Pilgrimage

This morning, I’m getting on an airplane to fly to Paris. God willing, I begin walking on pilgrimage from Vézelay, France, on April 9.

It was Francine’s dream to walk the Camino from Vézelay ever since she heard about this route in 2022. We have been actively planning this pilgrimage walk since late 2023.

Francine was an enthusiastic pilgrim – a volunteer for American Pilgrims, she was for many years the design genius behind their magazine La Concha. She also served as an Hospitalera in Logroño and Pamplona in years past. And of course, we walked four Caminos together, as well as one each separately.

In the spring of 2025, my beloved Francine was diagnosed with a rare, incurable, and terminal neurological condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. She died on June 21, 2025. 

Francine was the most remarkable, most intelligent, and wisest person I have ever known. In her hospital bed, she made me promise to carry out all of the adventures we had planned to do together. She was absolutely amazing, and my everything. I am undertaking this pilgrimage for her and in her memory.

If the schedule holds (and, spoiler alert, the schedule never holds), I will walk into Santiago on the first anniversary of her death on June 21.

You can follow me on my pilgrimage blog at thomryng.com/camino/.