Where to start...

Now that I have decided to walk to Santiago from Paris, the internet tells me that it would take me more than two months to do the whole thing.  Sigh.  I don't really want to be walking in November.  So I won't.  I'll cut out some time, somehow.  I might not start in Paris after all.  Rumor has it that the first week or so out of Paris is depressingly suburban anyway.  I might start in Orleans.  Or maybe Le Puy.  They were both popular medieval starting points for pilgrimages.

Let's see... If my return flight gets scheduled for sometime in the last week of October, and I definitely want to walk the whole of the Camino Frances (the pilgrim path in Spain, takes supposedly ~32 days of walking), I need to get over the border of France by the end of September, leaving me 20-25 days to get there from Paris.  So.  There may be a train ride in there somewhere...

Le Puy to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port is ca. 645 km, and at 25 km/day, that is about 26 days.
Chartres to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port is ca. 687 km or 27.5 days.
Orleans to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port is ca. 700 km, or 28 days.
Vezelay to St. Jean-Piel-de-Port is ca. 721 km, or 29 days.
Paris to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port is ca. 791 km, or 32 days.

Hm.  If that is the only difference, less than 10 days, then maybe I'll just start in Paris....  I have to see when my plane ticket is for.  Maybe I'll start in Paris proper and take a train to Orleans to avoid suburbia.

Also, duly noted, the French word for pilgrim is pelerin!

Spoiler alert!!

I found a day by day break-down of last bit (well, last half) of my route!!!   This is my path once I make it into Spain!  This is just so exciting that I can't help but post it all willy-nilly.  Here is the link to the webpage. 

The stages of the Camino Francés
St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port Stage 1 25 km - 58 pictures Roncesvalles Stage 2 26 km - 76 pictures Larrasoana Stage 3 15 km (to allow sightseeing in Pamplona) - 36 pictures Pamplona Stage 4 25 km - 40 pictures Puente la Reina Stage 5 21 km - 24 pictures Estella Stage 6 22 km - 22 pictures Torres del Rio Stage 7 21 km - 28 pictures Logroño Stage 8 29 km (+40 km detour to Clavijo) - 44 pictures Nájera Stage 9 21 km (plus a 40 km. side trip to Yuso and Cañas monasteries)- 28 pictures Santo Domingo de la Calzada Stage 10 23 km - 23 pictures		Belorado Stage 11 24 km - 29 pictures San Juan de Ortega Stage 12 27 km - 24 pictures Burgos Stage 13 39 km - 30 pictures Castrojeriz Stage 14 25 km - 28 pictures Frómista Stage 15 19 km - 20 pictures Carrión de las Condes Stage 16 38 km - 30 pictures Sahagún Stage 17 18 km - 10 pictures El Burgo Raneros Stage 18 19 km - 10 pictures Mansilla de las Mulas Stage 19 17 km - 16 pictures León Stage 20 22 km - 12 pictures Villadangos Stage 21 26 km - 34 pictures		Astorga Stage 22 21 km - 32 pictures Rabanal del Camino Stage 23 33 km - 50 pictures Ponferrada Stage 24 23 km - 38 pictures Villafranco del Bierzo Stage 25 28 km - 65 pictures O Cebreiro Stage 26 39 km - 29 pictures Sarria Stage 27 21 km - 46 pictures Portomarín Stage 28 24 km - 36 pictures Palas de Rei Stage 29 29 km - 42pictures Arzúa Stage 30 39 km - 42 pictures Santiago de Compostela Page 31 42 pictures The extension to Finisterre Page 32 48 pictures The city of Santiago de Compostela

So, 30 ish days after I cross the border into Spain, I'll reach Santiago!!  

Resurrecting the Dream...

In an amazing twist of fate, I have the opportunity to live in Paris, France this summer!!!!  I will spend June, July, and August walking all over the city with a stroller full of adorable little girl.  I will paint watercolors as she naps, hand-sew a 1790's gaulle to wear on July 14th, see all the lovely medieval, baroque, and art nouveau French things, and learn French while buying baguettes.  It will be amazing!

And, since I will already be in Europe, I figured that when I'm no longer a nanny, I might as well take a walk over to Santiago de Compostela, a famous medieval pilgrimage site where St. James is supposedly buried...
I'm going to be a pilgrim!!! 
It will not be quite so hardcore as Amsterdam-Venice-Jerusalem...
It will not be in period garb...
But it WILL be AWESOME!

(this is the modern pilgrim symbol)

More to come!!!