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<P>I walked with my wife from Le Puy to Conques in the summer of 1999, and found it to be a marvelous part of the camino. Many who walk the route eventually complete the walk to Santiago (in my case, I was backtracking, as I walked from St. Jean to Santiago the year before). There are numerous gites along the route along with some inexpensive hotels and wonderful restaurants. The route, the GR65, is very well marked, though with the red and white markers common to long distance routes in France rather than the yellow arrows one encounters in Spain. There is an excellent guidebook if you read French, and the IGN publishes first rate maps. Autumn in southern France usually means good walking weather, though at higher elevations there is always a chance of bad weather (even in midsummer). In summer it would be a very good idea to make advance reservations for places to stay. There is even a baggage service to carry luggage (ba!
ck!
packs) between gites or hotels!</P>
<P>The abbey at Conques is one of the most interesting and beautiful churches along the camino, and, rather remote from larger towns, it is not overwhelmed by tourists, one of the few Michelin 3 star attractions not overcrowded even in mid summer. If you have the time for this section of the camino, by all means take the 7-9 days to make the walk.</P>
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<P>E. O. Pederson</P>
<P>Seattle, WA</P></DIV><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p></html>