NCW Libraries

" ... the reader is invited to join this peripatetic American priest as he takes up the Way to Compostela, this time in Leuven, Belgium, and follows it south through much of France."--Back cover.

Part adventure story, part cultural history, Paris to the Pyrenees explores the phenomenon of pilgrimage along the age-old way of Saint James   Driven by curiosity, wanderlust, and health crises, David Downie and his wife set out from Paris to walk across France to the Pyrenees. Starting on the Rue Saint-Jacques, then trekking 750 miles south to Roncesvalles, Spain, their eccentric route takes 72 days on Roman roads and pilgrimage paths-a 1,100-year-old...

"Pilgrimage in Europe is currently thriving on a scale that simply could not have been envisaged just a few decades ago. In 1990 less than 5000 pilgrimages were recorded by the cathedral at Santiago de Compostella in northwest Spain. Today the figure is at least 200,000 a year. Derry Brabbs highly successful Roads to Santiago, published by Frances Lincoln in 2008, focused exclusively upon the routes through France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela....

Now more than ever, you can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling through Spain. Savor authentic paella, run with the bulls in Pamplona, or relax on Barcelona's beaches: experience it all with Rick!