The Camino Francés (French Way) is the most popular of the many routes of the Camino de Santiago (The way of Saint James). An ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. It starts on the French side of the Pyrenees and continues through the Spanish provinces Navarre, La Rioja, Castilla Y León, and Galicia. Eventually, it ends in Santiago de Compostela, with the option of continuing on to Cape Finisterre.
Cape Finisterre derives from the Latin finis terrae, meaning “end of the earth”. As in Roman times, it was believed to be the most western point of the Iberian peninsula and the end of the world. Although the most western point is the Portugues Cabo da Roca…
The Camino Francés starts in the small French village Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. From here the journey begins, over the Pyrenees and then for around 800km through beautiful towns, villages, and the middle of nowhere.
Because of the current Corona situation, it is highly recommended to book ahead places to stay for the night. For this the Xunta de Galicia has put together a special website.
The last day of this incredible journey… wow, what a strange feeling. I had breakfast with Gabriel and his girl friend. All of us were in this strange mood, happy because of what we have gone through, sad because the end is near. We took a taxi for a few…
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What a nice morning, but the 33km for the day and the way the right foot was acting up again yesterday, do scare me a bit. I walked for 5km and had breakfast. The Standard Huevos y Bacon y zumo de Naranja and a Coffee. After this good breakfast, it…
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So I am off again. 90k to the end of the world. Had a great last night with Martin, whom I will probably meet again in france. But did not get to say goodbye to most of the lovely people I met, but that is also part of the Camino.…
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Ok, the end of a pilgrimage in Santiago is usually marked by going to the pilgrims mass. With Covid restrictions even that became a little quest. I did not know I would have been able to. Get a ticket for mass at the oficina Peregrino where I got my compostela…
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I started at 7am. It was a long and painful walk. I met Pauline, and Kelly on the last 10km. But walked alone till I entered the city. What a feeling! Kelly caught up on the last 2k to the cathedral, and we went singing Ultreia up to the cathedral.…
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Yesterday night There was a new pounding pain originating from a blue and red blister. I was really considering going home, fearing an infection. But when I woke up, I started taping feet and knee, put the Ibuprofen Creme on, took the Tabletts and was on the road again. I…
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So today was horrible. The pain was incredible in both feet. When I finally got to the next village 8k out, I met up with my Mexican chicas, Prisciala and Brenda. And some of the others of that crew, I had the spontaneous prayer in 5 languages with. I started…
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Today felt special from the start. Even though the pain in my right foot has now reached the level of the worst state of the left foot, I left town excited for this days walk. I left very early, having attended to my feet - tape, silicon pads, cremes… for…
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One of those mornings. One of the roommates in the Albergue decide that 5:30am is the time to turn on the light. And since all 4 ceiling lights were done with separate switches, he turned in the on right above my bed. And I had the top bunk. Yes…. What…
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The map above will auto-update with my current progress every day.