Category: 2018

There is no finer way to end a pilgrimage than to receive a Papal blessing. I hurried along to StContinue Reading

Three months and three days after leaving my home in Weybridge, Paul and I arrived in Rome. Does the VaticanContinue Reading

Campagnano di Roma celebrated the feast of its patron saint, John the Baptist long into the night. The bishop ledContinue Reading

Paul and I had an action packed 32km walk today. Everything one could wish for on the Via Francigena. ThereContinue Reading

I’m fast approaching the end of my Via Francigena guidebook. Flicking through the pages I see that Rome is justContinue Reading

We were the only pilgrims in the convent last night; I doubt there were many nuns either. What do youContinue Reading

Our accommodation last night was a sterile B&B in San Lorenzo Nuovo. All very nice but it’s the sort ofContinue Reading

I was lucky to find a stone slab outside the hostel by the church from where a faint G3 signalContinue Reading

We are coming towards the end of Tuscany. This last section feels the most remote with rolling hills far intoContinue Reading

Our diet is alternating between pasta and pizza in a desperate battle to eat enough calories to sustain the nextContinue Reading

We shut the door on our fabulous apartment in Siena this morning and headed just far enough out of townContinue Reading

I slept the sleep of the just last night in the master suite of our palace overlooking the Piazza delContinue Reading

Another short hop of 20km today has brought us to Siena. We had a bit of a lazy start byContinue Reading

“One of the most beautiful routes along the Via Francigena” says the AEVF app, referring to today’s 31km stage fromContinue Reading

From afar, San Gimignano looks like a modern high rise slum city. Tall grey tower blocks dominate the skyline. AndContinue Reading

The sun beat down mercilessly on us poor pilgrims yesterday afternoon in the main square of San Miniato. Our 1600Continue Reading

More Tuscan landscapes to melt the heart today. It’s glorious. The sun is shining, there is a light breeze toContinue Reading

A few hours can make a lot of difference in a place like Lucca. Last night the town was jammedContinue Reading

Sssh I’m in the Basilica of St Frediano sheltering from the sun but not the tourists. Travel is, of course,Continue Reading

We spent last night in a pleasant but rather expensive B&B in Camaiore, a former farm house. The young manContinue Reading

We planned to skip breakfast this morning. The hotel largely caters to holiday makers for whom 8.00 on a SundayContinue Reading

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside. Paul and I couldn’t resist drifting slightly off course to reachContinue Reading

A splendid stage today, from Aulla to Sarzana. Just 16.2km apparently, according to my guidebook. It felt more like 50km.Continue Reading

Many fellow British people come to Tuscany for their summer holidays and you can see why. The landscape is magnificent,Continue Reading

The short 22km walk and the cool weather lulled us into a false sense of security. We didn’t bother toContinue Reading

A lovely walk today. We are properly in the Apennines. You know that when you ascend 1870m and descend 780mContinue Reading

We waved goodbye to the mosquitoes and they waved back as we climbed out of Fidenza into the hills ofContinue Reading

Sundays in Italy are still fairly sacred, just like Britain 40 years ago. Sunday is the family day. Church bellsContinue Reading

Danilo Parisi is a legend on the Via Francigena. He is the ferryman who takes pilgrims across the mighty PoContinue Reading

Today was a “challenging” 28km from Pavia to Santa Cristina according to my guidebook. I set the alarm for 4.30Continue Reading

Pavia was founded over 2000 years ago. It is famous for its churches and I love to spend some timeContinue Reading

First of all a big thank you to Margot of the AIVF for sending me a new set of credentials.Continue Reading

I suspect Italian mosquitoes don’t work on Mondays because this morning they were waiting for us fully revived and readyContinue Reading

A lovely 33km walk from Vercelli to Mortara today. It’s described in my guidebook as two stages but for PaulContinue Reading

Mario recommended a nearby hotel for dinner so we went there, the hotel Vittorie. They offered a pilgrim menu, theContinue Reading

It was back to a pre-dawn iPhone alarm call this morning as we faced a gruelling 33km walk in theContinue Reading

Goodbye Vallee D’Aosta. Last night’s hotel Clara was right on the border so we crossed into the region of PiemonteContinue Reading

All good things have an end and today we reached the end of the Vallee D’Aosta. I can recommend ourContinue Reading

I had my first ever pizza in Italy last night. The menu had several pages of every type of pizzaContinue Reading

I was pleasantly surprised to find the three of us present and correct at 6.30 this morning. We had aContinue Reading

Our reward for reaching Aosta yesterday is a rest day today. Aosta is worth exploring because it dates back toContinue Reading

I didn’t sleep too well last night. Was it the altitude or the film about my neighbours in the adjoiningContinue Reading

Here we are on top of the Great St Bernard Pass. Fortunately there was a short window of opportunity inContinue Reading

We have now reached Camp 2, Bourg-Saint-Pierre at 1632m. It was a long climb over 14Km from Orsières at 887m.Continue Reading

I’ve been looking forward to crossing the Alps since Paul and I started our walk to Rome. Many consider itContinue Reading

We met at 6.30 for breakfast this morning in the excellent Hotellerie Franciscaine, St Maurice. Breakfast was excellent and includedContinue Reading

We five pilgrims enjoyed our banquet in the apartment last night including the fresh fruit dessert. Not only was itContinue Reading

Last night we stayed in the outstandingly excellent Lausanne Guest House. It was very modern and spotlessly clean with ultraContinue Reading

I was a bit worried about today, before we started. Depending upon the route followed by previous pilgrims, the distanceContinue Reading

We certainly appreciated these 4 rest days up in Luzern. A big thank you to Erika & Mark (Paul’s brother)Continue Reading

I was exhausted last night and struggled to write my blog before I fell asleep. Hopefully I gave a goodContinue Reading

5am alarm again and we managed to persuade the lady in the boulangerie to sell us a croissant. At firstContinue Reading

I think today was the best day’s walk so far. Paul and I are walking in the Jura Mountains. TheContinue Reading

The rain fell all night long and when I awoke at 5.30 it was still raining. I suppose we couldContinue Reading

Each day I seem to lurch from desolation to ecstasy. It is wonderful to be walking across Europe, seeing theContinue Reading

We are starving. Help! If anyone is reading this, please send food especially fruit. We are trapped in the EmptyContinue Reading

Paul and I have pushed on to Champlitte, a distance of 38 km by the most direct route. It’s aContinue Reading

Paul set the alarm for 5.00 once again but we were awake before it went off. There is almost aContinue Reading

France has a heatwave which is making life difficult for us. Temperatures are now in the 30s and thunderstorms areContinue Reading

We have stayed in a lot of 2 star hotels so far. Some have been amusing. Being an old CaminoContinue Reading

Today’s plan was to rise at 5.30 and walk 39km to Chateauvillain. It failed but (spoiler alert) the day endedContinue Reading

You could be forgiven for looking at my photos of flat empty landscapes and imagining total silence. But anyone whoContinue Reading

I was so tired last night that I fell asleep straight after posting my blog. Paul and I had ourContinue Reading

Our usual routine after dinner is to plan the next day’s walk and accommodation. But last night we gave upContinue Reading

We stayed last night in the delightful village of Verzay at the gite of Alain Lallemen. Our breakfast was servedContinue Reading

Paul wins the prize for spotting the first pilgrims to Rome. We were on the outskirts of Reims early thisContinue Reading

We did quite a lot of tourism today. Reims (pronounced Reems) Cathedral was fairly busy this morning as you’d expectContinue Reading

A pleasant surprise this morning. The path rounded a corner and we saw our first vineyard since Day 2 onContinue Reading

If you’re following my blog in the hope of something interesting finally happening, I’m sorry to disappoint you again. WhereContinue Reading

Despite its absence of charm and the economy class chicken dinner (20 Euro), I slept well and we had aContinue Reading

Staying in Trefcon was a good move; a very good move indeed. We stayed in the beautiful gite of MmeContinue Reading

We had a short 22km walk to a gite in the middle of nowhere, a place called Trefcon which offersContinue Reading

Crunch, crunch, crunch. The sound of German boots in the German cemetery at Villers-au-Flos. But these are my Meindl bootsContinue Reading

Once again I was deceived by this morning’s coffee. The lady in the patisserie served me with a coffee whichContinue Reading

Arras. Two world wars were fought here but it’s mostly about WW1 and the battle of Arras in 1917. TheContinue Reading

Well we did it. 39Km all the way into Arras. We met resistance from tractors, Peugeot and Citroen but weContinue Reading

Claude walked with us for the first few kilometres this morning to point us in the right direction. We madeContinue Reading

There is nothing quite like a rest day on the Pilgrimage. It’s a chance for the body to recover andContinue Reading

I slept well in the Abbey last night, possibly for fear of waking in the night needing the toilet andContinue Reading

A pleasant enough day, walking 19Km through fields of flax and corn to Wisques. We are staying in the AbbeyContinue Reading

I have a new big toe. It’s normally one of the little ones but now it is supremely enormous onContinue Reading

Today’s plan was to follow the GR footpath to Guines, a breathtaking 26Km. My head and body were keen butContinue Reading

What a day! But we made it to Wissant, the little seaside town some 20Km south of Calais. Wissant wasContinue Reading

It was an amazing experience to start walking along the Via Francigena this morning. But it is still the NorthContinue Reading

It’s great to have a rest day after a tough walk from Weybridge along the North Downs Way. Wetherspoons (aContinue Reading

This was the laziest day for a pilgrim. I slept for 9 hours then ate a huge breakfast in theContinue Reading

It was another 30Km walk today and I felt every step. The blisters, one under each foot, were probably causedContinue Reading

What a superb B&B at 108 Borstal Rd Borstal last night. Nothing was too much trouble for the landlady. WeContinue Reading

I planned these first few days to be easy but my mapping software does not take gradients into account. SoContinue Reading

I was very pleased with my navigation efforts yesterday to steer us off the North Downs Way along local footpathsContinue Reading

I slept really well last night. Paul mentioned that. After breakfast we set off through the mist that was swirlingContinue Reading

I was under the mistaken belief that today’s walk was a mere 21Km so we had a lazy start. PaulContinue Reading

As usual I slept badly last night imagining all the horrors and disasters that will no doubt confront us. EverythingContinue Reading

The Route I’ve planned the English stage but that’s all. We start on Monday here in Weybridge by joining somethingContinue Reading

It wasn’t my idea to walk to Rome. Last Christmas Eve I was drinking wine and sending greetings to myContinue Reading