A Pilgrimage Walk from Le Puy-en-Velay to Santiago de Compostela, 2003. 1.Preface

Today, 25 July, is the Feast of St. James (= St. Jacques, in French; Santiago, in Spanish) -- an auspicious day to begin posting my account of the pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostela that I undertook  21 years ago, in 2003.  I am planning 10 installments, to be posted at irregular intervals, depending on how much time it will take to revise my original trip diary and to find suitable illustrations.  

The Road to Santiago de Compostela, 2003: A Pilgrim’s Diary

Charles Gates

1.Preface

Another account of a pilgrim’s journey to Santiago de Compostela? Do we really need this? Yes, we do. There are as many travelers to Santiago as there are stars in the sky, and each experiences and interprets this special trip in a different way. After I returned from my journey in spring, 2003, I read two accounts, and it stunned me how their take had so little in common with mine. I was hoping to get some insight into my own experiences, but instead these writers seemed so focused on their own hang-ups. It was difficult to believe we walked the same route. Clearly there is room for others, and now, many years after completing the journey, I am ready to offer my version. My vantage point is distinct: a practicing Catholic, although a convert (in 1999) from Anglicanism; an American who lived for many years in Turkey, but now, for two years, in France; an archaeologist and art historian; a good speaker of French, with residual high school Spanish and some German; and a father (in 2003, age 53) walking with his daughter (age 28). In addition, we began in Le Puy-en-Velay, one of four classic starting points in central France during the Middle Ages, and so spent one month walking in France before we crossed the Pyrenees for another month in northern Spain. The French leg of the “Chemin” complements the Spanish “Camino” – they have very different personalities, and the reader deserves to hear about both.

Map: the classic pilgrimage route from Le Puy to Santiago de Compostela 

(source: outdoortravel.com.au)

Whatever the wonders and delights of travelogue, my larger aim in writing about my experiences is spiritual. For several years before setting out, I felt a great urge to undertake this journey. Was the Holy Spirit calling me to do this? If so, why? As I walked along day by day, and even after I completed the two-month trip, it wasn’t obvious. I often thought that when I finally reached Santiago and climbed the grand flight of steps leading up to the Cathedral of St. James, I would be overcome by a transcendental ecstasy. Tears came to my eyes as I imagined that moment. And yet, that June 24th, the Feast of St. John the Baptist, when we reached the Cathedral, the grand staircase was closed. I was confused. Wasn't the arriving pilgrim supposed to enter the Cathedral by the grand staircase? A set of rituals begins just inside. How would I do them? What was going on?

The explanation was soon given. The Spanish monarchs, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, had been visiting the region and were staying in the Parador de los Reyes Catolicos, the best hotel in the city, on another side of the Cathedral square. They were about to exit the hotel, get into cars, and leave. For security, the main Cathedral entrance, placed high above the square, would be shut off. I thus had to enter the Cathedral by a smaller, side door. That day, and during the days to follow, I visited the Cathedral several times, eventually completing the rituals of the arriving pilgrim, attending Mass, walking slowly around the building while inspecting every nook and cranny, and sitting in contemplation of the Eucharistic host in the chapel of the Sacred Heart.

So, my experience of arriving was comical, with my expectations thwarted. A lesson from God: don’t get too swollen, like a hot-air balloon, for something will come along and prick you, letting out the gas and plunging you to earth, to the reality of life. And yet after two months hiking with a 12 kg/26 lb backpack, I was no longer the same person I was when I set out. It wasn’t an ordinary trip. What happened, then? What exactly was God calling me to experience, see, digest, and learn? This book is an attempt to find answers to these questions.