I met fellow Canadian Keanu Reeves walking the Camino path backwards in the mountains, we just said a brief hello and went on our ways, he impressed me as a calm and kind pilgrim.
I sat down beside an older pilgrim and we were talking about the route as one does and he seemed very knowledgeable so I asked how many times he walked and when he told me an astronomical number I look closer and recognized
John Brierley. He looked a bit older than his book pic but with bushier eyebrows. He was very quiet and spoke little and softly.
One night at an alberge someone offered to make anyone interested dinner, it was a great meal with many languages and laughing. The next day I saw the guy and said, 'Hey Chef, you're a pilgrim? I thought you worked at the alberge!' We walked sometimes together, ate a few times together and I always called him Chef. In Santiago someone asked me why I called him that and was told he is a famous European TV actor. So I asked Chef if he was on a TV show and he laughed and said,'no, I'm on three!' He said he wanted to do more documentaries and said one day he would like to go to the Toronto Film Festival. I said I'd cook a meal for him when he does!
Though she wasn't incognito, meeting my wife in Leon was the most memorable and cherished Camino memory.