I Have New Boots!

Spring is in the air! In recent years this has often meant that it’s time to dust off my walking gear, source new boots, book a flight and take off somewhere different to walk. Always an exciting time! However, for much of this past fall and winter it wasn’t clear if I’d be able to walk offshore this year, but thankfully a pathway eventually opened up, and for the past couple of months I’ve been preparing. I’m really appreciative that this window has been presented because at this stage I’ve no idea how many years of distance walking lay ahead. Likely fewer than those that I’ve thus far enjoyed. So when the stars align, it’s still a treat to go walking!!

Where to this year? Happily back to France. This time to walk the Voie de Vézelay, aka Via Lemovicensis which is one of 4 UNESCO caminos leading to Santiago de Compostella in northwest Spain. I’ve previously walked two of these French routes; the Le Puy Chemin (Via Podiensis) which is the busiest of the four in 2015 and 2016 as well as the Arles Chemin (Via Tolosana) in 2018 which traverses southern France via Montpellier and Toulouse. This year it seemed fitting to experience another of these four routes, with thoughts to perhaps walk the last one, the Via Turonensis (from Tours via Poitiers and Bordeaux) sometime in the next year or two should the stars align. All four of these major routes are illustrated in the following map, the Vézelay in dark red and the other three routes with variants in orange.

The Voie de Vézelay (going forward, referred to as the Vezelay or VV) is another in a series of less travelled walking routes that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed during the past 11 years. While I find these routes at times to be a bit lonely, I also enjoy their uniques challenges and characteristics. Something akin to figuring out a big puzzle. Based on my research, it seems that the Vezelay is again a pretty quiet route, but there will hopefully be just enough other folks along the way to form a bit of a community. Much as I found when walking the Via de la Plata in 2014 among others. From what I can tell, with the exception of some reasonably long stages and the Pyrenees crossing at the end, the VV is not particularly physically challenging. However, after my last two walks I’m thinking that perhaps this is a good thing, right?😊

For those interested in French wines (and I know some of my friends are), the Vezelay begins in north-central France in the northern reaches of the Burgundy wine region and runs from there in a southwesterly direction. It passes through the eastern part of the Loire Valley wine region and then a bit later it crosses the Bordeaux region and lastly the South-West wine region. I expect to sample a little from each region and I expect to report my findings!

I’m often asked how long an intended walk is, and for this particular route that’s a really good question. I’ve read that depending on which variants one takes that it can be anywhere up to 1,100km. As you can see on the map, there are several prominent variants and the route often follows the GR654. There’s no right or wrong way to walk this route, just different options. I’ve decided to walk the most westerly variants mostly because I understand that the cathedral at Bourges has amazing stain glass windows and there are more cultural experiences along this path. I will also visit Limoges where I’ve learned that spectacular white and blue clay china has been made for centuries. Everyone but me seems to already know this!!😂 As usual I will likely be making my own adjustments to the posted route when it suits my needs. I prefer to visit villages where possible rather that wander endlessly along GR tracts. That said, I will obviously try to avoid missing places of interest, and I understand that there are lots of chateau along the way! So in answer to the distance question the route looks to be something just over 1000km covered in perhaps 35-37 stages.

Annemarie, now fully recovered 👏, will be joining me this year about 125km south of Limoges in the beautiful town of Periguieux to walk onwards to Saint Jean Pied de Port and then over the Pyrenees along the Camino Frances to Pamplona, Spain where we plan to finish our walk. It will be very nice to have her company! I’ve made an allowance for 2-3 rest days plus a few slush/rain days should we for example need to wait for a weather window before crossing the Route Napoleon through the Pyrenees. Fingers crossed, I’m hoping for bright sunshine on those stages!🌞 In 2013 I crossed in driving rain and I’m not particularly enthused about repeating that experience!

The inspiration for this blog title? Last spring you might recall that I set off on a long mountain walk with well used boots. Instead of the expected hot, dry Italian mountains that I had experienced just 6 months earlier, I found myself walking in unusually heavy rain. I crossed a few muddy mountain trails in what can only be described as truly inadequate footwear. Hey, even experienced walkers make mistakes from time to time! Having lived to tell the tale, and with my newly acquired wisdom I made sure to start this years walk in a pair of new boots! They are still sitting in their box and sometime in the next week or so I’d best try them out. They are Salomons, my go to brand, so I expect that they will be more than adequate. I must say, they do seem super light. I wonder what they sacrificed to achieve this weight reduction?🤔

I’ll try to post again before departing in just 26 days. The last weeks are always so busy, but soon I’ll be on my way to Paris!

Geoff😎