Pilgrims on the Way

The next day we were treated to a fantastic (and typically French) breakfast by Olivier, our gracious host. It consisted of an assortment of juices, coffee (or tea) in a bowl, and toasted fresh bread with a slew of jam options. As you can see from the map below, today was going to involve a lot of altitude changes as I […]

The interior of Saint Privat was restored in 1965 by the villagers. Compared to medieval churches I visited later, this one is comparatively stark, with modern furnishings and new stained glass that reflect the tastes of that time rather than respecting the fabric of the building and its architecture. It’s likely that originally the interior would have been covered in […]

My first stop on my self-guided tour of the village of Saint-Privat-d’Allier was the village church. This is, you will be shocked to discover, dedicated to Saint Privat. Privatus was an early bishop in the area who was martyred Germanic invaders for refusing to reveal the location of his hidden followers sometime in the third century. This was originally a […]

I arrived at my first gîte about a half-hour before it actually opened. I spent the time in conversation with a French pilgrim named Dominique. She was originally from Paris but had retired to Brittany. She spends her summers walking the various trails throughout France. She and I would cross paths frequently over the next couple of weeks. After check-in […]

After the downhill scramble through the woods, I finished the day’s walk with a short stretch of uphill roadwalking to the village of Saint-Privat-d’Allier. This was the stopping point for my first stage. As one generally does in France, I had pre-booked my bed, so the main thing on my mind was finding my gîte and checking in. It was […]

The last kilometer or so before Saint-Privat-d’Allier was a literal downhill scramble. The path, such as it was, had vanished completely, and I was confronted by this. It’s steeper than it looks in this photo – realize the camera is pointed downhill here. I am very glad I had hiking poles. It was pretty slow going, even so. Date: 18 […]

After the village of Le Chier, the general downward slope of the Camino got a bit steeper. Le Puy sits inside an ancient volcanic caldera, and much of this morning’s walk was climbing up out of the crater. Now I was climbing down the other side. The view here led to this, one of my favourite photos of pilgrims on […]

By the time I arrived in the tiny village of Le Chier, it was two in the afternoon and beastly hot. Even though much of the terrain at this point was forested (or at least shady), I still had my sun umbrella up. I was drinking through my water at a prodigious rate, but fortunately I was able to top […]

The fans of Asterix and Obelix will immediately recognize the name on these stables, though it does puzzle me that this name is featured so prominently on an ostensibly Christian pilgrimage route. For the record, Bélénos is a Celtic god associated with both medicine and the fine arts. Date: 18 August 2023 Place: between Montbonnet and Saint-Privat-d’Allier, Haute-Loire Département, Region […]

After a final uphill slog, I arrived in the village of Montbonnet. There were plenty of gîtes here, so I can see why many of the guides suggest staying here. However, with just 7-ish kilometers to Saint-Privat, it made more sense to me to have the longer first day. Also, day two was looking to be a doozy, so even […]