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Walking from Toulouse ain't so bad either - but it is worth following the
advice given in the CSJ guide to the Arles route. That is to take the city
bus out of town on past the airport before you start the walk. I was somewhat
hesitant about following the CSJ advice, since it didn't seem to be in
the proper pilgrim spirit to take a bus, even for just a few km. But as
I was walking out of Toulouse, three local Saint Jacques committee members
were driving by and spotted me as a pilgrim. They stopped and insisted
that I allow them to take me to the bus depot. Well, with this sort of
official encouragement, I just relaxed and went with the flow.
<p>One advantage of <i>walking</i> to Somport is that the very best part
of the whole walk is the couple of days <i>before</i> you reach Somport,
i.e. from Sarrance to Urdos to Somport. A disadvantage is that it cost
more to be a pilgrim in France than in Spain.
<p>regards,
<p>Robert
<br>rspengeraadelphia.net
<p>"E. O. Pederson" wrote:
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<div style='background-color:'>As to transportation, from Toulouse, take
a train to Pau (3-4 hours), then a local train from Pau to Oloron Ste.Marie
(about an hour). From the front of Oloron Gare, SNCF runs a bus to
Somport (and on to Canfranc Estacion), taking about an hour and costing
last autumn 75 FF. For train schedules <a href="http://www.sncf.fr">http://www.sncf.fr</a>
(check on the union jack for the english language version). In the
autumn there were 4 busses a day from Oloron to Canfranc (and vv).
sEVERAL SMALL
<br>
<br> E. O. PedersonSeattle, WA</div>
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