Chemin de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle on the Via Podiensis / GR65

Well, it is just nineteen days before Sean and I plan to leave for France and begin our 736 km hike from Le Puy-en-Velay to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port along the Le Puy Way (aka Via Podiensis, or GR65).  The Le Puy Way is one of four pilgrimage routes through France that ultimately leads to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, where legend has it that the bones of St. James the Apostle are buried.  We walked from St. Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago last October, and it was such an amazing experience that we immediately began exploring our options for future long-distance hikes.  Somewhat fittingly, the idea to do the Le Puy Way was first suggested to us during our very first night in an albergue on our first Camino by three retired gentlemen who had taken three years and were walking from Berlin to Santiago.  They suggested this hike was extremely beautiful, and that same sentiment was reiterated by several other pilgrims we met along The Way.  From the guidebooks and online forums it sounds like this will be a very different experience from the one we had in Spain, and we are very excited to discover whatever is in store. Although we didn't expect to begin our next adventure quite so soon (we were thinking of the autumn again!), we are very excited to begin this journey.  In that spirit, we are booking our flights, trains, and first few accommodations. Happy Trails!