The Camino Santiago Compostela Pilgrimage

(The French Route)

Camino Frances

This site is dedicated to Antje, my "heart" love. She opened many boxes.

Contents

Introduction

Book Recommendations

Organisations

Video & Multimedia

Sounds Of The Camino

Certificates and Passports

Packing List

Refuges and Hostals

Introduction

Welcome to a website for the Camino Frances route of the Camino Santiago de Compostela Pilgrimage. If you are interested in the Via De La Plata route instead then please visit my website for this route. There are also The Camino De Madrid and The Oberstrasse routes. There is a seperate page with all the pictures from my many caminos now.

I have now walked all or part of the camino frances every year since 2000. I have walked it in all seasons, the earliest being the beginning of February 2005 and the latest being the beginning of November 2000. Of all the seasons, I think spring is best as the flowers are coming out, especially the poppies. The hottest and busiest month is August when Spanish people are often obliged to take their holidays.

I found it very useful to review other peoples experiences on the camino before I did my first walk. I have listed a few useful websites below. The comments in the descriptions below are my own personal and subjective impressions of the websites. They reflect my own likes and dislikes and they should be treated accordingly when read.

Site Name Comment

The Millenium Pilgrim
Austin Redpath's Account of his Camino.

Peter Robins
An excellent article about blisters, the "bane" of most camino walkers. The rest of the site is also worth visiting.

Andrea Kirkby's
Words only and she is seeing everything from a peculiar point of view. A little bit negative sometimes. Lots of architectural jargon words.

Herman's Way
A good site about a Dutchman's trip in 1997.

Carl Sesto
Walking Through Shadows. He is a professional photographer, and it shows in the photographs he has used. Was off-line for a while but is now back again.

The Confraternity Of St James - Winter Pilgrim
An article by Alison Raju about walking the camino in autumn or winter. This one convinced me it was walk able in October.

The Confraternity Of St James - A First Time Warden at Castrojeriz
An article by a pilgrim who decided to stay and run the refuge at Castrojeriz for a short while.

Book Recommendations

I am often asked in emails for book recommendations so here is a list of the books I have read about the camino, or are related to it in some way:-

Every one of these books can be ordered via amazon.com or if you are in the uk amazon.co.uk and are mostly available within a few weeks. I have provided web references for the UK site here, Just click on the book Author's name.

Author's Name(s) Cover ISBN Number(s) Book Title

Nancy Louise Frey 0520210840 (paper)
0520217519 (cloth)
Pilgrim Stories - On And Off The Road To Santiago

Lee Hoinacki 0271016124 {cloth)
El Camino - Walking to Santiago de Compostela

Shirley Maclaine 0743208080 (cloth)
The Camino - A Journey Of The Spirit - A controversial but readable account of her Camino in 1996. Some chapters are better skipped over.

David Lodge 0140253580 (paper)
Therapy - This is very funny. Part 4 contains references to the Camino.

Elyn Aviva 0971060916 (paper)
Dead End On The Camino - A fictional story, to quote the back cover "Murder, mayhem, and mystery accompany anthropologist Noa Webster on her treasure hunt on the Camino de Santiago".

Maryjane Dunn
Linda Kay Davidson 0415928958 (paper)
0815316380 (cloth)
The Pilgrimage to Compostela In The Middle Ages - A serious academic study on the Camino.

David Gitlitz
Linda Kay Davidson 0312254164 (paper)
The Pilgrimage Road To Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook

Ben Nimmo 0007104731 (paper)
Pilgrim Snail - This is about Ben's "Charity Trombone Walk". I had a link to his website but the link no longer works. It's a shame, as it was a good website. I couldn't put it down until very late at night, so now I can heartily recommend it.

Cees Nooteboom 186046419X (paper)
Roads To Santiago

Edwin Mullins
1902669304 (cloth)
1902669312 (paper)
The Pilgrimage To Santiago

Milan Bravo Lozano
8424138333 (paper)
A Practical Guide For Pilgrims - The famous book and map combination. Read the book beforehand and only take the maps on the Camino. I found the maps to be excellent. It comes in several language versions as well. I saw at least English, French, Spanish and German versions in a shop in "Santo Domingo De La Calzada".

Organisations

Here is a list of the Camino organisations I am currently aware of and their contact details:-

Organisation Name Comments

The friends of the road to Santiago.
Based in USA. Can provide their own version of the pilgrim's passport.

The confraternity of St James.
Based in London. Can provide their own version of the pilgrim's passport.

Videos and Multimedia

Here is a list of some camino related videos which I have found interesting.-

Name Comments

www.caminovideo.com
Ray and Carol Bertoia took a video camera with them on their camino. The resulting video is very good and is well worth a look. I have watched it at least five times now myself.

www.kitsjourney.com
This has a completely different but entertaining approach to the camino than Ray's video mentioned above. It's a lot shorter for one thing and it does not have many factual details of the stages on the route but it very interesting to watch and may encourage someone who has not yet considered walking the camino to consider it seriously. I can recommend it.

www.suekenney.ca
Sue is a Motivational Speaker and does presentations about the camino as part of her motivational speaking. She has made several multimedia CD's and DVD's. She has also written books about her camino(s).

Within The
Way Without
An excellent DVD about three pilgrims who travel in the winter, spring and summer. Their stories are interwoven throughout the narrative as each one reaches certain points along the camino. It also shows something of their home lives before and after their caminos.
Available from the Confraternity Of St James (Click on the title on the left).

Sounds Of The Camino

On my second camino on May 2001, I took along a small mini-disc recorder, a Sony MZ-G750, and a stereo microphone to try and record some of the fabulous sounds I heard on my first camino. Although I did not get the snoring, I recorded most of the other characteristic sounds that can be heard. They are all in MP3 format which I hope you can use.

Cowbells
Before
Pamplona
Birdsong
In Cizur Menor
Birdsong
In Estella
Storks
at Belorado
Frogs
at Estella
Frogs
at Los Arcos

Chicadas
after
Estella
Birdsong
in
Azofra
Church
Organ
At Azofra 1
Church
Organ
At Azofra 2
Church
Bells In
Burgos

Certificates and Passports

To prove that I finished my first camino, here are two pictures of the completed pilgrim's passport and the simpler "compostela" or "Certificado" which you are given if you do not put "spiritual" as the reason for your pilgrimage when you visit the pilgrim office in Santiago:-

The "Simpler" Compostela

A typical pilgrims passport

Packing List

It is vitally important that you take the absolute minimum amount of stuff with you in your backpack. Everybody takes too much and almost always end up sending it home or forward to Santiago in the mail or even just discarding it. It is surprising just how little you really need to take as the shops in Spain are now very good and have all the "modern" stuff that people want such as Shaving Cream, or Suntan Lotion etc. You don't need to take those things, just buy them as you need them. Personally I prefer to do it this way since it keeps the local economy running as well as keeping the backpack lighter. Some local communities seem to rely on the pilgrims walking through for their lively-hood. Some, on the other hand, hide their shops for the use of the locals only. You need to search out those sometimes when a town or village appears to have no shops.

In general, for clothes, take three pairs of everything, one to wear and one in the wash or drying on the back of your backpack.The third one is for when you can't wash that days clothes for some reason.

Boots - Good ones, well worn in.

Wool Socks - 3 pairs.

Thin Socks - 3 pairs (to wear inside the thick ones).

Light tee shirt for the day.

Heavier shirt for the evening.

Trousers - 2 Pairs (The ones with the detachable shorts and legs).

Light shoes for the evening to give your feet and boots a rest.

Shower sandals. (Could combine with the above)

Toothbrush.

Airplane style toothpaste (very small).

Sleeping Bag.

Paperwork - Passport, money, credit card, credential, maps and a "belly" pouch to put it all in.

Wide brimmed Hat.

Sunglasses.

Sun screen (very important!).

Personal Toilet Items (you decide).

Shampoo - does for everything, washing hair and clothes.

Lightweight backpack.

Water Bottle (sometimes it is a long way between fountains)

Wet weather gear, poncho, waterproof trousers. (vital for Galicia!)

That's It!

That lot shouldn't add up to more than 10KG and one of the heaviest items, the shoes, you will be wearing without noticing the weight.

I would recommend that you drink at least 3 liters of fresh water every day. It is very easy to become dehydrated on the Camino, particularly on the meseta and drinking coffee or soft drinks is not a suitable substitute as it dehydrates you. So for every "Grande Caffe Con Letche", you need another 1/3 liter of fresh water later to compensate! A real shame, as I adore Spanish coffee (big sigh) and it's one of the main "luxuries" I don't want to do without when walking the camino. I look forward to my first coffee every single day.

Refuges and Hostals

This list was very old and out of date, so it has been removed. If you would like it re-instated, then send me an email.

If you want to send me comments about this website or would just like a chat or you want more information, then send me an email pilgrim@carolinemathieson.com

Copyright © 2000 - 2008 Caroline Moira Mathieson. No part of this page may be reproduced without the express written permission of the author.

This page was last edited on Sunday 20th July 2008 at 08.55 AM.

Website design by Camino Websites.

Cowbells Before Pamplona	Birdsong In Cizur Menor	Birdsong In Estella	Storks at Belorado	Frogs at Estella	Frogs at Los Arcos
Chicadas after Estella	Birdsong in Azofra	Church Organ At Azofra 1	Church Organ At Azofra 2	Church Bells In Burgos

Site Name	Comment
The Millenium Pilgrim	Austin Redpath's Account of his Camino.
Peter Robins	An excellent article about blisters, the "bane" of most camino walkers. The rest of the site is also worth visiting.
Andrea Kirkby's	Words only and she is seeing everything from a peculiar point of view. A little bit negative sometimes. Lots of architectural jargon words.
Herman's Way	A good site about a Dutchman's trip in 1997.
Carl Sesto	Walking Through Shadows. He is a professional photographer, and it shows in the photographs he has used. Was off-line for a while but is now back again.
The Confraternity Of St James - Winter Pilgrim	An article by Alison Raju about walking the camino in autumn or winter. This one convinced me it was walk able in October.
The Confraternity Of St James - A First Time Warden at Castrojeriz	An article by a pilgrim who decided to stay and run the refuge at Castrojeriz for a short while.

Author's Name(s)	ISBN Number(s)	Book Title
Nancy Louise Frey	0520210840 (paper) 0520217519 (cloth)	Pilgrim Stories - On And Off The Road To Santiago
Lee Hoinacki	0271016124 {cloth)	El Camino - Walking to Santiago de Compostela
Shirley Maclaine	0743208080 (cloth)	The Camino - A Journey Of The Spirit - A controversial but readable account of her Camino in 1996. Some chapters are better skipped over.
David Lodge	0140253580 (paper)	Therapy - This is very funny. Part 4 contains references to the Camino.
Elyn Aviva	0971060916 (paper)	Dead End On The Camino - A fictional story, to quote the back cover "Murder, mayhem, and mystery accompany anthropologist Noa Webster on her treasure hunt on the Camino de Santiago".
Maryjane Dunn Linda Kay Davidson	0415928958 (paper) 0815316380 (cloth)	The Pilgrimage to Compostela In The Middle Ages - A serious academic study on the Camino.
David Gitlitz Linda Kay Davidson	0312254164 (paper)	The Pilgrimage Road To Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook
Ben Nimmo	0007104731 (paper)	Pilgrim Snail - This is about Ben's "Charity Trombone Walk". I had a link to his website but the link no longer works. It's a shame, as it was a good website. I couldn't put it down until very late at night, so now I can heartily recommend it.
Cees Nooteboom	186046419X (paper)	Roads To Santiago
Edwin Mullins	1902669304 (cloth) 1902669312 (paper)	The Pilgrimage To Santiago
Milan Bravo Lozano	8424138333 (paper)	A Practical Guide For Pilgrims - The famous book and map combination. Read the book beforehand and only take the maps on the Camino. I found the maps to be excellent. It comes in several language versions as well. I saw at least English, French, Spanish and German versions in a shop in "Santo Domingo De La Calzada".

Organisation Name	Comments
The friends of the road to Santiago.	Based in USA. Can provide their own version of the pilgrim's passport.
The confraternity of St James.	Based in London. Can provide their own version of the pilgrim's passport.

Name	Comments
www.caminovideo.com	Ray and Carol Bertoia took a video camera with them on their camino. The resulting video is very good and is well worth a look. I have watched it at least five times now myself.
www.kitsjourney.com	This has a completely different but entertaining approach to the camino than Ray's video mentioned above. It's a lot shorter for one thing and it does not have many factual details of the stages on the route but it very interesting to watch and may encourage someone who has not yet considered walking the camino to consider it seriously. I can recommend it.
www.suekenney.ca	Sue is a Motivational Speaker and does presentations about the camino as part of her motivational speaking. She has made several multimedia CD's and DVD's. She has also written books about her camino(s).
Within The Way Without	An excellent DVD about three pilgrims who travel in the winter, spring and summer. Their stories are interwoven throughout the narrative as each one reaches certain points along the camino. It also shows something of their home lives before and after their caminos. Available from the Confraternity Of St James (Click on the title on the left).