Off to Santiago by Peter Granville Davis

Description

If you like walking and if something in you responds to a challenge, the Way of Saint James is sure to appeal to you.

The Way of Saint James or le chemin de Saint Jacques, is a long-distance footpath which begins in a small square in Le Puy-en-Velay in South-Central France and ends in the great cathedral of Santiago de Compostela at the North West tip of Spain. It is a wonderful walk. It is something like a thousand miles.

Beginning in the volcanic region of the Auvergne, where you seem to be going up and down all the time, you come, after a week or so, to the great river valleys of South-West France. Here the going gets easier. Then, as you near Lauzerte, you start to get glimpses of the great wall of mountains that separate France and Spain. It is quite stirring when you first see the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees. You go up and down quite a lot in the foothills and will probably be feeling pretty fit by the time you get to Saint Jean Pied-de-Port, the last town in France before you climb the pass into Spain.

Peter Granville Davis spent most of his working life in the service of the European Union. When he retired, he resolved to walk the Way of St James.
Joining him were Diana, his wife and Sandy Macrae an old friend and former colleague.

They set off in 2000, walking the Way for two weeks every year until they got there, in 2004.

Walking the Way of Saint James is at once a spiritual, cultural and recreational experience. For Peter, Diana and Sandy it was all three. At the same time it was both a challenge and an adventure.

“Off to Santiago” is about their pilgrimage – about the people they met, the towns and villages they passed through, the great chapels, churches and cathedrals they visited and the many places they stayed.

This travelogue offers a wealth of information, advice and photographs invaluable to anyone wishing to follow in their footsteps…

To all pilgrims- bonne randonnée, buen camino and good luck!