The Escargoline on the way to Compostela
.
The GR 65, the most travelled of the Camino de Compostela, starts in Le Puy-en-Velay and runs all the way to the Pyrenees. Then begins the Spanish route, curiously named the Camino Francés.
The GR 65 is covered every year from April to October by tens of thousands of pilgrims, the majority on foot. The route is very well equipped in terms of accommodation, with stopover gîtes, bed and breakfasts, hotels, campsites, etc., many of which can accommodate people with disabilities. It’s true that there are sometimes thresholds to cross in the old houses, but every evening a batch of pilgrims will be happy to lend a hand to one of their colleagues in a wheelchair.
The GR 65 is a hiking trail, mostly on dirt tracks. It is totally inaccessible to wheelchairs. However, there is a small machine specially designed for use on such paths and for transporting people with reduced mobility: the Escargoline. The Escargoline can be pulled by a donkey, pony, mule, small horse, or by one or two men. But the animal best suited to towing the Escargoline is the donkey, because of its placid and calm nature.
The number of kilometres per day is reasonable (around a dozen), both to spare the passenger and the animal, even if the Escargoline is very comfortable. You need to leave time for visiting villages and monuments, and also for a siesta… There may be places where the path becomes too bumpy or too dangerous for the Escargoline. In such cases, you will have to take the small road nearby. These route details are provided by the donkey drivers at the start.
When the journey is over, the donkey driver comes to repatriate the donkey and the machine, and even the crew if the service has been arranged.
There are now 2 Escargolines on the GR 65 route: at Le Puy (43) and Espalion (12). They have been acquired by professional donkey drivers who will hire out their donkeys and the machine for circuits lasting a few days, prepared in advance and secured, to make the beautiful dream of the Way of St James accessible to all.
• P’tit Âne (Berbezit, Haute-Loire) : http://ptitane43.wix.com/ptitane43 – courriel p-titane@orange.fr
• Les Randos du Bonheur (Espalion, Aveyron) : courriel prieur.alain@gmail.com
One of Escargoline’s greatest adventures on the Way of St James is that of the De Vernou family. Patrice and his wife Valérie, who had suffered a stroke, decided to set off on the Way accompanied by friends.
In 2022 they did the Le Puy-Figeac section, then in 2023 Figeac-Moissac and finally in 2024 Moissac-Roncevaux. This time, in 2025, they will be tackling the Spanish Camino, hoping to do Roncesvalles-Burgos, thanks to the Escargoline hired by Burros Trekking, a Spanish Basque donkey owner based near Vitoria.
This is a team that fears nothing, and can go absolutely anywhere, even when they’ve been told they can’t… They are living proof of the Escargoline’s fantastic ability to make people happy.
