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Having a hard time adjusting to French route after Madrid route

HeyRobin

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2021 CF
2022 Madrid, Portuguese
2023 VDLP
I finished the Madrid route a few days ago and now am walking towards Santiago on the French route. Honestly, I’m struggling with the change. I thought I would enjoy having more people around but the truth is although there are more people around, they don’t seem interested in striking up a conversation with someone new. Also, I miss the adventure of the Madrid route as the French route is well traveled and marked. Finally, I miss the sheer beauty of the Madrid as my journey so far on this route has been ugly and boring. I’m willing to accept this as part of the journey however I have to ask, has the excitement, beauty and sense of adventure all behind me at this point? Need help and wanting something to look forward to. Robin
 
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I do think you should hold on until you reach Ponferrada , and then go on the Invierno. Sheer beauty - excitement - sense of adventure - I think you will like it. The Invierno is well marked, but much less traveled than the Francés.
 
Yes - if it’s not ‘working ‘ for you on CF … get more adventure if you skip to Léon and walk the Salvador /primitivo mentioned by @peregrina2000 or get a train or bus to Ponferrada and walk Invierno as tipped by @J Willhaus Both have the adventure you’re feeling of the Madrid & fewer numbers.
Or maybe you’ll ‘acclimatise ‘ to the CF if you find some more friendly folk.
Buen camino
 
HeyRobin said:
Also, I miss the adventure of the Madrid route as the French route is well traveled and marked. Finally, I miss the sheer beauty of the Madrid as my journey so far on this route has been ugly and boring.
Click to expand...
I don't know what part of the Frances you are walking now, but I don't recall any of the route as ugly and boring. Even a few of the uninviting industrial areas on the outskirts of a few of the larger cities were short-lived.
That said, you have piqued my interest in the Madrid route as it usually seems to have a variety of varying opinions.
 
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While all the combo´s that have been suggested are worthwhile, I am not sure what adventure you are looking for. And - as said - I would not describe the CF from Leon to Santiago as 'ugly'. So to answer your question ('has the excitement, beauty and sense of adventure all behind me at this point?) I see no reason why you would not find this back at the CF. Some days on the camino are just better than other days, and it may be better (as you say yourself) to accept this, take one step at the time, and not wonder too much whether the grass is greener somewhere else. Buen camino !
 
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Try hiking somewhere else for a change, like in Italy or France. I’ve hiked two Caminos (Paris-Fisterra and Gibraltar-Muxía), and that’s enough for me, at least for the time being.
 
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Only you can answer your question about the adventure aspect, and it appears you’ll only get limited sympathy on this thread. But I had the same reaction on the CF in March where it was cold, windy, rainy and solitary. I walked from Burgos and when I walked into Leon on a Sunday, thought I would welcome the “civilization.” But it was more of an assault on my senses, so I just walked through without stopping. To each our own Camino.
 
Hey Robin - I walked from Manzanares to Cercedilla today. Was tough!! There was a mountain bike event on - hundred and hundreds all through the trail. Was so hard - I haven’t met another pilgrim, which I shall cherish at the moment. Q - was the signage good for the climb tomorrow? I’m a little apprehensive. Will leave at 6am. Bed booked in La Granja
 
Tomorrow’s walk will be difficult only if you struggle with hills. Take lots of breaks and hydrate. Fortunately you will be in the woods most of the way so the hot sun won’t get you. Good luck!
 
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Be thankful you are walking. You obviously need to keep going you still need to clear the cobwebs of your mind. But then again who doesn't? Put a smile on your face and chat with more people. I am sure you are not the pariah of the CF.
 
Oh and I forgot to mention, signage for the Camino is poor. You need to follow the white dots. Don’t follow the yellow ones.
 
HeyRobin said:
I have to ask, has the excitement, beauty and sense of adventure all behind me at this point?
Click to expand...
If you do stay on the CF a number of members have said the Dragone variant leaving from Vilafranca del Bierzo has a day of adventure.

Also, though I don't think anyone has claimed this to be adventurous, from Triacastela you could take the CF variant to Samos. If you stay the night you may find a bird of a feather (though maybe not another Robin).
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Ah, Samos. Never have understood why people class that beautiful wooded river walk to and from an ancient monastery as a “variant”. Surely that description should apply to the “short-cut” over the hill…
 
Hi Robin
We have been watching your excellent videos on Youtube. Thank you!
Personally, I loved the meseta - yes, its flat, farmland and rather boring to most but if you are observant, you will notice the subtle landscape changes as you walk. Sometimes the soils are different, same for the vegetation and so on.
There is beauty to be discovered in everything and to me there is nothing better than walking under a huge sky in an open flat landscape as long as the sun doesn't fry my head, it is lovely.
Your time in the meseta will pass, especially after Astorga and if you take the Samos route on your way to Santiago, you will love that.
Sing little songs, do little dances and bop along those boring bits because they will soon pass into more interesting terrains and features.
Buen Camino
 
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I think the advice you've been given to turn off on the Invierno is a good one. You will get a bit more of the flat plains around Leon, but then you will reach the mountains, (and Cruz de Ferro) in a few days, then a quick walk to Ponferarrda where you can switch to the Invierno.
 
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Hey hey Robin, I was on the madrid just ahead of you. I'm home now, but if you want to continue that feel then the Salvador is for you. Maybe 5 days Leon to oviedo. But check out accommodation first, some of the albergues are closed. Suggestions here are then the primitivo, which is a great route, but gaining in popularity, you may actually have more of an adventure going north from oviedo and joining the norte route. I hope you enjoy whichever route you choose.
 
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There's plenty to look forward to seeing on the Frances. Leon has one of my favourite cathedrals in Spain and also the "Sistine Chapel of Romanesque art" in San Isidoro. After that is Astorga with the Gaudi Palace and chocolate museum. And then there is the Cruz de Ferro. And then there is the Templar castle in Ponferrada and the beautiful little towns of Molinaseca and Villafranca del Bierzo. And then you get the mountains and the ancient village of O Cebreiro. And then there is the lush green of Galicia. There is plenty of beauty to be had. I can't speak so much to the sense of adventure. It seems to me that's found on the inside rather than the outside.

That said, as I posted on another thread, the Madrid/San Salvador/Primitivo combination that many are suggesting is one I plan to do myself someday.

But then again, I've done the Frances. It really is something to experience. There is no other route with the depth of history that the Frances offers.
 
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