Aug 2019 - 1200 Mile Stroll to Santiago
Members of the Horndean & District U3A met for their regular monthly meeting on Friday 2nd August at Merchistoun Hall. They enjoyed a talk by Valerie Archibold recounting her "1200 Mile Stroll to Santiago."
Valerie made this walk from April to June 2016 and covered 1,227 miles from her home in Hamble via Mont St Michel, thru France and along the Comino to Santiago de Compostela. She took this walk immediately after retiring as a present to herself. She took a lot of time organising and preparing for the adventure. Pilgrimages to Santiago have been going on since the 9th century.
Valerie had to take four ferries and took the world heritage route through France and Spain. She had taken walks before (Inca trail, Everest base camp Nepal) but never on her own or for more than two weeks and carrying all her stuff. Why did she do it....partly because it's there, thought she could do it, gave her time to contemplate her retirement and what was ahead of her.
Valerie planned the route with the help of Confraternity of St James who help pilgrims plan their routes to Santiago and she visited their library in London to research the routes thru France, visited online forums and French websites. She obtained a pilgrim's passport which had to be stamped to prove that she had done the walk.
She booked all the accommodation thru France which meant she had to walk the required miles aimed at for each day. It was comforting to know that she had a bed each night and someone would be expecting her to arrive. There was no need to book thru Spain as there is lots of accommodation. She needed 15 maps and 6 guide books which would have been heavy to carry so her daughter posted them to the relevant hotels ahead of her arrival. Valerie had to arrange additional insurance for the journey and her home, post redirection, home security advice from police, prescriptions and even arrange for a gardener. She speaks French but took an additional Spanish refresher course and a self defence course.
Valerie showed the rucksack she carried which is lined with plastic to keep contents dry and to stop bedbugs getting in! She took one change of clothes which were "technical" because they dry easily and her expandable washing line. She carried her valuables separately on a belt round her waist, had a separate bottle for her water and a walking pole. Also scallop shells attached to her backpack which showed that she was a pilgrim on her way to Santiago.
Before she embarked on her walk Valerie meticulously weighed everything on her baking scales. She ended up with 8 kilograms overall plus food and water for the day. She showed lots of photographs of beautiful places she visited on her walk and the flora and fauna.
She went from her home in Hamble via the ferry to Mont St Michel, 180 miles in two days. She spent a rest day at Angers and visited the Chateau d'Angers (a huge castle/royal palace) where there is a 100 metres long 14th century tapestry telling the story of St John. At one point she followed a disused railway line only to find it ended up joining a live line. Then lovely scenery and local wildlife on the way to Aulnay, then St John Pied du Port where most pilgrims start their walk.
Valerie mentioned several pitfalls, like missing signs, Monday's in France where everything is closed, attacking dogs, flooding and having to negotiate an alternative route, no drinking water and food poisoning, boring parts, tarmac and the heat. To avoid the excessive heat she had to leave half an hour before dawn and finish by mid day to avoid the afternoon heat.
The final ferry was to Gironde. Then thru the wine growing area to Bordeaux with some old town walls, a cathedral with a separate tower. Then onto the Londe where she walked for six days in straight lines in the pine forest, where there is sand, no beautiful flora and fauna and was a mind numbing experience. Near to the Pyrenees Valerie went thru the Roman spa town of Dax which is still used for its health giving waters today. Also there is a art deco bullring. She found out to her surprise that kiwi fruit was grown there. Finally arrived at St John which is full of pilgrims and different kinds of birds. Just 34 days to go and very well signposted but a mountain to climb. Valerie was lucky because whist climbing it was misty so kept her cool. Then she arrived at a monastery which catered for 500 people.
She arrived in Pamplona a few days later where she met her daughter who walked with her for the following week. She brought her new boots to wear. They visited the famous wine fountain en route. She visited Burgos where El Cid is buried in the cathedral. The route was now mainly gravelly thru the countryside, passing a canal, a river and enjoyed seeing many different wild flowers including orchids and then arrived at Hospital de Vigo which has a lovely long bridge. Then onto Astorga where there is a Gaudi building, the Episcopal Palace. Then up 4900 feet to the Cruz de Ferro (Iron Cross) where people place stones at the foot if they have worries or concerns or to remember someone. Then onto Galicia which again was beautiful and where the local people help the pilgrims by leaving food and drink out for them to help themselves.
After three months Valerie arrived at Santiago de Compostela where she visited the Cathedral de Compostela and the shrine of St James. She had walked 1,227 miles, an average of 15 miles per day and had taken 2.5m steps. A tremendous achievement. Her talk was inspiring and thoroughly enjoyed.
Diane Stoner
Speaker Co-ordinator