wi-Fi or anythingto run the app, you know, to
(11:23):
follow the map that I had.
Yeah, and I think MiamMiam Dodo is also an app.
Miam Miam Dodo, they do have anapp that started as a... they had
one and then they discontinued it.
Oh, is that right?
Yeah.
And then they restart.
I don't think it's an app, but lastyear they made their guide available
(11:47):
with their proprietary ebook.
Okay.
But yeah, but even Miam Miam Dodoalso, it kind of gives you an idea,
you know, what's around there, likeif there's a road or something, I
don't know if you can see it, likethey're marked yellow and stuff.
Yes, yes, yes.
So, what time of year didyou decide to walk this?
(12:10):
You said at the beginning,I forgot already.
September, so I walked in September.
I started from Le Puy onSeptember 5th, then total, I
finished on the 20th of October.
Mmm, wow, that was a long time.
It was a long time, it was...
That was a long walk.
(12:32):
Yeah, total walking of 41 days.
And then adding the maybe five,five or so days of what I call rest
day, where I just stayed there anextra day, didn't walk or anything.
And you ran into a lotof rain, it seems to me.
I mean, this year was wet.
Yes, because when I was reading someposts from people that have walked
(12:56):
the previous two years, they saidweather was perfect, maybe it rained
a little bit one day and that was it.
But for me, it was almost every threedays, I've had some kind of rain,
which made the trails, a lot of thetrails, very muddy and slippery.
(13:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a problem.
And you didn't give up.
I kept, be cause you created a Facebookgroup to follow your adventures.
And I kept seeing the weather andyour photos and all, oh, poor thing.
I felt sorry for you,but you never gave up.
Like you were just...
No, I didn't give up, it was likeone of those things, it's like,
(13:38):
just, you know, I just got tokeep on taking one step at a time.
Yeah, yeah.
You're amazing.
And I believe Helena from the bootcamp,I think she said that, she said it
well, she said, you know, don't focuson something like, don't focus on the
whole distance, just focus on the bushin front of you, walk to there, and then
(14:00):
next focus on the tree in front of you.
Huh.
She's a wise one, Helena.
Yeah, she is.
And in fact, when I met her, I hadjust gone to a bookstore in Toulouse
to get a map, an actual paper mapbecause I love paper maps, so I
wanted as a backup, a paper map.
Yeah.
(14:21):
And that's when we got to talkingand she had shared with me that
she had walked the Camino Francaisyears ago, so we kind of, yeah, we
had something in common, but yeah.
That's very cool.
How big was your pack?
My pack was, it was a 41 literpack, but I did not fill it full.
(14:42):
As far as the weight, probably theheaviest with the water was about
8 kilograms, so 16 pounds withwater, with my full supply of water.
Right, but you didn't send thepack ahead in a car or something.
No, actually I ended up maybe threetimes, three or four occasions, but
(15:04):
it was towards the end where I emptiedmy pack a little bit, like half of it.
I just happened to bring a reallylightweight and thin packable duffel
bag, because my plan was after, you know,after this whole walk, I had stopped
in Bordeaux and if I buy something andalso my walking poles, I was going to
(15:26):
stick it in there so I can check it in.
So I had that in my pack and so Iwould just fill that, on those three
or four days that I had had it,part of my load sent ahead of me.
So it worked out.
Yeah.
Because those service are available.
And, you know, like I said, outof the 41 walking days, I only had
(15:48):
it carried three or four times.
And that is because one, I thinkon one day I was going to have to
do like 27, almost 28 kilometers.
And this was towards the end.
I always told myself that, this ishow I planned it too, that I don't
want to be, I want to arrive where I'mgoing to spend the night by no later
(16:10):
than 5:30, because I don't want to bestuck there out, you know, in the dark.
And then towards October also, you know...
Starts getting dark earlier.
It starts getting dark earlierand it doesn't start getting
light till later, like 8 o'clock.
There was, a couple of timestowards the end, we waited until 8
(16:31):
o'clock, or I mean 8:30 to leave.
9 o'clock.
Yeah, because between the rain,the clouds, and just the sun just,
you know, it's just not shining.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And those services, youdon't have to plan ahead.
You can just, like at the stopwhere you are tonight, they can
tell you who can move your pack.
(16:52):
That is correct.
Yeah, but also, there are threeservices, at least for the Chemin Le
Puy, there are three different luggageservices, or transport services,
because they also will transportpeople if you don't feel like walking.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, if you twist your ankle, youknow, you might need to take some rest.
(17:13):
Yeah, because I have met peoplethat have decided to take a bus to
the next one, or at least partial.
So there's three of them, and La MallePostale, the name of it, the first
one, only services from Le Puy until Ibelieve Cahors, and then after that a
(17:35):
service called Claudine, something, Ican't remember... something Claudine.
I'll send you the name.
Yeah, send me the link andI'll put it in the show notes.
Yeah, so Claudine.
Then services from Cahorsuntil Saint Jean Pied de Port.
Okay.
And Le MalPostale services theCélé, part of the Célé Valley,
(17:57):
I believe, as well as Claudine.
But they stopped theirservice on October 15.
So if you're walking beyond October 15,there is a third service called La Valise
Saint Jacques, and they also provide that,and they are all the same price, 10 euros.
(18:21):
And there's a limit, you cannotsend anything, I believe,
you cannot send anything morethan 10 kilograms, I believe.
Okay.
Yeah, it's just specificallyfor people that are walking.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, so when I walked the CéléValley, actually I used the
service once along the Célé Valley.
(18:41):
Now that we've gotten all this generalstuff out of the way, let's talk about the
Célé Valley and what you enjoyed there.
Where did you start thesection on the Célé Valley?
So I started in Rocamadour, which isthe typical starting of the Célé Valley.
So from Rocamadour, it took me, I gavemyself six days, six walking days.
(19:06):
Because, you know, when I, even withmy regular hiking, I'm like someone
who's in a museum when I hike.
I treat the trail like an artgallery, or actually like a gallery.
I'm just like enjoying everything.
So I wanted to enjoy all of it.
So from the Figeac, actually, I alsowent to Rocamadour, but I took a train
(19:29):
to Rocamadour, and then made that,I think it was a five kilometer walk
from the train station to Rocamadour.
And then I went back to Figeac, thenthe next day I left for the Célé Valley.
From Figeac, I walk about that 12kilometers to a village called Béduer.
Compared to the other walks I did,it was a relatively shorter walk.
(19:51):
Sure.
Sure.
Yeah, you have been walkingfurther distances before.
Yeah.
By that time I havealready walked for 13 days.
So two weeks to Béduer.
So it's just this little tiny villageand I got there early and it's funny,
(20:11):
you know, like I knew I was going toget there early because a lot of the
places, they don't want you getting thereuntil like three o'clock, four o'clock.
Right, they don't open till...
Yeah.
I knew I was going to get there early, soI was really taking my time and I, but I
did message my host to ask if, you know,if I can get there earlier, but it didn't
(20:33):
heard, so I just kept on walking, walking.
And this path, actually, this is whereI had to split up with other people
that I had probably walked with, thatare walking the Le Puy, because from
this path, I have to go the oppositedirection that they are to continue on.
Huh.
(20:53):
Now I found it.
Okay, okay.
Oh, and there's a château there.
Yes, but the château is on the oppositedirection, so I didn't get to see.
Ah, okay.
Ah, well.
Yeah, there is a cemetery there, whichthe funny thing is when I was leaving
the next day to continue, you know, toleave Béduer, I kind of like looked at
(21:16):
my map, I was like, it's leading me tothe cemetery, I don't like that, right?
I'm not ready for that.
I am not dying yet.
Ha ha ha.
Yeah, Béduer, just a small town, and itis actually the last village off of the
GR65 before you split off and take 36,before I take the 36th to take me to along
(21:42):
the Célé and then, you know, to, becauseI had also gone to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
Yeah.
But, it's funny because like Isaid, it was a short day for me,
so I was just taking my time.
So, you know, I would, if I find a niceshade that called to me, I'm there.
And about like maybe three kilometersfinally I heard from my hostess and she
(22:03):
said, just come on over because it wasgoing to start raining that afternoon.
And I was walking and there was thiscouple that crept up behind me and
they started talking to me in French.
So, you know, I can speaka little bit, right?
Just enough.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
I was talking.
And then, you know, after a while, Inoticed that, you know, there was kind
(22:25):
of like an accent to their French, butI'm thinking, oh, maybe they're from
a different region in France, right?
I found out they were Britishand we got a laugh out of that.
Ha.
Ha.
Ha.
They were trying to throwme off, what was their name?
Geraldine and Duncan.
Very good.
And then we got, just got to talking,got to laughing that, you know, we
(22:46):
actually passed our gîte for the night.
We found out we were staying atthe same place for the night too.
Oh, cool!
Ha ha ha.
Yeah, so we end up with thisgîte called L'Hirondelle...
yes?
Like a swallow, I think.
I think that's the name.
It's a swallow, so L'Hirondelledu Bourg or something?
L'Hirondelle du Bourg,yeah, yeah, Isabelle.
(23:08):
I can see it on the map.
Oh yeah, yeah, Isabelle is the name ofthe hostess, and she has a dog named Saxo.
Ok.
That's the thing, you stay atthese places, you're with the pets.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
And, there was anothercouple that stayed with us.
So there was five of us thatwas staying with her that night.
(23:29):
And the other couple was from South Korea.
And we had a good chat and we allfound out that, you know, even though
we all spoke different languagesor whatever, you know, but we all
love the show, The Squid Game.
Ha.
There you go.
Right?
So you find out, youknow, things in common.
Yeah, you talk to people.
(23:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we had a wonderful dinner that night.
And in fact, I remember walking in thehouse, I was like, I could smell whatever
she was cooking was like, so good.
And I remember, I think I hadeither called my husband or texted
him and it's like, whatever thislady is cooking, I need to eat now.
(24:11):
Can't stand the smellbecause it's so good.
So it ended up to be like chicken.
Yeah, but you were hungry.
When you walk like that,you must get hungry.
Yeah.
And you know, I did the Frenchdinner, I should say, of, you
know, your entree, which sometimesit's soup or salad, and or salad.
Then your main course,cheese, and then dessert.
(24:35):
I normally don't eat dessert,but I ate dessert every night.
Good for you.
That's how life should be lived.
Yeah, the cheese I had to pass becauseI get so full and I get so, you know, I
feel so bloated by it that I was like,no, I'm going to walk the next day.
Yeah, yeah.
That's cool.
So what was your next stop?
(24:56):
So after that, from Béduer, I walkedabout 17 and a half kilometers.
Ooh, that was a serious day.
That was, yeah, I knew it was goingto be a long day, and that's the first
time I had part of my pack carried.
Uh huh.
Because it was raining, it was goingto rain that day, and we found out the
(25:17):
night before that it was going to be aheavy rain, not just me, but the other
walkers had part of their packs sent.
It just makes it easier to walk faster.
I walked a little over 17 kilometersto a very tiny village, another
tiny village called Brengues,
(25:43):
B-R-E-N-G-U-E-S.
I got the wrong one.
It's in the other direction.
That's past Lyon.
Yeah, so there's a Brengues andthere's a Brengues Cabreret.
Yeah.
Brengues Cabreret.
Right.
In that area, there'sCabreret a lot of things.
Yeah.
So, it was like, literally rained for me.
(26:05):
All right, and that's not farfrom Bouziès where Pêche Merle is.
No, no, no, no, no.
Yeah.
You're right.
But you had been to Pêche Merle with aBootcamp, so I suppose you didn't go.
Yeah.
So, this is when I saw that cemetery.
I was like, I don't wantto go through there.
Because there was a moment in therewhere I thought I was like, you know, I
(26:26):
was looking at Komoot and it's tellingme that I had missed my turn and I
was like, where is the trail entrance?
But it was kind of, therewas a lot of growth.
So it was a little hidden and itwas not far from the cemetery.
That's why it was guidingme towards the cemetery.
And you were trying to avoid the cemetery.
(26:50):
And on this route, I actually passedthrough a small village called Corn,
like, just like how it is C-O-R-N.
And there was a lot ofcorn, cornfields everywhere.
And it was actually in this routethat I started seeing people that
(27:10):
were walking the opposite, comingfrom the opposite direction.
Because usually in Le Puy,everybody's going the same direction.
So you really don't run into someonegoing, you know, the opposite direction.
Interesting.
So I went through, you know,all these, like literally
everything, a lot of it was corn.
I'm thinking, I'm playing agame in my head because I knew
(27:32):
it was going to be a long walk.
It's like, Children of the Corn,I could think of everything.
I was thinking of everything that was cornrelated, you know, even Field of Dreams.
Okay, is somebody going to comeout of the corn here, like Kevin
Costner or something, and he's goingto speak to me in French, right?
That's funny.
It rained all day and then I rememberon this path there was, it's like I
(27:55):
have to stop for lunch because it'sa long, but I didn't want to like, I
would always carry a can or two of thoseconservas, the sardines, the small cans
of sardines, so that's typically my lunch.
But I was like, but it's raining, Idon't want to have to open it, get
my little fork, you know, and all ofthat and eat it, but I had chocolate,
(28:16):
I found my love for Milka Chocolate.
Oh, you like the Milka?
With the walnut.
The one was with the walnut, not theplain ones, the ones with the walnuts.
So I just like...
You know, in France, Milka,we buy that for children.
I love it.
I love it.
Here in the States, we do haveit, but not that one with walnut.
(28:39):
Not the one with walnut.
Yeah, that's what I hadfor lunch and I was just...
Yeah, because I don't see anywhere,I mean, I don't see any villages
along there where you could...
No, no, there isn't.
And in fact, you know, walkingthe Célé Valley, the villages
are far and few in between.
Not only that, there wasn't really aplace to even pick up, you know, like
(29:03):
in the other villages, there's usuallya boulangerie where you can pick up a
sandwich to take on the road or like amarket where you can get food or anything.
So, you know, in my research, Ilearned that and that's why, you
know, I would, I had kept a coupleof the sardines and also a couple of
bars of Milka chocolate with walnut.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(29:23):
Just in case.
Yeah.
And some trail mix that Ihad picked up in Figeac.
And so I had that for lunch andthen, but it was raining and I
just kept on walking, walking.
Then I go up this hill, Ihave passed another village
called Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt,Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt?
Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt?
Okay.
Maybe.
Passed it and I remember going up,up, up on the hill, and as soon
(29:48):
as I reached like the crest of thehill, it's like the sun came out
for me, so I could enjoy the view.
So I was literally looking at the,you know, Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt down.
It gave me a sense of pride andfulfillment, and like, oh my
goodness, I just climbed from there.
(30:09):
I was just down there.
Those are the moments, you know,every now and then you realize
that, I hated having to go up,
but then I realized what I hatedmore is actually going down.
It hurts your knees.
On the knees.
Yeah.
I was there, I enjoyed it for afew minutes and then ran into, you
(30:30):
know, actually a lady and again,walking the opposite direction.
Because by the time I got up there,I would only had maybe like four
kilometers from where I'm staying.
So, I knew I was close, you know,I don't have to really rush it.
And it's funny, because, you know,she was coming the opposite direction.
She stopped, we were there, and she'sstaying down in Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt.
(30:53):
So, I'm going from where she came from.
She's going from, to where I came from.
And we jokingly said, Oh, I cansmell, you know, I can smell the
scent of laundry detergent, becausewe both needed to wash clothes.
There wasn't many places that hadthat, or if they had that, you're
(31:13):
not guaranteed with all the rain,you know, that they might not dry up.
You know, so you got to find somewhere.
And I knew I was gettingthere early enough that I'll
have time to dry my clothes.
I suppose you had rain gear, but,not the best rain gear in the world.
If you are in the rain allday, it's not going to...
No, the only rain gear I had wasreally my poncho, which really helped.
(31:39):
And Miam Miam Dodo is great because italso tells you, what gîtes or Chambre
d'Hôte has a laundry facility or ifthere's a laundry facility in the village.
That's how I was able to planand I knew I was going to be
able to wash clothes there.
It's funny, I was like, I wascoming down, coming down, but
(32:00):
it seemed like it was forever.
It was taking me forever to get down,but then I saw a sign for where I was
staying, it said like 1.5 kilometer.
I was like, I'm still highand that's not possible.
Maybe they put the sign wrong.
But as soon as I came out of the path, golike down, it was right in front of me.
(32:22):
Yeah, so it was right there.
Yeah, that's why.
Because a lot of the places I hadstayed, you know, you come down the
hill and then you still got to walkanother kilometer or two to get to it.
But this one was there.
And then the next one is, I walked12 kilometers to Marcilhac-sur-Célé.
(32:43):
Marcilhac-sur-Célé.
Yes.
We were expecting rain that morning, butit didn't rain, it was just fog, a foggy
start, so it was really, you know, itwas a really good walk, the trail was
mostly like little stones thing, a little.
And then, also there was a little bitof walking on the road, but it was
(33:05):
also, it was just to like transitionfrom one trail to the other, a lot
of the trails are like that too.
And it was on this stage whereI saw my first troglodyte.
Aha.
That's how you say it, yeah?
Troglodyte?
Troglodyte.
It was in a village called Saint Sulpice.
(33:26):
Mm hmm.
So I saw my troglodyte there, andit's like, it's amazing how these
houses, pretty good size houses, I'mnot talking about just some little
shack size, but they are good sizehouses, you know, with four windows in
the front that are just like built...
Into the wall.
(33:47):
Into the wall of therocks, the big boulders.
I can only imagine how they look insideand I tried to find photos of how they
look inside and they do, you know, justlike how you would imagine them, you
know, the ceilings are lower becausethe rocks are coming through there.
So yeah, it was beautiful.
So that one was like a high up there.
And then, in fact, after my walk there,I had got there early enough and I found
(34:15):
out that I'm sharing a dorm room with aCanadian and it was, Benoit was his name.
OK.
He spoke French, but he was able totranslate for me because he was able
to, you know, because I was the onlyAmerican, I was the only English
speaker in that gîte, there was18 of us that stayed in that gîte.
(34:36):
Wow.
So we had a communal dinner.
And a lot of the bigger gîtes,it's usually a communal dinner.
And you know, we all eat together,we eat with either, you know, the
owner of the farmhouse or like, youknow, a big gîte and everything.
So what was the comfortlevel at places like this?
Like, was it?
You know, comfort level isreally like subjective, right?
(35:00):
Yes, yes.
So, I think, oh, should I say it?
In the Célé Valley, particularly,there's not a lot of accommodations.
But the good thing is, becausesome of the accommodations can
be just this gîtes, dorm style.
But you could also make arrangementsto have a private room or a
(35:21):
room to yourself if you want.
The price is not the same, but you can.
The price is not the same, and actually,it was more expensive, the accommodations
on the Célé was more expensive comparedto all the other accommodations.
And then also, if you're okay, youknow, being in a dorm, you have
to be ok being in a co-ed dorm.
(35:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, because sometimesthey don't, you know...
They can't.
They can't, yeah, because they haveto accommodate people that are calling
in and wanting a bed for the night.
Because it's so scarce there that youknow, you just got to take what you have.
The beds are, you know, they're okay.
they're not Marie Antoinette,I mean, they're okay.
(36:05):
I didn't wake up with my back hurting.
Nothing.
Many provide just the sheet to coveryour bed in a blanket and some of
them will put out extra blanket.
But what I did is I carrieda sleep liner with me.
It's made of silk.
So I just put that.
It's like a cocoon.
I just go in there so I have an extralayer, that separates me from the bed
(36:29):
sheet and also keeps me, adds a little,you know, warmth if it gets so cold.
Did they give you pillows?
Yeah, there's pillows and they'llgive you, you know, your pillowcase.
And there's a routine everymorning where you strip your bed,
you take the pillowcase out, youput it in a basket and that's it.
And then some will give you the towels aswell while others, you know, they don't.
(36:50):
But you'll see that on Miam Miam Dodo.
Mm hmm.
Yep.
It says on Miam Miam Dodo becausesome of them will charge for it
or if you want an extra blanket,they'll charge for it and stuff.
Yeah.
So like I said, this was a communal dinnerand this is where I got to ask the French
for some reason, you guys are, you guyswere interested in our election, because
(37:11):
during that time the election was coming.
Yes, yes.
Yes, like every time and I was like,Oh, what do you think of, I was like,
I literally had to say, I'm on a break.
I don't want to think about it.
That's why I'm here.
I don't want to think about it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I would do the same.
Oh, don't... ask me.
Wrong person to ask.
(37:31):
Where to next?
From Marcilhac-sur-Célé, then Iwent to Cabreret at Pêche Merle.
So that was a 19 kilometer walk.
I did not go to Pêche Merlebecause I was just there.
But it looks like you just walkedback in the opposite direction there.
Yes, I was going to say that.
(37:51):
Yeah, it was the opposite direction.
So literally I came from, youknow where the bathrooms are right
where we entered, to go visit it?
I came from that side of it.
Okay.
Yeah, where the trees are,like literally I was there.
I was like, Oh, I'm here.
Yeah.
And I was like, I know there's abathroom here, so I'm going to use the
bathroom before I move on with the trail.
(38:12):
So yeah, I came from that side and Ifigured, you know what, I was just here.
It's not like they added more drawings.
No, no, no, you had seen it.
I didn't go, but I did walk by it andthen I literally had to go behind that.
There's a parking lot thereand that's where I picked
up the trail to continue on.
(38:33):
Then that night, actually, Iended up staying at a restaurant
slash gîte that night.
Yeah.
And I ended up having my own room.
So.
Nice.
Nice.
Very cozy.
Yeah, very cozy.
And I had, I think a duck,we had duck that night.
(38:53):
Yeah.
So it was very good.
Yeah.
Good stuff.
That's your last night of the Céle, right?
No, I got two more.
So from there, Cabaretto Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
Ah, yes.
Yeah.
So this one I had to get offthe trail that I was following.
Because from the 36th, I had to go to 651.
(39:16):
Okay.
So I was there, and like I said, I've beenthere before, and it's really hard to be
a tourist with a heavy pack, so I justrested in front of the tourist office.
And then I started walking to, Iended up staying at a hotel that night
because there was nothing available atthe gîte right there in the village.
And then I found out the hotel was another20 minute walk past Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
(39:40):
Yeah, I'm not surprisedbecause I don't remember many
hotels in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
No, and then, that meant for dinner Ihad to go back into Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
Oh!
But good thing is, it's hilly andit was dark going back to my hotel.
Good thing is I walked with three otherwalkers that I had met on the path.
(40:02):
So we all walked with ourphone lights, together.
Yeah, yeah.
yeah.
Oh, that, that must not have been anyfun because it's hilly, too, and...
Yeah.
And then the next dayit was raining all day.
So I had to change my route.
I had to go back to Bouziès.
Bouziès.
Yeah.
Which I forgot to say, whenI left Bouziès, I walked
(40:24):
through the Chemin de Halage.
Chemin de Halage, yes, of course, you did.
I did.
So I walked back to it againto get back to Bouziès.
Yes, of course you didit in that direction.
Yeah, because originally Iwas going to have to take the
road to get to Bear B-E-A-R.
(40:48):
It's the town I was going to that day,but because of the heavy rain, I decided
to take the trail to go back the Cheminde Halage to Bouziès and then pick up
the GR 36 again to get back on the trail.
Wow.
Saint-Cirq-Lapopie was on GR 651.
What an adventure you had and I mean,not only did you do the Camino, but
(41:10):
you also did side trips like the Célé.
That's fantastic.
What advice would you have for peoplewho want to do something like this?
What should they, what did you figureout that you didn't know before?
Well, first of all, my advice isfor people that are considering
this trail is learn some French.
It will go a long way.
(41:30):
You know, learn directions, learnhow to ask for food, for water, you
know, whatever, learn some French.
There were no English speakers on this.
I just lucked out that I met twothat, you know, could speak English.
Don't be intimidated by the walk.
If you don't want to carry yourpack, use the services, you know?
And also if you're not feelingwell, don't push yourself.
(41:53):
Take a rest day, you know, take a restday, build in extra days in however many
days you think you're going to need.
So if you think I want to dothis in 14 days, build in two
or three extra days, because youjust never know what can happen.
That's really wise.
Because if you have to go backbecause your plane's leaving, then you
(42:14):
don't really have a lot of lag room.
Plan as if it's going to rain, even ifyou look back, like historic weather,
plan as if it's going to rain, bring aponcho or whatever you like as rain gear.
And layer, layer clothing.
Yeah.
Did your boots give you any trouble,your feet gave you any trouble?
(42:34):
No, I came out withouta blister, no blister.
I have a routine every night before Igo to bed, or after dinner, I would rub
my feet with this cream called HealthyFeet, Dr. Miller's Healthy Feet, I would
rub it in between my toes, I would do ittoo, put a sock on, leave the sock, you
(42:55):
know, just so it absorbs, because it driesout, it's not, it doesn't leave your feet
like Vaseline does, where it's gucky.
But this one, it just dries out.
I sleep with my socks if Iwant to, if it's not too hot.
And then the next day I wore sock linersthat had the individual toes, because
(43:16):
that's the thing, the blisters, if youkeep your toes separated, prevents from,
you know, the rubbing, the rubbing iswhat's going to cause the blisters.
So I had that, and then I had my alpacasocks, and then my shoes, which I tested a
few shoes until I decided on which was theright shoe and sock combination for me.
(43:40):
So I end up bringing my, they call themtrail runners, so they look like running
shoes, but they have a thicker threadsas well, like, kind of like a cross
between a hiking shoe and a running shoe.
So it kind of, if you think ofsomething that if they marry up,
it's the one in between that.
And it lasted me the whole time.
So, but by the time I arrived, Saint JeanPied de Port and I had like, had put in
(44:06):
about 500 miles on those shoes already.
I just tossed them out becausethe threads were all gone.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's nothing left at that point.
So are you going to finish it up?
Are you going to comeback and do the rest?
I am.
I'm still hoping I could do it thisyear, depending on the dates, but this
year is getting to be a busy year.
(44:27):
So, you know, if not this year, becauseI want to walk the same time frame I did
September, I like that time of the year.
Yeah.
So yeah, so the next leg would be towalk the Camino Frances, which is what
I was thinking about in the beginninguntil like, you know, I thought more
and I remembered the shell that I saw.
(44:47):
So I'll walk that to the Compostela,so across northern Spain to Santiago.
And that's about, I think that's about a500 mile walk, so almost close to my walk.
But it'll take you 50days more or less, right?
It'll probably, you know what, it's goingto take me longer because my plan is,
(45:07):
because I know now how to plan accordinglywith my body and my walking pace.
Yeah.
And so I'm not in pain and becausethere is a climb right out of Saint
Jean Pied de Port to the Pyrenees over.
And the first four days of my walk, myhusband and I were talking about like, you
(45:28):
know, we were like, why did we do this?
Because our body was in pain.
Yeah, of course.
Because it was out in Le Puy, itwas up, down, up, down, up, down.
So I think what I'm going to do, orI know what I'm going to do, is I'm
going to plan it back, to plan itstarting maybe in a town called Aru.
Okay.
Or Navarrenx, and then walk to SaintJean Pied de Port, so that by that
(45:50):
time my body is used to, it has thatwalking pace, my legs is, you know,
warmed up and everything, becausethat was my regret, you know, and I
didn't think of it until like lateron, and it was already too late.
That I should have went ahead and crossedthe Pyrenees from Saint Jean Pied de Port.
I should have went ahead andcrossed over to Roncevaux.
(46:13):
Yep, going because you were fit by then.
You were ready for whatever.
I was ready, yeah, but by the timeI, like, thought about it, one of
the accommodations up there thatwas, I think, six kilometers past
Saint Jean Pied de Port have alreadyclosed for the season, because a lot
of the gîte closed for the season.
(46:33):
And that's the other thingthat people need to consider.
It's the time of the year they're walking,a lot of them closed by October 15th, kind
of same thing with the transport services.
The place there was closed andthen the other place just a little
further down when I had called them,they didn't have any more room.
They were full and theysaid, you can try tomorrow.
(46:54):
And I didn't want to chance it.
Because the transportation service,the bus service going back to Saint
Jean Pied de Port wasn't running, hadstopped running too for the season.
And I have a flight to catch backin Bordeaux, so I literally have to
go back to Saint Jean Pied de Portand take a train to Bordeaux instead
(47:15):
of going to Pamplona and things.
So I had that logisticsthat I needed to work out.
So that's what I'm going to dois backtrack about five days.
That's probably a good idea.
Just get your body in the rhythmbefore you hit the hills, the
big hills, big, big hills.
(47:35):
Annie, it was painful.
It was.
I was like, I was in pain.
Oh, I believe you.
The hardest day is really the second day.
Is that right?
Not the first day of walking.
We did 13 miles the firstday, Which was long, I think.
Too long, especially withup, down, up, down, up, down.
(47:55):
And then wake up the next dayand your body is like hurting.
Yes.
You're like, Oh, don't do
And my legs, my Florida legs were hurting.
And I kept on describing topeople that would ask me, like,
what, you're from Florida?
How did you do the hills?
I was like, I know.
I was like, the hills arelike Mount Everest for me.
(48:16):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's how it is.
Rowena, it's been adelight to talk to you.
We really have to stop becausewe've been talking a long time.
But thank you so muchfor sharing all of that.
And it's a delight to hear from you.
Thank you, Annie.
Hey, do this again and we'll talk again.
Yeah.
Thank you, Annie.
See you later.
(48:36):
Au revoir.
Merci beaucoup.
Again, I want to thank my patrons forgiving back and supporting the show.
Patrons get several exclusiverewards for doing that, you can
see them at patreon.com/joinus.
(49:01):
A special shout-out this week toour Join Us in France champions
Melanie, Dana Gschwendtner, JudyGunn, who joined at the Groupie du
Podcast yearly tier, and Madeleine,who is also a Groupie du Podcast.
Welcome back as a patronMarilyn Miller as well.
(49:22):
Would you join them too?
You can do it for as little as two dollarsa month, but if you can afford it, I
would love to have you pledge more so youcan have access to more of the rewards.
And to support Elyse, goto patreon.com/elysart.
Somebody left this reviewof my Ile de la Cite tour.
This person says (49:44):
"I was visiting Paris for the day by myself, and I decided I
wanted to venture out and see some sights.
I decided to check the app storebefore leaving the hotel to see
if I could find some guides, andthat's how I stumbled upon VoiceMap.
I am very glad I did.
Annie's tour was the one at the top thathad the most reviews, and now I know why.
(50:08):
She was excellent.
The VoiceMap app is very easy to use.
I love how it gives you directionsto the start of the tour and
gently guides you to where to go.
I enjoyed walking around withAnnie, and I am already at St
Regis looking for my next tour.
Wish I had more time.
Highly recommended."
(50:28):
Thank you so much.
That's wonderful to know.
" I know a lot of the people who writereviews are podcast listeners, but there
are also plenty of people who don't knowanything about me, who enjoy those tours.
And podcast listeners get a big discountfor buying these tours from my website.
It's best for me as well, because I getto keep more of what you pay instead
(50:48):
of giving it to Apple or Google.
But if you buy from my boutique, it'sa manual process, so don't expect it
to be instant like it would be if youwere buying directly from the app.
To use your code, open VoiceMap, tap'Tour Codes' at the bottom right,
enter the code, and download the tour.
(51:09):
You own it forever.
Even if you change phones, just log intoyour VoiceMap account to access it again.
The tours work without databecause the audio, images, and
maps are downloaded to your phone.
And GPS works anywhere,even without cell service.
Best of all, you can listen in virtualplayback from anywhere in the world.
(51:29):
Perfect if Paris is notin your immediate plans.
You can take me in yourpocket with VoiceMap.
And if you're planning a trip toFrance and want expert help, hire
me as your itinerary consultant.
It's a busy season, so book earlyat joinusinfrance.com/boutique.
Usually, I have openings within amonth, but right now it's more like
(51:51):
two to three months out, so don't wait.
Let's talk about swimming in the Seine.
If you're visiting Paris this summer,2025, and you're tempted by the idea
of swimming in the Seine, yes, really,then you're in for something historic.
Starting July 5, 2025,public swimming pools will be
(52:15):
officially open in the Seine.
It's part of the Olympic legacy, but it'salso a long-term goal to improve water
quality and adapt to climate change.
So where exactly can you swim?
Well, here are the official places.
There are three of them for now.
The first one is the Bras Marie.
(52:37):
That's in the center of Paris.
It's near the Paris Plages area,right in the heart of the city.
The swimming area will be 70meters long and 20 meters wide.
It's floating, with pontoonsattached to the quay.
Up to 150 people can swimhere at the same time.
It's open mornings until noon andall day Saturday until 6:30 PM.
(53:01):
Just know that they have toshut down boat traffic for this
one, so, hours are limited.
Number two is Port de Grenellein the 15th arrondissement.
It's across from Ile-aux-Cygnes.
This site also uses floating pontoonsand includes a shallow pool for kids.
It can host up to 200 people.
(53:23):
You'll find changing roomsand showers on the site.
It's open Monday through Fridayfrom 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and
Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:55 PM.
Sundays include short breaksfor river traffic as well.
And number three is Bercy in the12th arrondissement, right across
(53:45):
from the Bibliotheque Nationalede France, Mitterrand edition.
This will be the largest of thethree, accommodating up to 700
people with 300 in the water at once.
Two freshwater pools will be available.
It'll be open daily from 11:00AM until 9:00 PM all summer long.
(54:06):
Now, these are proper swimmingareas with safety measures in place.
Expect lifeguards, flag system,green, yellow, and red to signal
water quality, and regulartesting, water quality testing.
Like on the coast, the spots may closefor a day or two after heavy rains
due to runoff so check before you go.
(54:29):
And if you're heading a bit outsideof Paris, you'll also find swimming
in the Marne River starting on June28th in places like Joinville-le-Pont
near the marina, Maisons-Alfort,that's at the Charentonneau
Footbridge, Saint-Maur, and Champigny.
These Marne locations willcharge a three euro entrance fee
(54:52):
if you live in the local area.
Each spot can get around 200 swimmers,and they'll be open seven days a week.
The Joinville site willbe right on a sandy beach.
How nice.
The local government in Val-de-Marnehas poured over 200 million
euros into making these riversites clean and swimmable again.
(55:13):
That includes fixing faultyplumbing connections, building
a new water treatment plant, andconducting 8,000 inspections.
The goal is to open 14 swimming sitesbetween the Seine and the Marne by 2026.
So yes, for the first timesince the 1970s, Parisians and
(55:33):
visitors can swim in the riversagain safely with Olympic flair.
Now, let me know.
Would you do it?
Would you pack a bathing suit fora dip in the Seine this summer?
I will not.
I swim in the Mediterranean,not lakes, not rivers.
That's just... just,you know, I have issues.
I do have issues, and that's one of them.
(55:57):
And to talk back on these typesof questions, you can, of course
do it as a patron, of course,or on the Facebook group.
We have a Join Us in France closedgroup on Facebook, and if you
join that, you will have to answerquestions, or we won't let you in.
We're a lot picky about who we let in.
My thanks to podcast editors,Anne and Christian Cotovan,
(56:19):
who produced the transcripts.
Join us next week as we welcome backKim Cox, who shares the magic of her
recent trip to Paris and Strasbourg.
She mentions the breathtakingreopening of Notre-Dame de Paris,
the enchanting Christmas markets, andhidden gems only locals know about.
(56:39):
This episode is packed with tips and talesthat will give you serious wanderlust.
Don't they all?
Don't miss out on this winter wonderlandadventure with Join Us in France.
Thank you so much for listening,and I hope you join me next time so
we can look around France together.
Au revoir.
The Join Us in France travelpodcast is written, hosted, and
(57:01):
produced by Annie Sargent, andCopyright 2025 by AddictedToFrance.
It is released under a CreativeCommons attribution, non-commercial,
no derivatives license.
This is Join Us in France,episode 550, cinq cent cinquante.
Bonjour, I'm Annie Sargent and Join Usin France is the podcast where we take
a conversational journey through thebeauty, culture, and flavors of France.
Today, I bring you a conversationwith Rowena Sjoval about her
(00:35):
incredible journey hiking theChemin du Puy and the Célé Valley.
Tune in to hear about the challenges,the stunning landscape, and practical
tips for anyone considering thisawe-inspiring hike adventure.
This is all about perseverance anddiscovery, as are most hikes, right?
(00:59):
This podcast runs on chocolatine,caffeine, and the support
of lovely humans like you.
You book itinerary consults, takemy VoiceMap tours, ride shotgun in
my electric car, come to the bootcamp, or pledge a few Euros a month
on Patreon, and I love you for it.
Want to keep me going and skip the ads?
(01:21):
There's a link for thatin the show notes as well.
Head to joinusinfrance.com/boutique foreverything else, and merci beaucoup.
For the magazine part of the podcastafter my chat with Rowena today,
I discuss swimming in the Seine.
Yes, this summer 2025 2025, in Paris.
(01:43):
Being a notable chicken, I wouldn'tdo it, but surely some of you
intrepid travelers will jump right in?
You will find all the links andfull episode transcripts on the page
that lists all episodes by monthat joinusinfrance.com/episodes.
And if you'd like a handy summary ofthe conversation with all the useful
(02:07):
links, subscribe to the newsletterat joinusinfrance.com/newsletter.
It's the best way to stay in the loop.
Bonjour, Rowena Sjoval, andwelcome to Join Us in France.
(02:30):
Bonjour Annie.
Lovely to see you.
So you were at the bootcamp,so we know each other.
And after the bootcamp, you cameback to France to do something
absolutely crazy that a lot of peopledo though, so you're not crazy.
A lot of French people do.
Yes, a lot of French people do.
A lot of visitors from all over the world.
(02:50):
Ah, I think so.
Yeah, but I didn't meet many.
I didn't meet any of them.
Maybe one Korean couple at the verybeginning of what we're going to talk
about today and the rest, I was literallythe only American that I had come across.
Interesting.
Maybe the time of year.
(03:11):
Tell us what crazy thing you did and whatmotivated you to do this and where did
you start, where did you end, all of it.
Yeah, so, this past September, I hadwalked the Chemin du Puy-en-Velay,
I guess it's called many, manydifferent ways, Le Puy-en-Velay, Via
(03:33):
Podiancy, or, you know, the easiestone is the GR65, soixante cinq.
It is one of the four French pilgrimageroute that connects to the Compostela, one
of the Caminos, which is the... three ofthe four connects to the Camino Francais,
and then the other one I think connectsa little bit further south from it.
(03:58):
Anyhow, so I turned 55last year, prior to that...
Young one, young one.
I wanted to do something really specialand something that I was going to
remember for a while for my 55th birthday.
So I just dug in, and dug in, andthen I remembered when I was in
(04:21):
Lyon, France, Lyon, in April 2023,
I had come across right in frontof the cathedral, I had come
across a marking for the Camino.
It's this, like a metal marking for theseashell, or it looks like a seashell.
(04:43):
So what I did, and I rememberedthat, so I Googled it to see, okay,
where was this going to lead me to?
Although back in 2017, I hadplanned to walk part of the Camino
or with a couple of friends fromhigh school, but that fell through.
So that's why I kind of likethought about that because it's
always been in the back of my head.
Yeah, you picked it up where you left off.
(05:05):
Yeah, so when I researchedwhere that marker led me to, and
that's how I discovered the LePuy-en-Velay, and so, that's it!
You decided to do it.
Yeah, literally, I was in the showerwhen I thought about it, and I got out
of the shower, I told my husband, Iknow what I'm going to do for my 55th
(05:25):
birthday, I'm walking across France,and you can come with, but if not,
that's fine, I can do it by myself.
And what did you do?
What, did he go or no?
He did end up going with me and walkedthe first five days of the whole thing.
So yeah, I did it.
I planned it all.
(05:46):
I got it all plannedbefore the boot bootcamp.
And then when we were in one of our callsat the bootcamp, you had mentioned that
we are going to visit Pech Merle and alsoSaint-Cirq Lapopie, and I think I got so
excited, I remember getting so excitedbecause I had also planned to get off
(06:07):
the trail, the GR 65 and walk the CéléValley, which is the valley along the Lot.
And that's what we aregoing to talk today.
You know, I was so happy that it gave mea glimpse of what I was going, I have yet
to see more of what I have yet to see.
Yes.
(06:27):
So how did you plan this trip?
I mean, I know for the Camino, there'sapps, there's books, but the Célé
Valley, are there books and things?
Yes, there are booksand also there are apps.
And there's also a couple of Facebookgroups that is dedicated to that route.
So I went on there too.
(06:48):
And I used a book, a guidebookcalled Miam Miam Dodo.
Yes.
Which is Eat... What is it?
Eat, eat, sleep?
Yes.
Yes.
It's eat and sleep becauseMiam Miam is oh, I want to eat,
and dodo is I want to sleep.
Yeah.
So, Miam Miam Dodo puts outall these guidebooks and one
(07:09):
of them is for the Célé Valley.
But I had to wait to get it becausewith my research, I found out that their
guides are, they get updated every year.
It's a book, but they update the bookevery year because that reflects,
perhaps what gîte had closed or what hadnew ones that had reopened, you know,
(07:32):
difference in prices or the differentofferings that a gîte might have.
I got that and then also I just like, fromthat, I was able to, because I planned
everything on my own, so I was able toplan my stages as far as how far I'm going
to walk, and also where I'm going to stay.
(07:56):
And then also like little bits ofinformation, like, okay, where is there
going to be water access, because Ididn't want to carry... Water is heavy,
because I also carried my own pack.
It also gives you information, whetherthe gîte, you know, speaks English,
(08:16):
Spanish, German, all that stuff.
Or if they provide demi pensionor, you know, you're on your own.
Yeah, demi pension is meals.
Yes.
Yes.
And it's usually a dinner and breakfast,but most of them did, if it's not a
demi pension, there is breakfast or somesemblance of breakfast, which is great.
(08:41):
So I use that, and then as far as app,I use an app called Komoot, which is
a hiking app, and before I left, Ijust downloaded, I did it for each of
my daily stages, I downloaded it, youknow, it kind of have like kind of
a backup, but the trail itself, thesignage is so great, you cannot get lost.
(09:09):
That's cool.
Right?
Literally, like, for me, because I'vewatched some YouTube videos right before,
and I've seen people that have said thatthey had taken another trail off of Le
Puy, because there is another trail thatstarts in Le Puy, which is the Stevenson,
but it's not a pilgrimage trail.
(09:31):
In a couple of videos people hadtaking that route, and after walking
two, three hours later, they realizedthey were on the wrong trail.
So that one is harder to follow.
No, it's not.
It's just, you just got topay attention to the signage.
Because somehow a lot of the AmericanYouTubers that I saw that was talking
(09:54):
about the signage, they assume thatthe GR 65 is just the red and white.
As long as you follow thered and white, you're fine.
No, you have to follow the redand white and the correct number.
Mm hmm.
So, for Le Puy, it was the 65.
Right.
And Komoot has, I mean, the app will showyou as you walk, like, you're a point on
(10:19):
the map, you can see where you're going.
Yes, you can see where you're goingas well as different, maybe, off
trails or roads that are nearby.
And that is great becauseit helps you prepare.
There's only one day where I had to take ataxi because the path was flooded, getting
(10:41):
into the trail was flooded, and it'slike, I'm not going to cross that flood.
And I ended up having towalk along a busy road.
And it's not just a little country road.
It was a main road.
It was outside of thevillage called Navarangue.
Okay.
(11:02):
But this is already past the Célé Valley.
But with the Komoot, it gives you,it tells you all the other stuff
there, so in case you have to cutor something, so it's really great.
And you know, and what I did is Idownloaded the map before I left.
So it was already saved.
So I don't need Wi-Fi or anythingto run the app, you know, to
(11:23):
follow the map that I had.
Yeah, and I think MiamMiam Dodo is also an app.
Miam Miam Dodo, they do have anapp that started as a... they had
one and then they discontinued it.
Oh, is that right?
Yeah.
And then they restart.
I don't think it's an app, but lastyear they made their guide available
(11:47):
with their proprietary ebook.
Okay.
But yeah, but even Miam Miam Dodoalso, it kind of gives you an idea,
you know, what's around there, likeif there's a road or something, I
don't know if you can see it, likethey're marked yellow and stuff.
Yes, yes, yes.
So, what time of year didyou decide to walk this?
(12:10):
You said at the beginning,I forgot already.
September, so I walked in September.
I started from Le Puy onSeptember 5th, then total, I
finished on the 20th of October.
Mmm, wow, that was a long time.
It was a long time, it was...
That was a long walk.
(12:32):
Yeah, total walking of 41 days.
And then adding the maybe five,five or so days of what I call rest
day, where I just stayed there anextra day, didn't walk or anything.
And you ran into a lotof rain, it seems to me.
I mean, this year was wet.
Yes, because when I was reading someposts from people that have walked
(12:56):
the previous two years, they saidweather was perfect, maybe it rained
a little bit one day and that was it.
But for me, it was almost every threedays, I've had some kind of rain,
which made the trails, a lot of thetrails, very muddy and slippery.
(13:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a problem.
And you didn't give up.
I kept, be cause you created a Facebookgroup to follow your adventures.
And I kept seeing the weather andyour photos and all, oh, poor thing.
I felt sorry for you,but you never gave up.
Like you were just...
No, I didn't give up, it was likeone of those things, it's like,
(13:38):
just, you know, I just got tokeep on taking one step at a time.
Yeah, yeah.
You're amazing.
And I believe Helena from the bootcamp,I think she said that, she said it
well, she said, you know, don't focuson something like, don't focus on the
whole distance, just focus on the bushin front of you, walk to there, and then
(14:00):
next focus on the tree in front of you.
Huh.
She's a wise one, Helena.
Yeah, she is.
And in fact, when I met her, I hadjust gone to a bookstore in Toulouse
to get a map, an actual paper mapbecause I love paper maps, so I
wanted as a backup, a paper map.
Yeah.
(14:21):
And that's when we got to talkingand she had shared with me that
she had walked the Camino Francaisyears ago, so we kind of, yeah, we
had something in common, but yeah.
That's very cool.
How big was your pack?
My pack was, it was a 41 literpack, but I did not fill it full.
(14:42):
As far as the weight, probably theheaviest with the water was about
8 kilograms, so 16 pounds withwater, with my full supply of water.
Right, but you didn't send thepack ahead in a car or something.
No, actually I ended up maybe threetimes, three or four occasions, but
(15:04):
it was towards the end where I emptiedmy pack a little bit, like half of it.
I just happened to bring a reallylightweight and thin packable duffel
bag, because my plan was after, you know,after this whole walk, I had stopped
in Bordeaux and if I buy something andalso my walking poles, I was going to
(15:26):
stick it in there so I can check it in.
So I had that in my pack and so Iwould just fill that, on those three
or four days that I had had it,part of my load sent ahead of me.
So it worked out.
Yeah.
Because those service are available.
And, you know, like I said, outof the 41 walking days, I only had
(15:48):
it carried three or four times.
And that is because one, I thinkon one day I was going to have to
do like 27, almost 28 kilometers.
And this was towards the end.
I always told myself that, this ishow I planned it too, that I don't
want to be, I want to arrive where I'mgoing to spend the night by no later
(16:10):
than 5:30, because I don't want to bestuck there out, you know, in the dark.
And then towards October also, you know...
Starts getting dark earlier.
It starts getting dark earlierand it doesn't start getting
light till later, like 8 o'clock.
There was, a couple of timestowards the end, we waited until 8
(16:31):
o'clock, or I mean 8:30 to leave.
9 o'clock.
Yeah, because between the rain,the clouds, and just the sun just,
you know, it's just not shining.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And those services, youdon't have to plan ahead.
You can just, like at the stopwhere you are tonight, they can
tell you who can move your pack.
(16:52):
That is correct.
Yeah, but also, there are threeservices, at least for the Chemin Le
Puy, there are three different luggageservices, or transport services,
because they also will transportpeople if you don't feel like walking.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, if you twist your ankle, youknow, you might need to take some rest.
(17:13):
Yeah, because I have met peoplethat have decided to take a bus to
the next one, or at least partial.
So there's three of them, and La MallePostale, the name of it, the first
one, only services from Le Puy until Ibelieve Cahors, and then after that a
(17:35):
service called Claudine, something, Ican't remember... something Claudine.
I'll send you the name.
Yeah, send me the link andI'll put it in the show notes.
Yeah, so Claudine.
Then services from Cahorsuntil Saint Jean Pied de Port.
Okay.
And Le MalPostale services theCélé, part of the Célé Valley,
(17:57):
I believe, as well as Claudine.
But they stopped theirservice on October 15.
So if you're walking beyond October 15,there is a third service called La Valise
Saint Jacques, and they also provide that,and they are all the same price, 10 euros.
(18:21):
And there's a limit, you cannotsend anything, I believe,
you cannot send anything morethan 10 kilograms, I believe.
Okay.
Yeah, it's just specificallyfor people that are walking.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, so when I walked the CéléValley, actually I used the
service once along the Célé Valley.
(18:41):
Now that we've gotten all this generalstuff out of the way, let's talk about the
Célé Valley and what you enjoyed there.
Where did you start thesection on the Célé Valley?
So I started in Rocamadour, which isthe typical starting of the Célé Valley.
So from Rocamadour, it took me, I gavemyself six days, six walking days.
(19:06):
Because, you know, when I, even withmy regular hiking, I'm like someone
who's in a museum when I hike.
I treat the trail like an artgallery, or actually like a gallery.
I'm just like enjoying everything.
So I wanted to enjoy all of it.
So from the Figeac, actually, I alsowent to Rocamadour, but I took a train
(19:29):
to Rocamadour, and then made that,I think it was a five kilometer walk
from the train station to Rocamadour.
And then I went back to Figeac, thenthe next day I left for the Célé Valley.
From Figeac, I walk about that 12kilometers to a village called Béduer.
Compared to the other walks I did,it was a relatively shorter walk.
(19:51):
Sure.
Sure.
Yeah, you have been walkingfurther distances before.
Yeah.
By that time I havealready walked for 13 days.
So two weeks to Béduer.
So it's just this little tiny villageand I got there early and it's funny,
(20:11):
you know, like I knew I was going toget there early because a lot of the
places, they don't want you getting thereuntil like three o'clock, four o'clock.
Right, they don't open till...
Yeah.
I knew I was going to get there early, soI was really taking my time and I, but I
did message my host to ask if, you know,if I can get there earlier, but it didn't
(20:33):
heard, so I just kept on walking, walking.
And this path, actually, this is whereI had to split up with other people
that I had probably walked with, thatare walking the Le Puy, because from
this path, I have to go the oppositedirection that they are to continue on.
Huh.
(20:53):
Now I found it.
Okay, okay.
Oh, and there's a château there.
Yes, but the château is on the oppositedirection, so I didn't get to see.
Ah, okay.
Ah, well.
Yeah, there is a cemetery there, whichthe funny thing is when I was leaving
the next day to continue, you know, toleave Béduer, I kind of like looked at
(21:16):
my map, I was like, it's leading me tothe cemetery, I don't like that, right?
I'm not ready for that.
I am not dying yet.
Ha ha ha.
Yeah, Béduer, just a small town, and itis actually the last village off of the
GR65 before you split off and take 36,before I take the 36th to take me to along
(21:42):
the Célé and then, you know, to, becauseI had also gone to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
Yeah.
But, it's funny because like Isaid, it was a short day for me,
so I was just taking my time.
So, you know, I would, if I find a niceshade that called to me, I'm there.
And about like maybe three kilometersfinally I heard from my hostess and she
(22:03):
said, just come on over because it wasgoing to start raining that afternoon.
And I was walking and there was thiscouple that crept up behind me and
they started talking to me in French.
So, you know, I can speaka little bit, right?
Just enough.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
I was talking.
And then, you know, after a while, Inoticed that, you know, there was kind
(22:25):
of like an accent to their French, butI'm thinking, oh, maybe they're from
a different region in France, right?
I found out they were Britishand we got a laugh out of that.
Ha.
Ha.
Ha.
They were trying to throwme off, what was their name?
Geraldine and Duncan.
Very good.
And then we got, just got to talking,got to laughing that, you know, we
(22:46):
actually passed our gîte for the night.
We found out we were staying atthe same place for the night too.
Oh, cool!
Ha ha ha.
Yeah, so we end up with thisgîte called L'Hirondelle...
yes?
Like a swallow, I think.
I think that's the name.
It's a swallow, so L'Hirondelledu Bourg or something?
L'Hirondelle du Bourg,yeah, yeah, Isabelle.
(23:08):
I can see it on the map.
Oh yeah, yeah, Isabelle is the name ofthe hostess, and she has a dog named Saxo.
Ok.
That's the thing, you stay atthese places, you're with the pets.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
And, there was anothercouple that stayed with us.
So there was five of us thatwas staying with her that night.
(23:29):
And the other couple was from South Korea.
And we had a good chat and we allfound out that, you know, even though
we all spoke different languagesor whatever, you know, but we all
love the show, The Squid Game.
Ha.
There you go.
Right?
So you find out, youknow, things in common.
Yeah, you talk to people.
(23:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we had a wonderful dinner that night.
And in fact, I remember walking in thehouse, I was like, I could smell whatever
she was cooking was like, so good.
And I remember, I think I hadeither called my husband or texted
him and it's like, whatever thislady is cooking, I need to eat now.
(24:11):
Can't stand the smellbecause it's so good.
So it ended up to be like chicken.
Yeah, but you were hungry.
When you walk like that,you must get hungry.
Yeah.
And you know, I did the Frenchdinner, I should say, of, you
know, your entree, which sometimesit's soup or salad, and or salad.
Then your main course,cheese, and then dessert.
(24:35):
I normally don't eat dessert,but I ate dessert every night.
Good for you.
That's how life should be lived.
Yeah, the cheese I had to pass becauseI get so full and I get so, you know, I
feel so bloated by it that I was like,no, I'm going to walk the next day.
Yeah, yeah.
That's cool.
So what was your next stop?
(24:56):
So after that, from Béduer, I walkedabout 17 and a half kilometers.
Ooh, that was a serious day.
That was, yeah, I knew it was goingto be a long day, and that's the first
time I had part of my pack carried.
Uh huh.
Because it was raining, it was goingto rain that day, and we found out the
(25:17):
night before that it was going to be aheavy rain, not just me, but the other
walkers had part of their packs sent.
It just makes it easier to walk faster.
I walked a little over 17 kilometersto a very tiny village, another
tiny village called Brengues,
(25:43):
B-R-E-N-G-U-E-S.
I got the wrong one.
It's in the other direction.
That's past Lyon.
Yeah, so there's a Brengues andthere's a Brengues Cabreret.
Yeah.
Brengues Cabreret.
Right.
In that area, there'sCabreret a lot of things.
Yeah.
So, it was like, literally rained for me.
(26:05):
All right, and that's not farfrom Bouziès where Pêche Merle is.
No, no, no, no, no.
Yeah.
You're right.
But you had been to Pêche Merle with aBootcamp, so I suppose you didn't go.
Yeah.
So, this is when I saw that cemetery.
I was like, I don't wantto go through there.
Because there was a moment in therewhere I thought I was like, you know, I
(26:26):
was looking at Komoot and it's tellingme that I had missed my turn and I
was like, where is the trail entrance?
But it was kind of, therewas a lot of growth.
So it was a little hidden and itwas not far from the cemetery.
That's why it was guidingme towards the cemetery.
And you were trying to avoid the cemetery.
(26:50):
And on this route, I actually passedthrough a small village called Corn,
like, just like how it is C-O-R-N.
And there was a lot ofcorn, cornfields everywhere.
And it was actually in this routethat I started seeing people that
(27:10):
were walking the opposite, comingfrom the opposite direction.
Because usually in Le Puy,everybody's going the same direction.
So you really don't run into someonegoing, you know, the opposite direction.
Interesting.
So I went through, you know,all these, like literally
everything, a lot of it was corn.
I'm thinking, I'm playing agame in my head because I knew
(27:32):
it was going to be a long walk.
It's like, Children of the Corn,I could think of everything.
I was thinking of everything that was cornrelated, you know, even Field of Dreams.
Okay, is somebody going to comeout of the corn here, like Kevin
Costner or something, and he's goingto speak to me in French, right?
That's funny.
It rained all day and then I rememberon this path there was, it's like I
(27:55):
have to stop for lunch because it'sa long, but I didn't want to like, I
would always carry a can or two of thoseconservas, the sardines, the small cans
of sardines, so that's typically my lunch.
But I was like, but it's raining, Idon't want to have to open it, get
my little fork, you know, and all ofthat and eat it, but I had chocolate,
(28:16):
I found my love for Milka Chocolate.
Oh, you like the Milka?
With the walnut.
The one was with the walnut, not theplain ones, the ones with the walnuts.
So I just like...
You know, in France, Milka,we buy that for children.
I love it.
I love it.
Here in the States, we do haveit, but not that one with walnut.
(28:39):
Not the one with walnut.
Yeah, that's what I hadfor lunch and I was just...
Yeah, because I don't see anywhere,I mean, I don't see any villages
along there where you could...
No, no, there isn't.
And in fact, you know, walkingthe Célé Valley, the villages
are far and few in between.
Not only that, there wasn't really aplace to even pick up, you know, like
(29:03):
in the other villages, there's usuallya boulangerie where you can pick up a
sandwich to take on the road or like amarket where you can get food or anything.
So, you know, in my research, Ilearned that and that's why, you
know, I would, I had kept a coupleof the sardines and also a couple of
bars of Milka chocolate with walnut.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(29:23):
Just in case.
Yeah.
And some trail mix that Ihad picked up in Figeac.
And so I had that for lunch andthen, but it was raining and I
just kept on walking, walking.
Then I go up this hill, Ihave passed another village
called Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt,Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt?
Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt?
Okay.
Maybe.
Passed it and I remember going up,up, up on the hill, and as soon
(29:48):
as I reached like the crest of thehill, it's like the sun came out
for me, so I could enjoy the view.
So I was literally looking at the,you know, Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt down.
It gave me a sense of pride andfulfillment, and like, oh my
goodness, I just climbed from there.
(30:09):
I was just down there.
Those are the moments, you know,every now and then you realize
that, I hated having to go up,
but then I realized what I hatedmore is actually going down.
It hurts your knees.
On the knees.
Yeah.
I was there, I enjoyed it for afew minutes and then ran into, you
(30:30):
know, actually a lady and again,walking the opposite direction.
Because by the time I got up there,I would only had maybe like four
kilometers from where I'm staying.
So, I knew I was close, you know,I don't have to really rush it.
And it's funny, because, you know,she was coming the opposite direction.
She stopped, we were there, and she'sstaying down in Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt.
(30:53):
So, I'm going from where she came from.
She's going from, to where I came from.
And we jokingly said, Oh, I cansmell, you know, I can smell the
scent of laundry detergent, becausewe both needed to wash clothes.
There wasn't many places that hadthat, or if they had that, you're
(31:13):
not guaranteed with all the rain,you know, that they might not dry up.
You know, so you got to find somewhere.
And I knew I was gettingthere early enough that I'll
have time to dry my clothes.
I suppose you had rain gear, but,not the best rain gear in the world.
If you are in the rain allday, it's not going to...
No, the only rain gear I had wasreally my poncho, which really helped.
(31:39):
And Miam Miam Dodo is great because italso tells you, what gîtes or Chambre
d'Hôte has a laundry facility or ifthere's a laundry facility in the village.
That's how I was able to planand I knew I was going to be
able to wash clothes there.
It's funny, I was like, I wascoming down, coming down, but
(32:00):
it seemed like it was forever.
It was taking me forever to get down,but then I saw a sign for where I was
staying, it said like 1.5 kilometer.
I was like, I'm still highand that's not possible.
Maybe they put the sign wrong.
But as soon as I came out of the path, golike down, it was right in front of me.
(32:22):
Yeah, so it was right there.
Yeah, that's why.
Because a lot of the places I hadstayed, you know, you come down the
hill and then you still got to walkanother kilometer or two to get to it.
But this one was there.
And then the next one is, I walked12 kilometers to Marcilhac-sur-Célé.
(32:43):
Marcilhac-sur-Célé.
Yes.
We were expecting rain that morning, butit didn't rain, it was just fog, a foggy
start, so it was really, you know, itwas a really good walk, the trail was
mostly like little stones thing, a little.
And then, also there was a little bitof walking on the road, but it was
(33:05):
also, it was just to like transitionfrom one trail to the other, a lot
of the trails are like that too.
And it was on this stage whereI saw my first troglodyte.
Aha.
That's how you say it, yeah?
Troglodyte?
Troglodyte.
It was in a village called Saint Sulpice.
(33:26):
Mm hmm.
So I saw my troglodyte there, andit's like, it's amazing how these
houses, pretty good size houses, I'mnot talking about just some little
shack size, but they are good sizehouses, you know, with four windows in
the front that are just like built...
Into the wall.
(33:47):
Into the wall of therocks, the big boulders.
I can only imagine how they look insideand I tried to find photos of how they
look inside and they do, you know, justlike how you would imagine them, you
know, the ceilings are lower becausethe rocks are coming through there.
So yeah, it was beautiful.
So that one was like a high up there.
And then, in fact, after my walk there,I had got there early enough and I found
(34:15):
out that I'm sharing a dorm room with aCanadian and it was, Benoit was his name.
OK.
He spoke French, but he was able totranslate for me because he was able
to, you know, because I was the onlyAmerican, I was the only English
speaker in that gîte, there was18 of us that stayed in that gîte.
(34:36):
Wow.
So we had a communal dinner.
And a lot of the bigger gîtes,it's usually a communal dinner.
And you know, we all eat together,we eat with either, you know, the
owner of the farmhouse or like, youknow, a big gîte and everything.
So what was the comfortlevel at places like this?
Like, was it?
You know, comfort level isreally like subjective, right?
(35:00):
Yes, yes.
So, I think, oh, should I say it?
In the Célé Valley, particularly,there's not a lot of accommodations.
But the good thing is, becausesome of the accommodations can
be just this gîtes, dorm style.
But you could also make arrangementsto have a private room or a
(35:21):
room to yourself if you want.
The price is not the same, but you can.
The price is not the same, and actually,it was more expensive, the accommodations
on the Célé was more expensive comparedto all the other accommodations.
And then also, if you're okay, youknow, being in a dorm, you have
to be ok being in a co-ed dorm.
(35:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, because sometimesthey don't, you know...
They can't.
They can't, yeah, because they haveto accommodate people that are calling
in and wanting a bed for the night.
Because it's so scarce there that youknow, you just got to take what you have.
The beds are, you know, they're okay.
they're not Marie Antoinette,I mean, they're okay.
(36:05):
I didn't wake up with my back hurting.
Nothing.
Many provide just the sheet to coveryour bed in a blanket and some of
them will put out extra blanket.
But what I did is I carrieda sleep liner with me.
It's made of silk.
So I just put that.
It's like a cocoon.
I just go in there so I have an extralayer, that separates me from the bed
(36:29):
sheet and also keeps me, adds a little,you know, warmth if it gets so cold.
Did they give you pillows?
Yeah, there's pillows and they'llgive you, you know, your pillowcase.
And there's a routine everymorning where you strip your bed,
you take the pillowcase out, youput it in a basket and that's it.
And then some will give you the towels aswell while others, you know, they don't.
(36:50):
But you'll see that on Miam Miam Dodo.
Mm hmm.
Yep.
It says on Miam Miam Dodo becausesome of them will charge for it
or if you want an extra blanket,they'll charge for it and stuff.
Yeah.
So like I said, this was a communal dinnerand this is where I got to ask the French
for some reason, you guys are, you guyswere interested in our election, because
(37:11):
during that time the election was coming.
Yes, yes.
Yes, like every time and I was like,Oh, what do you think of, I was like,
I literally had to say, I'm on a break.
I don't want to think about it.
That's why I'm here.
I don't want to think about it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I would do the same.
Oh, don't... ask me.
Wrong person to ask.
(37:31):
Where to next?
From Marcilhac-sur-Célé, then Iwent to Cabreret at Pêche Merle.
So that was a 19 kilometer walk.
I did not go to Pêche Merlebecause I was just there.
But it looks like you just walkedback in the opposite direction there.
Yes, I was going to say that.
(37:51):
Yeah, it was the opposite direction.
So literally I came from, youknow where the bathrooms are right
where we entered, to go visit it?
I came from that side of it.
Okay.
Yeah, where the trees are,like literally I was there.
I was like, Oh, I'm here.
Yeah.
And I was like, I know there's abathroom here, so I'm going to use the
bathroom before I move on with the trail.
(38:12):
So yeah, I came from that side and Ifigured, you know what, I was just here.
It's not like they added more drawings.
No, no, no, you had seen it.
I didn't go, but I did walk by it andthen I literally had to go behind that.
There's a parking lot thereand that's where I picked
up the trail to continue on.
(38:33):
Then that night, actually, Iended up staying at a restaurant
slash gîte that night.
Yeah.
And I ended up having my own room.
So.
Nice.
Nice.
Very cozy.
Yeah, very cozy.
And I had, I think a duck,we had duck that night.
(38:53):
Yeah.
So it was very good.
Yeah.
Good stuff.
That's your last night of the Céle, right?
No, I got two more.
So from there, Cabaretto Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
Ah, yes.
Yeah.
So this one I had to get offthe trail that I was following.
Because from the 36th, I had to go to 651.
(39:16):
Okay.
So I was there, and like I said, I've beenthere before, and it's really hard to be
a tourist with a heavy pack, so I justrested in front of the tourist office.
And then I started walking to, Iended up staying at a hotel that night
because there was nothing available atthe gîte right there in the village.
And then I found out the hotel was another20 minute walk past Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
(39:40):
Yeah, I'm not surprisedbecause I don't remember many
hotels in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
No, and then, that meant for dinner Ihad to go back into Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
Oh!
But good thing is, it's hilly andit was dark going back to my hotel.
Good thing is I walked with three otherwalkers that I had met on the path.
(40:02):
So we all walked with ourphone lights, together.
Yeah, yeah.
yeah.
Oh, that, that must not have been anyfun because it's hilly, too, and...
Yeah.
And then the next dayit was raining all day.
So I had to change my route.
I had to go back to Bouziès.
Bouziès.
Yeah.
Which I forgot to say, whenI left Bouziès, I walked
(40:24):
through the Chemin de Halage.
Chemin de Halage, yes, of course, you did.
I did.
So I walked back to it againto get back to Bouziès.
Yes, of course you didit in that direction.
Yeah, because originally Iwas going to have to take the
road to get to Bear B-E-A-R.
(40:48):
It's the town I was going to that day,but because of the heavy rain, I decided
to take the trail to go back the Cheminde Halage to Bouziès and then pick up
the GR 36 again to get back on the trail.
Wow.
Saint-Cirq-Lapopie was on GR 651.
What an adventure you had and I mean,not only did you do the Camino, but
(41:10):
you also did side trips like the Célé.
That's fantastic.
What advice would you have for peoplewho want to do something like this?
What should they, what did you figureout that you didn't know before?
Well, first of all, my advice isfor people that are considering
this trail is learn some French.
It will go a long way.
(41:30):
You know, learn directions, learnhow to ask for food, for water, you
know, whatever, learn some French.
There were no English speakers on this.
I just lucked out that I met twothat, you know, could speak English.
Don't be intimidated by the walk.
If you don't want to carry yourpack, use the services, you know?
And also if you're not feelingwell, don't push yourself.
(41:53):
Take a rest day, you know, take a restday, build in extra days in however many
days you think you're going to need.
So if you think I want to dothis in 14 days, build in two
or three extra days, because youjust never know what can happen.
That's really wise.
Because if you have to go backbecause your plane's leaving, then you
(42:14):
don't really have a lot of lag room.
Plan as if it's going to rain, even ifyou look back, like historic weather,
plan as if it's going to rain, bring aponcho or whatever you like as rain gear.
And layer, layer clothing.
Yeah.
Did your boots give you any trouble,your feet gave you any trouble?
(42:34):
No, I came out withouta blister, no blister.
I have a routine every night before Igo to bed, or after dinner, I would rub
my feet with this cream called HealthyFeet, Dr. Miller's Healthy Feet, I would
rub it in between my toes, I would do ittoo, put a sock on, leave the sock, you
(42:55):
know, just so it absorbs, because it driesout, it's not, it doesn't leave your feet
like Vaseline does, where it's gucky.
But this one, it just dries out.
I sleep with my socks if Iwant to, if it's not too hot.
And then the next day I wore sock linersthat had the individual toes, because
(43:16):
that's the thing, the blisters, if youkeep your toes separated, prevents from,
you know, the rubbing, the rubbing iswhat's going to cause the blisters.
So I had that, and then I had my alpacasocks, and then my shoes, which I tested a
few shoes until I decided on which was theright shoe and sock combination for me.
(43:40):
So I end up bringing my, they call themtrail runners, so they look like running
shoes, but they have a thicker threadsas well, like, kind of like a cross
between a hiking shoe and a running shoe.
So it kind of, if you think ofsomething that if they marry up,
it's the one in between that.
And it lasted me the whole time.
So, but by the time I arrived, Saint JeanPied de Port and I had like, had put in
(44:06):
about 500 miles on those shoes already.
I just tossed them out becausethe threads were all gone.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's nothing left at that point.
So are you going to finish it up?
Are you going to comeback and do the rest?
I am.
I'm still hoping I could do it thisyear, depending on the dates, but this
year is getting to be a busy year.
(44:27):
So, you know, if not this year, becauseI want to walk the same time frame I did
September, I like that time of the year.
Yeah.
So yeah, so the next leg would be towalk the Camino Frances, which is what
I was thinking about in the beginninguntil like, you know, I thought more
and I remembered the shell that I saw.
(44:47):
So I'll walk that to the Compostela,so across northern Spain to Santiago.
And that's about, I think that's about a500 mile walk, so almost close to my walk.
But it'll take you 50days more or less, right?
It'll probably, you know what, it's goingto take me longer because my plan is,
(45:07):
because I know now how to plan accordinglywith my body and my walking pace.
Yeah.
And so I'm not in pain and becausethere is a climb right out of Saint
Jean Pied de Port to the Pyrenees over.
And the first four days of my walk, myhusband and I were talking about like, you
(45:28):
know, we were like, why did we do this?
Because our body was in pain.
Yeah, of course.
Because it was out in Le Puy, itwas up, down, up, down, up, down.
So I think what I'm going to do, orI know what I'm going to do, is I'm
going to plan it back, to plan itstarting maybe in a town called Aru.
Okay.
Or Navarrenx, and then walk to SaintJean Pied de Port, so that by that
(45:50):
time my body is used to, it has thatwalking pace, my legs is, you know,
warmed up and everything, becausethat was my regret, you know, and I
didn't think of it until like lateron, and it was already too late.
That I should have went ahead and crossedthe Pyrenees from Saint Jean Pied de Port.
I should have went ahead andcrossed over to Roncevaux.
(46:13):
Yep, going because you were fit by then.
You were ready for whatever.
I was ready, yeah, but by the timeI, like, thought about it, one of
the accommodations up there thatwas, I think, six kilometers past
Saint Jean Pied de Port have alreadyclosed for the season, because a lot
of the gîte closed for the season.
(46:33):
And that's the other thingthat people need to consider.
It's the time of the year they're walking,a lot of them closed by October 15th, kind
of same thing with the transport services.
The place there was closed andthen the other place just a little
further down when I had called them,they didn't have any more room.
They were full and theysaid, you can try tomorrow.
(46:54):
And I didn't want to chance it.
Because the transportation service,the bus service going back to Saint
Jean Pied de Port wasn't running, hadstopped running too for the season.
And I have a flight to catch backin Bordeaux, so I literally have to
go back to Saint Jean Pied de Portand take a train to Bordeaux instead
(47:15):
of going to Pamplona and things.
So I had that logisticsthat I needed to work out.
So that's what I'm going to dois backtrack about five days.
That's probably a good idea.
Just get your body in the rhythmbefore you hit the hills, the
big hills, big, big hills.
(47:35):
Annie, it was painful.
It was.
I was like, I was in pain.
Oh, I believe you.
The hardest day is really the second day.
Is that right?
Not the first day of walking.
We did 13 miles the firstday, Which was long, I think.
Too long, especially withup, down, up, down, up, down.
(47:55):
And then wake up the next dayand your body is like hurting.
Yes.
You're like, Oh, don't do
And my legs, my Florida legs were hurting.
And I kept on describing topeople that would ask me, like,
what, you're from Florida?
How did you do the hills?
I was like, I know.
I was like, the hills arelike Mount Everest for me.
(48:16):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's how it is.
Rowena, it's been adelight to talk to you.
We really have to stop becausewe've been talking a long time.
But thank you so muchfor sharing all of that.
And it's a delight to hear from you.
Thank you, Annie.
Hey, do this again and we'll talk again.
Yeah.
Thank you, Annie.
See you later.
(48:36):
Au revoir.
Merci beaucoup.
Again, I want to thank my patrons forgiving back and supporting the show.
Patrons get several exclusiverewards for doing that, you can
see them at patreon.com/joinus.
(49:01):
A special shout-out this week toour Join Us in France champions
Melanie, Dana Gschwendtner, JudyGunn, who joined at the Groupie du
Podcast yearly tier, and Madeleine,who is also a Groupie du Podcast.
Welcome back as a patronMarilyn Miller as well.
(49:22):
Would you join them too?
You can do it for as little as two dollarsa month, but if you can afford it, I
would love to have you pledge more so youcan have access to more of the rewards.
And to support Elyse, goto patreon.com/elysart.
Somebody left this reviewof my Ile de la Cite tour.
This person says (49:44):
"I was visiting Paris for the day by myself, and I decided I
wanted to venture out and see some sights.
I decided to check the app storebefore leaving the hotel to see
if I could find some guides, andthat's how I stumbled upon VoiceMap.
I am very glad I did.
Annie's tour was the one at the top thathad the most reviews, and now I know why.
(50:08):
She was excellent.
The VoiceMap app is very easy to use.
I love how it gives you directionsto the start of the tour and
gently guides you to where to go.
I enjoyed walking around withAnnie, and I am already at St
Regis looking for my next tour.
Wish I had more time.
Highly recommended."
(50:28):
Thank you so much.
That's wonderful to know.
" I know a lot of the people who writereviews are podcast listeners, but there
are also plenty of people who don't knowanything about me, who enjoy those tours.
And podcast listeners get a big discountfor buying these tours from my website.
It's best for me as well, because I getto keep more of what you pay instead
(50:48):
of giving it to Apple or Google.
But if you buy from my boutique, it'sa manual process, so don't expect it
to be instant like it would be if youwere buying directly from the app.
To use your code, open VoiceMap, tap'Tour Codes' at the bottom right,
enter the code, and download the tour.
(51:09):
You own it forever.
Even if you change phones, just log intoyour VoiceMap account to access it again.
The tours work without databecause the audio, images, and
maps are downloaded to your phone.
And GPS works anywhere,even without cell service.
Best of all, you can listen in virtualplayback from anywhere in the world.
(51:29):
Perfect if Paris is notin your immediate plans.
You can take me in yourpocket with VoiceMap.
And if you're planning a trip toFrance and want expert help, hire
me as your itinerary consultant.
It's a busy season, so book earlyat joinusinfrance.com/boutique.
Usually, I have openings within amonth, but right now it's more like
(51:51):
two to three months out, so don't wait.
Let's talk about swimming in the Seine.
If you're visiting Paris this summer,2025, and you're tempted by the idea
of swimming in the Seine, yes, really,then you're in for something historic.
Starting July 5, 2025,public swimming pools will be
(52:15):
officially open in the Seine.
It's part of the Olympic legacy, but it'salso a long-term goal to improve water
quality and adapt to climate change.
So where exactly can you swim?
Well, here are the official places.
There are three of them for now.
The first one is the Bras Marie.
(52:37):
That's in the center of Paris.
It's near the Paris Plages area,right in the heart of the city.
The swimming area will be 70meters long and 20 meters wide.
It's floating, with pontoonsattached to the quay.
Up to 150 people can swimhere at the same time.
It's open mornings until noon andall day Saturday until 6:30 PM.
(53:01):
Just know that they have toshut down boat traffic for this
one, so, hours are limited.
Number two is Port de Grenellein the 15th arrondissement.
It's across from Ile-aux-Cygnes.
This site also uses floating pontoonsand includes a shallow pool for kids.
It can host up to 200 people.
(53:23):
You'll find changing roomsand showers on the site.
It's open Monday through Fridayfrom 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and
Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:55 PM.
Sundays include short breaksfor river traffic as well.
And number three is Bercy in the12th arrondissement, right across
(53:45):
from the Bibliotheque Nationalede France, Mitterrand edition.
This will be the largest of thethree, accommodating up to 700
people with 300 in the water at once.
Two freshwater pools will be available.
It'll be open daily from 11:00AM until 9:00 PM all summer long.
(54:06):
Now, these are proper swimmingareas with safety measures in place.
Expect lifeguards, flag system,green, yellow, and red to signal
water quality, and regulartesting, water quality testing.
Like on the coast, the spots may closefor a day or two after heavy rains
due to runoff so check before you go.
(54:29):
And if you're heading a bit outsideof Paris, you'll also find swimming
in the Marne River starting on June28th in places like Joinville-le-Pont
near the marina, Maisons-Alfort,that's at the Charentonneau
Footbridge, Saint-Maur, and Champigny.
These Marne locations willcharge a three euro entrance fee
(54:52):
if you live in the local area.
Each spot can get around 200 swimmers,and they'll be open seven days a week.
The Joinville site willbe right on a sandy beach.
How nice.
The local government in Val-de-Marnehas poured over 200 million
euros into making these riversites clean and swimmable again.
(55:13):
That includes fixing faultyplumbing connections, building
a new water treatment plant, andconducting 8,000 inspections.
The goal is to open 14 swimming sitesbetween the Seine and the Marne by 2026.
So yes, for the first timesince the 1970s, Parisians and
(55:33):
visitors can swim in the riversagain safely with Olympic flair.
Now, let me know.
Would you do it?
Would you pack a bathing suit fora dip in the Seine this summer?
I will not.
I swim in the Mediterranean,not lakes, not rivers.
That's just... just,you know, I have issues.
I do have issues, and that's one of them.
(55:57):
And to talk back on these typesof questions, you can, of course
do it as a patron, of course,or on the Facebook group.
We have a Join Us in France closedgroup on Facebook, and if you
join that, you will have to answerquestions, or we won't let you in.
We're a lot picky about who we let in.
My thanks to podcast editors,Anne and Christian Cotovan,
(56:19):
who produced the transcripts.
Join us next week as we welcome backKim Cox, who shares the magic of her
recent trip to Paris and Strasbourg.
She mentions the breathtakingreopening of Notre-Dame de Paris,
the enchanting Christmas markets, andhidden gems only locals know about.
(56:39):
This episode is packed with tips and talesthat will give you serious wanderlust.
Don't they all?
Don't miss out on this winter wonderlandadventure with Join Us in France.
Thank you so much for listening,and I hope you join me next time so
we can look around France together.
Au revoir.
The Join Us in France travelpodcast is written, hosted, and
(57:01):
produced by Annie Sargent, andCopyright 2025 by AddictedToFrance.
It is released under a CreativeCommons attribution, non-commercial,
no derivatives license.
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