Some thoughts on the Camino
FRENCH SECTION
I will never do another French section of the Camino if the Le Puy route is typical.
Yes, the scenery was fantastic and the food was superb. I especially loved the breads and cheeses. Probably had the best meal at the Gite ferme de Barry where the owner made aligout. The main negative is that about 60 % of the route was walking on pavement, which is incredibly hard on your feet and legs. The French seem to pave anything that is wide enough for a car, no matter how remote the area.
CAMINO FRANCES
If I ever walk another Camino it won´t be the Camino Frances.
The Camino has become a fad, something fashionable to do and an item to put on and knock off your bucket list. Every day is a rush to get up, get going, and arrive at your next destination early enough to guarantee a bed. Hospitaleros and gite owners told me that in the past they would either not fill or fill by late afternoon or early evening. Now they are full by mid afternoon. It has become the proverbial rat race.
I have also been told that over the last five years there has been a change in the pilgrims, and not for the better.
Lastly the government, at least in Navarra, the Basque part of Spain, has made "improvements" to the trail. I appreciate the new signage, (it is impossible to get lost any more, but not the concrete paved sections and concrete steps, two-meter wide trails in crushed stone and binder. I wonder when they will install escalators on the steep sections?
I will never do another French section of the Camino if the Le Puy route is typical.
Yes, the scenery was fantastic and the food was superb. I especially loved the breads and cheeses. Probably had the best meal at the Gite ferme de Barry where the owner made aligout. The main negative is that about 60 % of the route was walking on pavement, which is incredibly hard on your feet and legs. The French seem to pave anything that is wide enough for a car, no matter how remote the area.
CAMINO FRANCES
If I ever walk another Camino it won´t be the Camino Frances.
The Camino has become a fad, something fashionable to do and an item to put on and knock off your bucket list. Every day is a rush to get up, get going, and arrive at your next destination early enough to guarantee a bed. Hospitaleros and gite owners told me that in the past they would either not fill or fill by late afternoon or early evening. Now they are full by mid afternoon. It has become the proverbial rat race.
I have also been told that over the last five years there has been a change in the pilgrims, and not for the better.
Lastly the government, at least in Navarra, the Basque part of Spain, has made "improvements" to the trail. I appreciate the new signage, (it is impossible to get lost any more, but not the concrete paved sections and concrete steps, two-meter wide trails in crushed stone and binder. I wonder when they will install escalators on the steep sections?
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