Way of St James – France - A Walker's Guidebook

A walker's guidebook to the 740km Pilgrim Road from Le Puy-en-Velay in central France to the Pyrenees. The only original guidebook to this route in English. Gives directions for walking the route and also provides information on places to visit along the way, the history of the pilgrimage and the availability of practical facilities.

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Figeac to Moissac

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To continue: turn L down Avenue Jean-Jaurès. About 150m later turn (second) L up street (marked ‘Cingles Bas’) alongside high wall, veering R then L under railway line. Turn R and then fork L uphill. Road becomes forest track through woods, climbing steadily up side of hill and veering L, passing TV mast to reach war memorial, an enormous concrete cross, with the names of the 145 people deported on 12 May 1944. Picnic area with view over town of Figeac.

Continue ahead on road, mainly uphill, for 1.5km to second monument (obelisks marking limits of 8th-century Benedictine abbey, another picnic area): this is the place where the GR65A variante meets up with the GR65 again*.

To continue on GR65, turn R (the waymarks ahead are those of the GR65A). About 200m later KSO(R) along D922 and 100m later fork R down wide road past factories and marked ‘Z.I.Aiguille.’

KSO along level road on ridge, ignoring turns to L and R. (On the skyline you can see the water tower in Faycelles as a reference point.)

Continue along road, passing Malaret, passing above Buffan and just after a crossroads KSO to…

5km La Cassagnole 311m (265/475)
Birthplace of Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne and second Holy Roman emperor. Gîte d’étape (Relais Saint-Jacques, 05.65.34.03.08, 35pl, open all year, also CH).

KSO(R) at fork and continue on road, KSO(L) at junction in Ferrières (modern stone cross). KSO(R) at next junction (note dovecote to R). Join road from back L. Cross D662 and continue into village, veering R uphill to church in…

3.5km Faycelles 319m (268.5/471.5)
Bar/restaurant/shop. CH on main street.

Continue ahead L, past church, KSO(L) up walled lane, turn L on road (D21). Good view over Lot valley.

KSO(R) at junction. Note caselles in this area. Also steeply pitched barns, two stories, with grassy ramp leading up to first-floor entrance.

Continue on D21 for 2km till just past RH turn for Ayrens (hard R), then fork L down shady lane for 300m to road. (200m ahead on L is La Planquette, a gîte d’étape, 05.65.40.01.36, 10pl + 8 in marquee in summer, campsite, April–Sept.) Turn R almost immediately down FP and at end turn R onto D18 just before its junction with the D21 in hamlet of…

3.5km Mas de la Croix 327m (272/468)
This is where the GR651 starts, the (waymarked) variante route along the Vallée du Célé: see Appendix B.
a) For GR651: KSO on D21 to Béduer (0.8km, shop, two restaurants).
b) For GR65: fork L by bus shelter down minor road, pass above château and then, at small crossing (iron cross) turn L up narrow walled lane which then becomes a minor road. When it bends R downhill turn L down a (wider) walled lane and KSO, ignoring turns, as it wends its way downhill (lavoir/fountain, the Fontieu, to R) and then up to minor road.

Turn L and immediately R uphill at junction (marked ‘Surgues’) then turn L down track 120m later and KSO, ignoring turns. When it becomes a walled lane (farm of Combes-Salgues to L) KSO. At crossing of paths 100m later turn R along another walled lane.

KSO, ignoring turns, to road (D38). Turn L for 250m then down track. KSO. In a grassy clearing where track forks L fork R up grassy lane. KSO ahead at crossing and continue uphill to road in hamlet of Le Puy Clavel. Turn R and 100m later turn L down grassy track. KSO to road and turn R uphill to D19. Cross over and KSO (iron cross to L).

In this area the footpaths are often broken by roads/staggered junctions/ short stretches on road, hence the complicated instructions.

Turn L after waterworks building, then R (épicerie/tabac to L) and arrive at the church in…

9km Gréalou 374m (281/459)
Hotel/bar/restaurant des Quatre Vents (meals by reservation only). Romanesque church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption. There are a lot of dolmens in this area.

Turn R at church, pass cemetery (R) and continue on lane. At junction with road KSO ahead on track along ridge, continuing along open heathland to small stone cross (thought to be the oldest such cross in the region). Opposite a dolmen veer L down green lane alongside wall and continue down to road (D82) and KSO on other side down walled lane, ignoring turnings. KSO ahead at junction and continue until you reach a road. Turn R and then at a T-junction turn R again to hamlet of…

4km Le Verdier 316m (285/455)

In bad weather you may want to take the variante route through the woods to Cajarc (2km shorter, via the GR65A, waymarked with a diagonal white ‘bar’ through the red-and-white balises). If so KSO on here on road then turn L onto a minor road leading to the D21. Turn R along it then 50m later KSO(L) down grassy walled lane which bends L 500m then R 200m after that, track descending to rejoin D21 2km later. Turn L along it into the Place du Forail in the centre of Cajarc.

Otherwise, to continue on GR65, turn R into hamlet and KSO on road, uphill for 500m, to crossroads (iron cross). KSO ahead (marked ‘Chemin des Vignes’), continuing to climb until you reach another road. Turn L and 150m later fork L up unsurfaced road and KSO through fields, track then becoming a green lane. At crossing KSO ahead (level) and continue to road. Cross over and continue on other side on track which becomes walled lane, descending till you reach a T-junction with ruined building on L.

Turn L along track and KSO, ignoring turns, uphill to road. Cross it and continue ahead down green lane, descending to join road coming from back L. KSO(R) for 20m then KSO(L) (at bend to R in road) down walled lane. This becomes tarred lane, descending all the time.

About 150m after road joins from back R turn R along green lane under the cliffs (Cajarc below L). This becomes a stony track that descends continuously in a straight line until you reach a field at the bottom. Turn R alongside a wall on a grassy path and then KSO along minor at end and turn L onto D922.

The GR65 does not enter Cajarc. To visit town: KSO. To continue: turn R immediately (after turning L onto D922).

To leave from town centre (Place du Forail) continue on Boulevard de la Tour de Ville and turn R into Avenue de la Capalette then L into Rue de Cuzoul and KSO past campsite. Continue alongside railway line (on LH side) and just before second tunnel underneath it turn R along side of garden and then L up stony FP to road (D922, above R under cliffs).  KSO(L) ahead and then KSO(L) again at junction with the ‘Chapelette’ (on L) and huge wooden cross (on R). Picnic area.

KSO(L) here (Chemin de la Route Veille) and fork R 100m later. KSO(R) at fork after 1km and descend to five-way junction. Take second R (brickworks to R) then join D19 coming from back R. (Church in Gaillac up on clifftop ahead of you.) Cross suspension bridge over the Lot and turn L on other side, continuing uphill on road to entry to…

Á 6km Cajarc 160m (291/449)
All facilities, gîte d’étape (05.65.40.71.51, 20pl, open all year), municipal campsite (on GR out of town, May–Sept), three hotels.
Town situated in a ‘circus’ of chalk cliffs. Pilgrim bridge over the Lot built in 1320 and a hospital existed in 1269. Chapelle de la Madeleine (only the chancel remains, known as ‘Chapelette de Cajarc’ today, the chapel of former 13th-century leprosarium).
NB After Gaillac the causse begins, with no food or water until Cahors, except in Limogne, so stock up on both before leaving Cajarc.