There are a multitude of routes to Santiago de Compostella, starting throughout Europe and all converging in South-West France before crossing over the Pyrenees, by two alternative passes, and traversing Northern Spain. Three of the principal routes start in France – Vezelay, in the North, Le Puy-en-Verlay in central France, and Arles on the Mediterranean coast, which I was to walk in 2007

After much agonising I eventually decided to try the walk, not necessarily for religious reasons, although it was a wonderful opportunity to think about one’s life, and where you want it to go, but simply because it represented the possibility of a marvellous adventure and challenge. Even so, I wisely decided to initially only walk the 800 km of the French section. It was some months after finishing that that I realised that the “itch” of the final 800km in Spain remained to be scratched, and I returned in 2006 to make the final effort.

Each evening I recorded my experiences and thoughts in a Journal – this book reprints that record, warts and all, together with the some of the photos taken. I hope it gives others as much pleasure as I have taken from the whole experience, one of the highlights of my retirement (so far)