Camino Photo of the Day: a Note about Tourist Offices

In many of the larger towns and villages – and even some of the smaller ones – you will find tourist offices, like this one in Saint-Chély-d’Aubrac. They are absolutely invaluable. If you’ve been following along, you know that I reserved eight of my first ten nights in advance at various gîtes and hostels and monasteries. But Saint-Chély was the first place I came to where I had not done so. I had planned on booking something the evening before, which is usual practice on the routes in France, but it had slipped my mind.

After our meal, I bid Alex adieu, as he was pushing on to walk an additional 16km to Saint-Côme-d’Olt. I never saw him again, as he was from here on out at least a day ahead of me. I tried and failed to find him in Santiago when I arrived in October. I still owe him a beer.

I headed over to the tourist office to see if they could help me secure lodgings. They were friendly and only too happy to help. In several other towns over the next few weeks, I stopped by the tourist offices for similar help, and they never disappointed. Where a place had a tourist office, they became my backstop for finding places to stay and eat. My Miam-Miam Dodo guide (among many other bits of important information) always listed a tourist office where there was one.

I would walk in and greet them with a sizable percentage of my French, “Bonjour! Parlez-vous anglais?” They would inevitably reply in the affirmative, and I always thanked them in French. Politeness counts. They would often call around the local gîtes for me to secure a bed, and they always have good recommendations. One of the folks in Cahors even indulged me in setting up a photo for Dobbles’ Big Day in Cahors.

In short, these folks are great allies to the pilgrim. Love them.

Date: 23 August 2023
Place: Saint-Chély-d’Aubrac, Aveyron Département, Region of Occitanie, France

Maps!

If you’re the sort who looks at the maps, you’ll note that the stage shown is 32+km long. I split this up into two days, since I wanted to spend some time exploring both Saint-Chély-d’Aubrac and Saint-Côme-d’Olt, both of which are on the list of most beautiful villages in France.