From July 6-September 20 2017, I completed one of the most memorable journeys of my life yet: the Camino de Santiago. With two close friends, we lugged ~20 pound backpacks and ourselves from the Notre Dame in Paris, France to the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in Finisterra, Spain—1860 km (1156 miles) total. An ancient pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago has recently spiked in popularity as a religious, spiritual, and/or physical journey. Legend has it that the remains of the St. James the Apostle (Saint Jacques in French, Santiago in Spanish) were found by a farmer centuries ago who followed the stars to locate them. Thus, Santiago de Compostela is loosely translated as Saint James of the field of stars. Known by different names across the world, the Camino de Santiago being the most famous, pilgrims in the middle ages were absolved for their sins if they made the Camino in their lifetime. Today, many across the world still complete the journey to Santiago, starting from many different cities: there is no single path to take (we met pilgrims who started from their front door!); the only similarity is the ending point of Santiago de Compostella (or Finisterra after that, to the Atlantic Ocean). The most common route, the Camino Frances, starts at the Spanish/French border town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, ending at Santiago de Compostela in Spain, a 900km trek that takes an average of 30 days. For whatever reason, the three of us decided to go “bigger” and start in Paris, adding ~1000 km to our total distance. As of a year later, I can say that this was the most inspiring 3 months of my life. So to commemorate one year since we started walking, I decided to break down our days with distances and pictures. If you’re thinking of doing the Camino or want to know more, I’m very happy to answer your questions (aka to tell you to buy a ticket to France/Spain and do it yourself ASAP).
I am breaking this up into two posts because there are so many pictures! [Sorry if this takes forever to load anyway] These slideshows give a glimpse at our 38 days walking through France. The next post will be of our time walking in Spain.
*Frame of reference for any Americans not used to (the much better) metric system that the Camino routes are based on: 16 kilometers is 10 miles. Our average day was ~24 kilometers (15 miles). I’m sure some of my distances are off.
July 6, Day 1. Paris—Antony-Massy (21 km)
July 7, Day 2. Antony-Massy—Arpajon (20 km)
July 8, Day 3. Arpajon—Étampes (22 km)
July 9, Day 4. Étampes—Angervilles (22 km)
July 10, Day 5. Angervilles—Artenay (30km)
July 11, Day 6. Artenay—Orleans (23 km)
July 12, Day 7. Orleans—Beaugency (29 km)
July 13, Day 8. Beaugency—Blois (35 km)
We had one of my favorite meals of all time on this day. We were starving and this was our longest day yet when we arrived at Arlette’s house (a former pilgrim who also did the Camino and let us stay in her house). She made us a fresh salad from her garden, a pumpkin soup, a baked cheesy pasta dish, a cheese platter, and an apricot tart. Words can’t do it justice.
July 14, Day 9. Blois—Mosnes (30 km)
Bastille Day! It was so hard to find any lodging for this day but we finally found a campsite in Mosnes, a town of 300 people. They didn’t have tents to rent so…nous avons dormi à la belle etoile (we slept under the stars with just our sleeping bags). after eating with the townspeople we watched a fireworks show so close to us that the ashes fell in our eyes. It made up for missing the 4th of July, that’s for sure.
July 15, Day 10. Mosnes— Amboise (10 km)
July 16, Day 11. Amboise—Tours (29 km)
July 17, Day 12. Tours—Sorigny (24 km)
July 18, Day 13. Sorigny—Saint-Maure-de-Touraine (21 km)
This is where my love for goat cheese was born. Thank you Saint-Maure.
July 19, Day 14. Saint-Maure-de-Touraine—Dangé-Saint-Romain (20 km)
July 20, Day 15. Dangé-St-Romain—Chatellerault (18 km)
July 21, Day 16. Chatellerault—Poitiers (40 km)
July 22, Day 17. Poitiers—Lusignan (20 km)
July 23, Day 18. Lusignan—Chenay (20 km)
July 24, Day 19. Chenay—Melle (16 km)
July 25, Day 20. Melle—Aulnay (32 km)
July 26 Day 21. Aulnay—Saint Jean D’Angély (22 km)
July 27, Day 22. Saint-Jean-D’Angély—Saintes (32 km)
July 28, Day 23. Saintes—Pons (23 km)
July 29, Day 24. Pons—Mirambeau (29 km)
July 30, Day 25. Mirambeau—Saint-Aubin-de-Blaye (17 km)
Opi Yvan! (our Camino grandpa–he was one of the best pilgrims we met! He started from his front door in Belgium…)
July 31, Day 26. Saint-Aubin-de-Blaye—Saint-Martin-Lacaussade (17 km)
August 1, Day 27 (Part 1). Saint-Martin-Lacaussade—Bordeaux (42 km)
August 2, Day 27 (Part 2). Bordeaux (0 km)
Rest day!
August 3, Day 28. Bordeaux—Le Barp (29 km)
August 4, Day 29. Le Barp—Mons (20 km)
August 5, Day 30. Mons—Moustey (20 km)
August 6, Day 31. Moustey—Labouheyre (27 km)
August 7, Day 32. Labouheyre—Onesse-et-Laharie (25 km)
August 8, Day 33. Onesse-et-Laharie—Taller (25 km)
August 9, Day 34. Taller—Saint-Paul-lès-Dax (20km)
Never far from McDonald’s, even in France
August 10, Day 35. Saint-Paul-lès-Dax— Sorde-l’Abbaye (20 km)
August 11, Day 36. Sorde-l’Abbaye—Saint Palais (32 km)
August 12, Day 37. Saint Palais—Ostabat-Asme (11 km)
August 13, Day 38. Ostabat-Asme—Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (20 km)
The “classic” starting point for the modern Camino at the frontier of France and Spain. Pyrenees crossing next!