Walking the Camino de Santiago
Pilgrim reports from the Camino.
It was a cold foggy morning when I left the charming and hospitable Le Coeur du Chemin. I’d had an early breakfast after lauds and said goodbye to the owner, Ruud, as well as pilgrims Joes and Judith. It’s possible I may see Judith in Nevers tomorrow, but unless he changes his mind and takes the Camino Francés rather than […]
» Read more
Today was a very short day. I had been anticipating 16 km, but apparently the gîte is about 3 km before the actual town. Effectively a half day. After lauds, breakfast was out of my food stash, as the village of Saint-Révérien is definitely a village in decline. The only café has been shuttered, and it stands next to the […]
» Read more
Today I was up at 4:30 AM, which is a definite improvement over the previous days. I prayed lauds in the big dining room. Breakfast began at six. It was a hearty breakfast, perfect for a long day: scrambled egg whites and solid Dutch bread. I had a lovely conversation with the proprietors, Rene and Yvonne. We talked about the […]
» Read more
Like yesterday, I was awake at about 3 AM. This time, however, I was able to get back to sleep, and it was past six when I went to the common room for breakfast. Somehow, I still managed to be the first one there. There were eventually six of us for breakfast, plus the hospi. I couldn’t really enjoy it […]
» Read more
Normally I don’t get jet lag flying to Europe. I might be a bit blurry on my first day, but I settle down after that. And yet, this time, here I am on day two waking up at 3 AM. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get back to sleep. By 5 AM, I had given up. Today was a […]
» Read more
In retrospect, it might have been better to spend two days in Paris and just one night in Vézelay. I only had seven sites in the city that I wanted to explore, and I still only managed to get to four of them. Up early to catch the 6:30 train to Sermizelles. I set an alarm, but it turned out […]
» Read more
After making it through border control at Charles de Gaul airport, I was pleased to find my checked bag actually made it this time. I spent a bit of time repacking everything into my backpack before going to the train station to head into Paris. I will definitely need to repack again when I’m not so hurried. I was on […]
» Read more
Easter morning began with me taking down the black mourning flag that had flown at Pistachio House since the day of Francine’s death. It was replaced by the flag of Burgundy (really Bourgogne-Franche-Comté), which is the first region in France through which I will walk. This has been our custom through our Caminos. As I walk, my lovely house sitters […]
» Read more
This morning started very much the same way yesterday did. I was actually awakened by an alarm from one of the nearby tents just before five. The Templar chant started five minutes later, and my backpack was already half packed. I was completely ready to go by 6. Last night, I discovered I had a hotspot on my left foot. […]
» Read more
Reveille came at 5 AM in the form of Templar chant over loudspeakers, followed shortly thereafter by actual bagpipes. As you might imagine, breaking camp was an exercise in controlled chaos. But at least there was hot coffee. We started at about 7 AM. This is more like a procession with backpacks than any pilgrimage I’ve been on. Our group […]
» Read more