June 5, 2026 – Lourdes to near Bruges-Capbis-Mifaget – 31 kms – Maison du Bonheur Chambre d’Hôtes

June 6, 2026 – near Bruges-Cabis-Mifaget to Herrère – 30 kms – La Maison Marguerite

June 7, 2026 – Herrère to Préchacq-Josbaig – 25 kms – Maison Sowilo

June 8, 2026 – Préchacq-Josbaig to Mauléon-Licharre – 25 kms – Chambre chez l’habitant

I’m a planner by nature. Some might call it cumpulsive or even hyper-vigilant, but I like my days to have as much predictability as possible. 

We are often asked if we are on an organized tour.  For us, it’s not necessary on a Camino, because we find the planning and organization quite easy. 

A smart phone is a curse in many ways, but for independent travel it is a truly remarkable tool. I remember cycle touring before the smartphone. You would open up the map and take an educated guess as to where you were. Not only was there no GPS, but no finger moves would enlarge the paper map to reveal a network of smaller roads.  Our routes usually followed more travelled highways, often with more traffic. 

Gord and I have been traveling independently through the world for years, so perhaps when I say it’s easy I am not factoring in some of the skills we have acquired along the way. When things get complicated or I get anxious, I remind myself that we are good at this. I have never had to sleep in a culvert or a bus shelter, and only once did we have to sleep in a Shinto temple. That was in Japan during Golden Week, and of course we had  permission. I do occasionally tire of the hunting for accommodation, but mostly I like the freedom it gives us. 

I would estimate that we spend roughly an hour a day planning the route, accommodation, food and other stops. The time is reduced if we are on a Camino line, because that limits route decisions to merely how far we wish to go.  We generally plan distances and accommodation for two or three days and then don’t think about it again for a few days.

On the Voie de Piémont we have always been able to find accommodation every 25 to 32 kms, using chambre d’hôtes, hotels, and apartments. Sometimes we must go a little off the route to find them, but there is accommodation along the way. Affordable pilgrim accommodation, however,  while available, is not consistently placed along the route. We talked to a German pilgrim who was finding the route difficult both for its distances to cheaper accommodation, and its terrain. There is a network of families who host pilgrims along the way and we have talked to another pilgrim who has had good success using this list from her start in Mirepoix. 

Since Lourdes we are now seeing Pilgrims! In the first day out of Lourdes we doubled our count. 

With only a handful of days before Saint Jean Pied de Port and the end of the Voie de Piémont, Gordon and I are both in agreement that this Camino is one of the most beautiful. The variety of landscapes and historic sights has been staggering. We now have accommodation booked up to and including Saint Jean. We have eight extra days after that.  We haven’t decided where to go during that time.  At this point we are leaning towards walking backwards on the Chemin de Le Puy before we run out of time and catch a train to Toulouse.