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Thanks for the remarks and advice. I'll be on that route, but without the Colle Val d'Elsa detour, starting in Lucca on May 1. Plan to arrive in Roma on 5/19. Will consider your advice on which cities you would prefer for rest days... they all look good, but time is short so choices must be...
Regrets, I do not have a link, but last summer I met two pilgrims from Australia who informed me there is a new pilgrimage route in Australia that honors one of the first Australian saints canonized by Rome... and it is reportedly about 160 KM, if my memory is accurate.
I went to the REI site and looked carefully at the pictures. Noted that it has many of the same features as the REI Trail 40 which I have carried for over 1000 miles on the VF and mountains of W Washington. It has suffered through a fully loaded drop of about 3 meters onto the tarmac from the...
Merci beaucoup!
I have visited this crypt twice on trips to Paris and it is well worth the time to explore if you are a history buff. In 2022, we also visited the MuseoSeine in Caudebec en Caux, which has a wonderful history of the lower Seine estuary and region. We spent a Sunday afternoon...
Like REI,Outdoor Research, Union Bay and Columbia climbing/hiking pants. ExOfficio also makes a convertible lightweight cargo pant that has a built in bug repellent. Have worn at least one of these on various Caminos. All dry very quickly and are SPF 50. On the first 500 miles of the VF I...
I walk fast (average about 5.5KM/hour) so as I overtake people, I generally starting whistling "When the Saints Go Marching In" (just as a notice that someone is approaching from the rear) and then give them a cheerful Buen Camino and keep on truckin' as I move past them.
Buen Camino
Bob from L.A. ! -- Happy New Year and thanks for all the posts on your epic trek this past Spring/Summer. I got to Lucca and stopped, but will finish in May or early June from Lucca to Rome. Your posts were inspirational and gave me some great ideas and tips. Hope 2024 is healthy and happy...
Walked from Canterbury to Martigny in 2022 and Martigny to Lucca in 2023. As noted by others, the path across France wanders around, particularly in the Western parts of the country. A host explained to me that the French folks who use these paths for weekend and day hikes do NOT want to walk...
You must mean "living in WESTERN Oregon"... we rarely had/have heavy rains while growing up in Bend and Ontario. Now Eugene and Florence (my wife's home towns -- they get serious rains)... ah, how I don't miss those days at UofO. Buen Camino and Aloha
Outdoor Research SPF hoodies and quarter zip turtlenecks. Super lightweight but warm enough for all seasons except Winter. Line Dry quickly and don’t seem to retain smells. 960 miles into the VF and no issues so far. Bought all four of them on a 1/2 price sale at the OR outlet store just...
No such thing as failure on a camino... "goal deferred" maybe, but you'll finish at some point in your own way. It happened to me on my second camino and again on my third. Sort of mulish (stubborn), I just start walking again after I recover a couple or three days... adjusting on the fly and...
Yes, indeed; but what great memories you have. And I am always grateful you have shared them with all of us here on the Forum. May you have many more years of great memories.
Oh, my. I did reserve a place that appeared to be only 2 km off the VF in Switzerland (Vevey), only to discover that the elevation was almost 300 meters above town, way up on the hillside above Lac Leman. The views were great, but I was not appreciative of them until after I'd had a restorative...
I used Gronze.com and All Trails apps this past September to walk from Martigny, SW to Lucca, IT. Note well -- Gronze.com doesn't start until the top of the GSB Pass and continues on the route to Rome. Using these offline resources makes navigating the route much safer/easier than it was in...
Kudos to you for taking figuring out the path through the lake for the rest of your fellow pellegrinos. This is the kind of thing my "real-live cowboy" uncle taught us when we were small fry and following him through the brush and creeks of eastern Oregon... pick a path and go forward until you...
Buon Cammino!
Just finished the Martigny to Lucca part of the VF on 19 Sept. Trail conditions were good (mostly) and there were a lot more pilgrims than I met last year walking from Canterbury to Martigny. Tourists were a bit of a problem (too many of them) in some the more popular towns...
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