We are very keen walkers and have done many long distance routes.
When we retired we began in the UK with the likes of the Pennine Way,
West Highland Way, Great Glen Way and South West Coastal Path. We found
that accommodation on these walks was becoming expensive and we did try
carrying a tent and camping but the weather tends not to be very
accommodating.
We then heard about a pilgrimage in Spain, the Camino
de Santiago. A really long distance, about 700km, from St. Jean Pied a
Porte on the foothills of the Pyrenees in France over the mountains and
across the north of Spain to Santiago de Compostela where the remains of
the apostle St James are kept. This route, the most popular, is known
as the French route but there are others. The original pilgrim's routes
started when they left their homes and they usually returned on foot as
well. During the Middle Ages the various ways of getting to Santiago
became more organised with cheap accommodation or 'hospitals' along the
route with better security from robbers and brigands. The Camino became
popular again over the last 20-30 years and thousands walk the various
routes each year. The tradition of cheap accommodation is maintained
with hostels, called albergues, with dormitory type sleeping facilities
in most towns and villages along the routes. The routes are also well
way-marked with yellow arrows.
We have completed another two popular routes over the
last three years, the Via de la Plata starting from Seville in the
south of Spain, and the Camino de Norte along the north coast of Spain
beginning at Bayonne. Having completed these main routes we were looking
for some more challenges and all that was left in Spain were side
routes joining the main ones from various other towns. We did a branch
from Grenada, Camino La Mozarabe, to join the Via de la Plata at Merida.
But we wanted something longer and unusual. That was when we heard about
the Via Francigena.
The Via Francigena is another pilgrimage and goes
from Canterbury in the south of England to Rome, the Eternal City. The
route is very long, about 2000km, and will take nearly 3 months to
complete if we attempt it all in one go. But, we were determined to take
up the challenge and set about planning. As we had our 'globe trotting'
for the next year more or less arranged: we go to Cardiff in August for
the birth of Margaret's second baby and help out for as long as we are
needed, then it is off to South Africa for 3 months to sort out our
affairs there, back for Christmas followed by more sunshine in the
Canary Islands. So we provisionally pencilled in May 1 next year as our
starting date.
We did some research and got the Cicerone guide book
for the first section of the pilgrimage from 'Canterbury to the Great St
Bernard Pass' from Amazon. We discovered that through France the route
isn't way-marked and there isn't the cheap albergue type hostels of the
Camino de Santiago, so it could be expensive staying in B&B's and
hotels. We thought about how we could make use of our motorhome but
would need a driver who would drive each day to where we planned to stop
for the night. But where do we get a driver who would have 3 months to
spare and happy to do it just for their accommodation in the 'van and
their food, which we would supply.
Our next thought was why make this effort and
challenge just for our own satisfaction. Why not do it for charity.
Many people do fund raising walks, runs, etc and managed to benefit
their favourite charity, sometimes, with thousands. This year our
daughter Suzanne's father-in-law died from pancreatic cancer. We
discovered that there isn't a great deal of research into this form of
the disease. So that was our charity: PANCREATIC CANCER UK. We set up a
website for donations with 'Just Giving' and our Internet address is
www.justgiving.com/suzmar.
With our previous walks and pilgrimages it was just a
matter of catching a plane or train to the start and get going. This
time with attempting to collect as much as possible for 'Pancreatic
Cancer UK' it requires a lot more work. We have to publicise our venture
as much and as far as possible. This we will be doing over the next
months and we are still looking for a driver who has 3 months to donate.
If you read this please go next to www.justgiving/suzmar and make a donation.
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