Le Puy Camino 2016

I will be flying with Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa to Lyons, then taking a train to Le Puy.  From there on foot to Conques, as shown in the 3 images above.  As this route is a little more challenging than the Camino Frances, I have planned shorter days walking.

After Conques, I'll be travelling by public transport to Figeac, Cahors, Moissac and Toulouse where there are monuments I want to see;  then on to St Jean Pied de Port, from where I want to cross the Pyrenees again. This was last done in 1998 when I was a bit younger!

2016 Schedule

09 May           dep Perth 14.05   arr Sing 19.30  dep Sing  23.05

10 May           arr Frankfurt 05.40   dep Frankfurt 09.05  arr Lyon 10.20

                        Train to Le Puy.  Hotel Bristol

11 May           (Wed) Le Puy.  Hotel Bristol

12 May           16 km. Montbonnet.  Gite la Grange

13 May           14.2 km Monistrol d’Allier.  Repos de Pelerin

14 May           11.7 km Saugues   Hotel la Terrasse

15 May           (Sun)  Pentecost wkend! After Saugues stop at La Ferme aux Fromages in Le Falzet. Les 2 Pelerins, Villaret

16 May           21 km St Alban Hotel du Centre,  also has gite

17 May           15.3 km. Aumont-Aubrac.    Ferme du Barry        

18 May           15.9 km.  Finieyrols.  Gite Les Gentianes 

19 May           18.9 km.  Aubrac.  Gite la Colonie

20 May           8 km. St Chely d’Aubrac.  Gite Municipal bkd. No meals!

21 May           16 km.  St Come d’Olt  Gite del Roumiou. 

22 May           (Sun)7.5 km.  Espalion  Gite A La Halte St Jacques

23 May           12 km.  Estaing  Hotel Auz Armes d’Estaing

24 May           13 km.  Golinhac  La Bastide d’Olt

25 May           8.5 km.  Espeyrac  Hotel de la Vallee

26 May           16.5 km.  Conques  Le Chrismo

27 May           Conques  Le Chrismo. 

28 May           Figeac  by bus. Grand Hotel du Pont d’Or 

29 May           (Sun)  Figeac.  Le Pont d’Or   Bkd.     SPARE DAY

30 May           Cahors Hotel la Chartreuse. 

31 May           Moissac  Ultreia

01 Jun             Toulouse

02 Jun             Train to SJPP Itzalpea

03 Jun             Orisson 

04 Jun             Roncesvalles Hotel Roncesvalles

05 Jun             (Sun)  Bizkarreta.  Corazon Puro

06 Jun             Larrasoana.  Hotel Akerreta

07 Jun             Pamplona Hotel Europa

08 Jun             Bus to Jaca

09 Jun             Bus to monastery. Stay in Sta Cruz de la Seros? Or day trip?

10 Jun             Back to Jaca

11 Jun             SPARE DAY      

12 Jun              (Sun) Train to BCN

13 Jun              dep BCN 18.50   arr Frankfurt 21.00   dep Frankfurt 21.45

14 Jun              dep Singapore 18.45   arr Perth 23.55

Caves Road North

On our last day in Margaret River, we took a gourmet drive up Caves Road towards Dunsborough.  We had already purchased some chorizo at the Venison Farm (the only meat product that the vegetarians amongst us will eat, as they can observe the deer roaming free in their paddocks as we drive past, i.e. not factory farmed!)  C was keen to stock up at Gabriel's Chocolate Factory, so we tasted a few dark varieties and had coffee there.  Across the road we did some cheese tasting at a new place.  We tried 3 cheeses made with Jersey milk: curd, marinated feta and Brie.  Produced by the Yallingup Cheese Factory, all were delicious.  Afterwards, C and E had a game of Jenga in their play area and I went for a stroll up the lane, where there was a housing development which had been going for several years.  Only 3 out of the 10 blocks were sold and no building had started.  It is a lovely location with mature trees, but it is only zoned for holiday homes not permanent residences.

Playing Jenga

Land near the housing development

Who wouldn't want to live here?

We continued on our drive as far as Meelup Beach where we had lunch. it was quite a hot day and lots of kids were swimming.  A group of teenagers were having a canoeing lesson and we were entertained by a few who couldn't get their boat out over the breaking waves.  I took a short walk along a coastal footpath with lovely sea views.

Meelup Beach

In the evening, we were booked into Miki's Open Kitchen, a new Japanese Restaurant in Margaret River which has been getting rave reviews.  We tried their 6 course degustation menu and were served tiny but delicious morsels and longed for more!  The 3 chefs were busy in the small space allocated to them.

Chefs at Miki"s

Back home, we enjoyed our own cheese platter, drank some of Claire's dessert wine from Redgate and watched the final episode of our Endeavour DVD.

Hamelin Bay and Voyager

This was a very full day, starting off with a drive down the Southern end of Caves Road. We stopped first at Lake Cave, where there is a new interpretive centre about the formation of limestone caves. E tried the cave crawl experience.

On to Boranup Forrest where we always marvel at the big trees.

We reached Hamelin Bay and walked along the beach to the old jetty. We were lucky enough to see both dolphins and stingrays, which like to play in the shallow water.

There were lots of rays flapping about, but it was impossible to get a clear picture of them.  People were also catching large local salmon off the beach.

On to our favourite Margaret River restaurant for lunch: Voyager Estate.  We dined well at our corner table. C and J had a vegetarian option of a feta pastie and I had a rather small fillet steak with bearnaise sauce and one sprout. E had a large kids F and C.  We all had rhubarb torte for dessert.  Afterwards E and J relaxed in comfy chairs on the lounge whilst I admired the rose garden and veggie patch.

Cape to Cape Track

A lovely sunny day greeted us for our plan to do a section of the Cape to Cape Track. Before setting off I tried to take a photo that did justice to our huge picture windows at Tarabuco.

We drove to Gracetown where C, E and I set off to walk 7 km to Ellensbrook House. We passed some popular surf breaks, where lots of black heads were bobbing about in the water, whilst a lucky few were actually able to catch a wave. We stopped at the memorial to the Gracetown disaster, where 9 people were  killed in a cliff collapse whilst watching a school surfing competition.

We were pretty hot and tired when we reached Ellensbrook, mainly because the track was so sandy and quite overgrown in parts.  JL had driven there and was waiting for us with a picnic lunch.

Cowaramup

On Monday, Ellie's choice was to drive to Cowaramup where the Candy Cow sweet shop attracts kids from miles around and because they're on holiday, parents can't refuse!  JL also likes to visit the scene of his boyhood on the Group Settlement Scheme.

Also known as Cow Town, Cowaramup has had its Main Street decorated with life sized cows for the last few years and these have proved a great tourist attraction. Cows are everywhere you look. C said they have milked the cow connection for all it's worth.

Claire and Ellie selecting goodies in Candy Cow

JL found some errors in this notice

After lunch and a siesta, we went to Madfish for a little wine tasting, and bought six of their new season's Merlot. C and E had a game of Bocce outside. It was rather a dull, drizzly day.  We came back via Margaret River and called into the Settlets Tavern for one of their boutique beers. 

In the evening we played Scrabble.  Did I say there is no TV reception at Tarabuco? (No wi-fi, either!) J didn't want to play but agreed to provide $5 for the Scabble winner. E won by one point, by some miracle!

Margaret River

C had booked us a week's holiday at Tarabuco Cottage, deep in the forest to the south of Margaret River. She had discovered it on Air BnB. It is a very spacious home, with a well stocked kitchen, beautiful log fire, a bedroom downstairs for the oldies and a big mezzanine area for the youngies.  There is a high pitched roof and huge windows with views out to the marri trees.

John loves to chop wood!

Growing near our cottage

After a rainy night, the sun came out as we were having breakfast. Our first stop was our nearest beach at Redgate. We walked along the sand southwards and saw two oyster catchers sitting on a rock. We then sat watching the surfers catching their waves.

Then JL wanted to visit his boyhood haunt of Cowaramup Bay, where the family had had days out by horse and cart from their group settlement at Cowaramup. The sea was very clear, but we hadn't brought any swimming gear.

Bibbulmun Track Northbound

A lovely sunny morning greeted us on Thursday, when a group of us did about 11 km on the Bibbulmun from Rates Lookout to Mount Clare Camp, with a car shuffle for those who wanted it.

Tasselflower

Perfect fungus

View from Rates Lookout

From the Mount Clare Campsite, Peter and Lutz were keen to continue on the Bibbulmun, but it proved to be a very steep track down to the Deep River suspension bridge.  Knowing that we would have to walk back up this track, people started dropping out (me included!) and we gradually made our way back to Rates in a leisurely fashion.

Fallen trees on steep track down

Close up of same fallen trees

Count the rings!

In the afternoon, back at Coalmine Beach, I took a couple of shots of the local wildlife:

Tame kangaroos behind our cabin

Kookaburra on our balcony

Every day at 5.30 pm. the Nats would meet for drinks and nibbles for about an hour.  Afterwards, we all retired to our respective cabins to prepare and eat dinner.  These are my menus for the 4 days:

Mon:  Roast chicken, coleslaw, jacket potatoes

Tues:  Spaghetti bolognese

Wed:  Delia's Thai chicken with rice

Thurs:  Osso Buco (in slow cooker all day).