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| The way of Santiago is a trip through European history as well as through Nature. |
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"Imagine walking 20 miles in one day.
OK, it may be a bit rough on your feet, but this stays
in the realm of the possible. What about taking another
20-mile walk the next day, when your body has not yet
recovered. This approaches the borderline of the reasonable.
Now, walk another 20 miles the third day, and the fourth,
and so on for four or even eight weeks. Now, this may
seem really insane but quite a few 'normal
people' or 'almost normal people' do
just this."
Philippe Theys
Schlumberger Alumnus
There are a number of walking itineraries in the world.
Some are undertaken for sportive reasons, like the Appalachian
Trail in the United States (2160 miles, created 80 years
ago). Some are followed for religious and spiritual
objectives. Many Moslems choose to walk to Mecca for
the annual trip, called Hajj—a tradition that
is more than 1300 years old. |
The Gibraltar cross is the point where the three main paths to Santiago converge. For the people coming from Vezelay (like me), it is about half way. |
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The Way of Saint James—also called the Road to
Santiago—is the Christian counterpart. It goes
from all over Europe and leads to Santiago de Compostela,
in the province of Galicia, Spain. Across France, there
are three main sections, one from Tours, one from Vezelay
and one from Le Puy. The three sections converge in
a spot close to the Pyrenees Mountains, called the Gibraltar
Cross.
About 100,000 people completed portions or the whole
route in 2004. I was one of them. I completed 875 kilometers
in August and September in consecutive hikes, ranging
from 18 to 38 kilometers (12 to 25 miles) per day. During
this period, I did not take one day off from walking.
It would be childish to belittle other great walking
itineraries, as those who undertake them are to be congratulated,
but I have a special feeling about the Way of Saint
James and most people who take it claim that the trip
stays with them for life. The walker steps in the footprints
of the people who followed the same path a thousand
years ago. El Cid, King Louis VII of France and Saint
Francis of Assisi were among them. The trip is not only
through woods and forests, but through the history and
culture of Europe. |
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