Toulouse at the crossroads of Compostela
As soon as the fine weather returned, walkers found the hiking trails. Focus on the paths of Compostela, which are very successful in Haute-Garonne.
They set up a wooden table in front of the confessional, a stone’s throw from the sacristy. From April to October, the volunteers of the Friends of the Ways of Saint-Jacques in Occitanie take turns every afternoon, in the Saint-Sernin basilica, in Toulouse, to welcome passing pilgrims. “We are there to inform walkers, sell and stamp credentials, the pilgrim’s passport. We welcome 1000 people a year”, announces Marc Fonquernie, the president of the association.
Located at the crossroads of three routes, the Haute-Garonne counts 343 km on the paths of Compostela, recognizable by their white and red markings and sometimes a blue and yellow shell. “For the historic route, the GR653, also called the Arles route, which goes to the Somport pass, over 118 km in the department. Then, on the Garonna route, which is precisely on the Arles route to the Pyrenean Piedmont path, along the Garonne, from Toulouse to St-Bertrand-de-Comminges, by the GR861, we have 170 km. Finally, the last, the GR 46, of which a new section will be approved in July, and which rests Conques in Toulouse, is 55 km, on its final part in Haute-Garonne,” explains Mélanie Dargent, technical officer at the Departmental Committee. of Hiking 31. Of these three itineraries, the Arles route remains the most popular. “It’s also the most historic, it’s a long-distance route, the other two are more connecting paths,” she adds.
Saint-Sernin, a major place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages
The city of Toulouse has two emblematic monuments listed as World Heritage by Unesco as part of the Santiago de Compostela routes: the Hôtel-Dieu and the Saint-Sernin basilica. “Originally, Saint-Sernin was a pilgrimage basilica. In the Middle Ages, it was a high point of pilgrimage on the way to Compostela”, recalls Marc Fonquernie. Two sites that walkers passing through the city always have time to visit.
Besides, who are they? “Their profiles are very diverse both in terms of nationalities, age and motivations, due to the fact that Toulouse is a crossroads on the paths”, estimates Nils Brunet, the director of the French Agency of the paths of Compostela, headquartered in Toulouse.
These pilgrims are accommodated in lodges upstream and downstream of Toulouse. Others sleep in hotels distributed in the city, such as the Heliot hotel run by Frédéric Michel. “We have had the label for a short time and welcome around ten walkers per year. We offer a special rate. In their journey, Toulouse is often a city of arrival or end”, notes the manager.
Many also choose to spend a night at La Petite Auberge, located in the heart of the city. The address is very popular for its attractive prices. “We are at 24 € per night”, confirms Clément Riquet. It was his father, Didier, who opened the establishment in 2009 “initially to have a clientele of pilgrims. Little by little, I branched off to a youth hostel,” he explains. Today, pilgrims represent only 5% of its public. But this does not mean that they are decreasing. Quite the contrary!