The Camino Francés has always appealed to me a little less. It is the best-known route and a very busy one, and I could see that for myself during my last days on the Camino, since all the routes join up here.
My stages on the Camino Francés
In the previous article, I finished my 28th day… on my last legs! This Camino Primitivo can be a bit hard at times, but it is always just as beautiful! Even so, the shin pain that had appeared right at the start, after Bilbao, was coming back worse than ever… and that worried me a lot! I had no wish to give up on the final stretch or to finish hopping on one foot. Thanks to my Camino family, I managed to find a last-minute osteopath…
Day 32 ▪ Ferreira to Boente ▪
26 km ▪ 459 m of climbing |
Report of the day | A very intense day, because my Camino Primitivo joined the Camino Francés today… Roughly, imagine a little country lane joining the Autoroute du Soleil, the big French motorway to the south. The change was fairly brutal for us primitivo walkers from the mountains. We had chosen a more intimate, harder and quieter route. After weeks of walking (the Norte is not very busy either), we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by a flood of our compatriots.
The shock of the Camino Francés crowds
So I arrived, with my little group of antisocials, at around 11 a.m. in a town of more than 10 inhabitants. We were hit by the arrival of hundreds of pilgrims. What a shock. In terms of proportion, let’s say that on the Primitivo there were about 50 of us on average. And that is being generous. More than 1,000 pilgrims arrive in Santiago every day. There you go, do the maths and you will understand the shock.
A family of tamed loners
The troops scatter too. From a lone walker in the first weeks, I ended up becoming part of a group of tamed loners. Add up 8 solo hikers who gradually find each other along the kilometres and in the albergues (pilgrim hostels), and you get wonderful memories and a lovely multicultural family. Except that as Santiago gets closer, everyone slowly goes back to their own path… Anyway, a day full of emotion, with only 2 days left before Santiago… the countdown has started.
Behind the Camino | The shock was as brutal as expected… My little family and I were completely swept up in a flood of pilgrims. All of a sudden we were in a world close to Disney, where every town and village is full of shops for “tourist pilgrims” and albergues… But it was also at this point that I saw again people I had lost sight of since the first weeks. They had carried on along the Northern Way, while I had gone off on the Camino Primitivo. You cannot imagine the emotion you feel when you come across an old friend from the Camino on a path or on a café terrace. The Camino always has lovely surprises in store, day after day!
Day 33 ▪ Boente to Andaiana ▪
24 km ▪ 544 m of climbing |
Report of the day | 7 a.m. I feel a slight movement at my feet. A little bird. Completely panicked. I give in. He is so cute. I don’t know what to do. In Paris, we are not well prepared for emergency bird rescue. I try to approach him and place him gently on a leaf, so as not to put my human smell on him.
▪▪I have been crouching there for 20 minutes, trying to find a solution and ready to give him a leg up onto the nearest tree. Then 3 retired French people finally stop and ask me what on earth I am doing, rummaging around in the grass.
I tell them the story. They look me up and down. “You have to let nature take its course.” “Yes, but I don’t want him to get eaten.” “It’s natural selection.” I don’t care about natural selection, I had ended up giving him a name. 15 minutes later, I am forced to let nature take its course for lack of any better idea. Conclusion: not only am I useless at bird rescue, but above all I am definitely far too sensitive. I hope Pioupiou makes it…
Only one day left before Santiago
Anyway… after 983 km, tomorrow I will be in Santiago to complete my 1,000 km. Saying that I can’t take it in is an understatement.
Behind the Camino | Oh, Pioupiou. My Brigitte Bardot side has made me do plenty of daft things, but this time I was trying, from the bottom of my heart, to help. In the end, that little bird really touched me, and I spent the whole day talking about him to my Camino family. Oh well, what can I say… 24 hours before my arrival, it seems this took up my mind far more than the ultimate goal!
Arriving in Santiago de Compostela after one month of walking!
Day 34 ▪ Santiago de Compostela ▪
23 km ▪ 421 m of climbing |
Report of the day | After 34 days on the Camino del Norte and then the Primitivo, here I am in Santiago de Compostela, Santiago to its friends. A totally crazy day that did not leave me a second to take anything in…
▪▪An arrival full of emotions and reunions, my 1,000 km… so much to experience.
I celebrate properly this very evening, but above all… I set off again tomorrow for 100 km. It still hasn’t sunk in that the end of the adventure is near. I had kept a few days in reserve to reach the very end of the road, #Fisterra. It is the ultimate destination for those who have not had enough yet and want to go beyond Santiago. Tomorrow I start again for one last encore… but for now, let’s party!
Behind the Camino | This arrival was… crazy. Full of emotions. Full of reunions at the foot of the cathedral. I cried, I laughed, but above all I found it very hard to take in. To be honest, Santiago was not the ultimate goal. I had been aiming for Fisterra from the start. And I felt that everything was going too fast anyway. The last days were too polluted with people and towns… Everything was going too fast. So I really loved reaching Santiago de Compostela, admiring the cathedral, seeing my friends again, partying, eating ice cream and buying myself a dress. But in the end, I felt I still needed to go further… Santiago was only a stage, the most exciting one, but not an end in itself!