Setting the scene.....

From mid-April until early July 2008, I walked the way of St James. I began in Le-Puy-en-Velay in France, and finished in Santiago de Compostela in Spain, nearly three months later. --> At the start there were days when it snowed a little, as I climbed above Le Puy then onto the Aubrac Plateau. By the time I finished it was clearly summer, though fortunately for me as a walker, not as hot as it can get in northern Spain.
When I began, I was surrounded by others mostly walking for one or two weeks during their vacation, but gradually I met more who were intending to go further. At this stage of the journey though, people tended to be very humble about their chances of going 'all the way' to "St Jacques". People would always add "si on peut...' (if I am able...) to their response.
At the beginning it often seemed to me that I was the 'slowest' walker around. But the French had what I found to be two very helpful attitudes to walking. They would often say - "each one has their own rhythm". And with respect to long distance walking, I heard repeatedly..."Il faut aller doucement, doucement, pour aller a St Jacques." - It is necessary to go gently, gently to get to St James.
Hence...the title of this blog.......

2012 Addendum: In 2012 I re-walked several sections of this route- from Le Puy to Conques; Pamplona to Santo Domingo; and Hospital de Orbigo to Santiago. I have added a few photos and some info where relevant. You can find all the new bits by using the 2012 labels, at the end of each relevant old post...

Prelude: Paris

Paris
involved in a love affair with a rampant spring.
A crowded modern metro trip took me to Basilique St Denis
where pilgrims of centuries gone by gathered in the north
for the traverse of the city-
architecture spanning time
early crypt remnants
tombs of Kings Queens princesses.
Near Notre Dame, St Jacques tower stood against the sky in the spring sunshine.
I stood there thinking of all those who had walked before me on this route.
I was a tourist
but as I took the Rue St Jacques, climbing beyond the Sorbonne
it was as if I was already moving into a different world
where centuries merged.

In the church at Haut Pas
I greeted St Jacques
and it was as if I had turned my gaze backwards
with the throng of past pilgrims
to farewell the city.

Le Puy en Velay: YouTube

Le Puy en Velay to St Privat d'Allier: YouTube

Leaving the Camino....

I slept soundly for my last night on the Camino, then L&D joined me for a last breakfast. It was strange to say goodbye to two people I had shared so much with, knowing we were going back to live in very separate parts of the world.
I enjoyed the day long train journey. It did not follow the exact route of the Camino, but we travelled back through similar landscapes. First there was the beautiful forested areas of Galicia. After Ourense we passed by a large river gorge, which had not been part of the walk. At 1.30pm we reached Ponferrada. I was pleased to find that it had taken at least a few hours to cover what had taken us days to walk... It later took 30 minutes to travel from Astorga back to Leon, a distance that had taken two days to walk.....
As we travelled back over the Meseta I could see how much the seasons had advanced. Much harvesting of crops had occurred, and there was the brown look of a barren summer left behind. I saw horses eating from the piles of hay we had earlier seen piled up. So hay here is not just a winter food.... it is needed in the summertime.

As we came closer to Irun the terrain became more mountainous, only this time we missed a lot of the views as we tunnelled through rather than climbing over!
At 8.45pm, nearly 12 hours after I had left Santiago, we crossed the border into France. I had a while to wait for the night train to Paris, but I was on my way home.....

Camino People: YouTube

Some people I met along the way:

Camino Slideshow: YouTube

A slideshow of a few of my photos of the walk from Le-Puy-en-Velay to Santiago, 2008.

Reflections- on YouTube

I was inspired by Johnnie Walker for this. He did some reflections on the Camino, using his own spoken commentary with photos. I have done much the same thing here about my walk in 2008 from Le-Puy-en-Velay in France, to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northern Spain. (These reflections are already on my Camino blog in a longer written form, and I have just edited them down a bit.)
You can see it on YouTube here.