Train to Toulouse Matabiau Station, taxi to Toulouse Blagnac Airport and Easyjet flight to London Gatwick

A Gîte is a specific type of holiday accommodation, a holiday home available for rent. Gîtes are usually fully furnished and equipped for self-catering. Many owners choose to handle their own rentals. Technically, to be called a gîte, the owner must live close by in order to provide help, assistance, and a warm welcome to guests. Gîtes are generally old farmworkers' cottages or converted outbuildings and barns within proximity of the owner's principal residence. This type of holiday accommodation is sometimes regarded as "basic"' in terms of facilities; however, most gîtes are generally very well kept, and a growing number will have excellent facilities such as fully fitted kitchens, en-suite bathrooms, TV, DVD, and access to a swimming pool or other sporting activities. Some gîtes don't provide linen as standard; many gîte owners do include linen at least as an option. All gîte owners are required to ensure that their gîtes are safe and comply with the necessary rules, regulations, and insurance requirements.

Gîte Rural
Offers self-catering accommodation located in the countryside, by the sea, or in the mountains. The gîte is completely self-contained with one or more bedrooms, a lounge or dining room, a kitchen and bathroom facilities.

Gîtes d'Etape
Stopover and holiday getaways off the beaten track for groups of walkers or cyclists.

Chambre d'Hôtes
Bed and Breakfast the French way. Stay as a guest in a private home with a full breakfast provided. Some hosts offer Table d'Hôtes (table service) which provide half board or full board service. If Table d'Hôtes is not available there is usually a local restaurant available for evening meals.

The term "gîte" is sometimes confused with "chambre d'hôtes", but in fact the two are different. A "chambre d'hôtes" is necessarily lived in by the service provider and breakfast served each morning. A "gîte" is a holiday home in an independent building. A chambre d'hôtes thus is more akin to a bed and breakfast.

ETD 08:10 hrs London Gatwick EZY 8415
ETA 10:50 hrs Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport

Rhonexpress Tram ETD Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport 11:30 hrs
ETA Lyon Part Dieu Station 12:00 hrs

Train ETD Lyon Part Dieu Station14:52 hrs
ETA St Etienne Châteaucreux 15:40 hrs

Train ETD St Etienne Châteaucreux 15:53 hrs
ETA Le Puy en Velay 17:20 hrs

The Via Podiensis or the Le Puy Route is one of the four routes through France on the pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. It leaves from Le Puy en Velay and crosses the countryside in stages to the basque village of Ostabat. Near there it merges with two of the other routes, the via Turonensis and the via Lemovicensis which merge a little earlier.

The three then become the Navarre Route, passing via the French town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and crossing the Pyrenees and the Spanish border by one path or another to Roncesvalles in the Spanish province of Basse-Navarre. Together they serve as the principal pilgrimage route across Spain, known as the Camino Frances. The fourth French route, the via Tolosane, crosses the Pyrenees at a different point (Somport), becomes the Aragonese Way when it enters Spain, and joins the Camino Frances further to the west.

Before le Puy, the Via Gebennensis leaves from Geneva, gathering Swiss and German pilgrims and feeding into the Via Podiensis. Though it bears a Latin name, the Via Gebennensis is a modern route laid out in 1980-90, though the numerous hospitals it passes testify to the passage of pilgrims along this route in earlier ages.

From Geneva to the Pyrenees, the two routes (Via Gebennensis and Via Podiensis) are waymarked as one of the French major hiking routes, the GR 65, with a few local variations or detours, including GR 651 through the valley of Célé and GR 652 via Rocamadour.

The route begins at Le Puy en Velay, Haute-Loire in the volcanic region of the south-east of the Auvergne. Le Puy is famous for lace making as well as its lentils. It makes its way across the Margaride plateau to the wild Gévaudan, an area famous for the mythical beast "La Bête du Gévaudan". After that it climbs even higher to the open plateau of the Aubrac with its meadows rising to 4,000 ft. The route then changes dramatically as it drops down through deep wooded gorges of the Lot Valley, hugging the banks of the Lot River until it reaches Estaing. From here it climbs again, before plunging down into the medieval village of Conques. From here the countryside opens out again as it passes through the chalky wooded area of the Quercy with its dovecotes ("pigeonniers"), half-timbered houses and its dolmens. It then makes its way into Cahors across the "causse", a dry, undulating limestone plateau covered with scrubby vegetation. The countryside then flattens out with the rolling landscapes of the départment of the Tarn et Garonne, crossing the Garonne near Moissac.

On the route, which is designated the GR65, there is a very imple guide system. At first these signs appear difficult to see, and you don't have a lot of confidence in them, but quite quickly you learn to spot them at 100 yards and it becomes instinctive to follow the route.