Two of our members, Robyn and Michelle, recently had adventures on the Camino trail. They have written a little about their long walk and given us a small taste of what it was like!
This route was first recorded in the 12th Century & is one of four pilgrimage routes that guided medieval travellers across France to Santiago de Compostela. Today it attracts pilgrims from around the world who undertake this challenge for many reasons. The route takes you through many small country villages, medieval towns, agricultural lands, vineyards & forests.
We booked this trip through UTracks as a self-guided walk with them doing all the accommodation bookings along the way. They also provided us with a phone app that had all the route & accommodation details which allowed us to follow the route in real time.
We arrived in Le Puy-en-Velay to be ready to start walking on April 6th with the aim of arriving St Jean Pied de Port on May 15th. This would mean walking for 40 days (including one rest day) and covering around 760 km. Although we were both positive, there was always the thought ‘are we too old to do this’!
Le Puy-en-Velay is located in the Massif Central, a volcanic chain of mountains, which meant that the first section of the walk is probably the most difficult in that there are many steep sections & long days. However we set out very optimistic in lovely sunny weather (missing a snow storm by 1 day) crossing the Aubrac Pateau with its bare trees and fields of wild daffodils before descending into the Lot Valley where the full magic of early Spring began to reveal itself. The trees were coming into leaf and wildflowers began lining the path; violets, primulas and tiny snowdrops.
They were soon followed by buttercups, forget-me-nots, iris and lilacs of every colour. There were new born animals and farmers busy until late with their tractors. Birds sang all day in the trees and cuckoos could be heard in the forests.
Conques, where we had our rest day, is just one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France on the route and is also a World Heritage Site. We passed through many such sites as we moved through Aveyron, Lot (Figeac, Cahors), Tarn-et-Garonne (Moissac), Gers, Landes, Pyrénées –Atlantiques and finally the Basque Country. Every department was different and the landscape changed sometimes slowly and sometimes overnight. No matter where we were though, alongside the path were flowers…poppies, roses and towering May bushes. The birds continued to amaze and who knew how noisy French frogs were! Like quacking ducks! We loved the beautiful French countryside, the fields of silvery wheat in Gers and the rolling lushness of the Basque landscape with its villages of white houses and deep red shutters.
The abundance of World Heritage sites was another highlight, many Cathedrals, churches, towns, bridges and other buildings along the way are UNESCO listed & are very beautiful in their own unique ways.
The walking tracks throughout were generally a mix of quiet country lanes, forest paths & narrow paths between crops, easy to follow & generally well-marked. As we walked further south the weather generally became colder with several days of rain, mostly light sprinkles with the occasional heavy downpour. This meant that many of the tracks became very muddy & slippery, making walking a challenge at times.
We stayed in a variety of accommodation, never knowing what to expect. Mostly it was gîtes or Chambres d’hôte, the common feature of both being a communal table for meals. We never knew who we would be sharing a meal with or how many people. The overwhelming majority of pilgrims are French so conversations were always in very fast, very noisy and completely incomprehensible French. Despite this, this was a great way to get to know people as we may have seen them on the path previously or would see them again in the future or sometimes be staying in the same place the next day and friendships developed despite the language barrier.
We ate like horses and still lost weight, we loved the cheese and wonderful desserts. Basque cake gets a special mention here!
The Chemin de St Jaques is much more than a long walk through a particularly beautiful part of France though. It is a world unto itself and more than anything it is the camaraderie of people sharing the experience. The people we met along the way were always friendly, generous and so willing to help each other. It’s a reminder of how the world can be.
Overall a great experience & a real sense of achievement!
Michelle & Robyn