Itinerary Details

September 22-2013.

Departing from Calgary (YYC) with Air Transat, flight TS 0708 @ 11:30 pm

Arrive in Paris Charles de Gaulle(CDG) airport @ 4:30 pm Monday September 23

Duration 9 hours - direct flight 

Staying overnight at the Comfort Hotel Airport CDG

Departing September 24 from CDG with Easy Jet, flight 3701 @ 7:00 am

Arrive in Biarritz @ 8:30 am

Duration 1hr 30 min

Taking a bus from Biarritz airport to Bayonne where we catch a train to St.Jean.

Arriving in St Jean @ 12:07 Tuesday September 24

Staying the first night in St Jean @ L'Esprit du Chemin , an alburgue run by Dutch expats.  The stay includes supper and breakfast the next day and is located conveniently across the road from the camino passport office!

Wednesday September 25 we plan to leave St. Jean and walk partway across the Pyrenees to the alburgue at Orisson (confirmed)  It is only an 8 km hike but with an elevation climb of 750 meters. The next day we hope to get to Roncesvalles, 17 km and another 750 meter elevation climb followed by a 450 meter decent!

At this time that is all the lodging we have confirmed.

Returning to Canada Wednesday November 20, 2013

Departing Amsterdam (AMS) @ 1:20 pm with Icelandair flight 503

 Arrive  in Reykjavik (KEF) Iceland @ 3:30 pm. Duration 3hr10min. 1261 miles

Layover 1hr30min

Departing Reykjavik @ 5:00pm with Icelandair flight 603

Arrive in Toronto (YYZ) @ 5:55pm.  Duration 5hr55min. 2612 miles

Layover 1hr50min

Departing Toronto @ 7:45 pm with West Jet flight 671

Arrive in Calgary (YYC) @ 10:01pm Wednesday November 20

Duration 4hr16min

What is the Camino de Santiago and Why are we Doing it?

The Camino de Santiago - sometimes referred to as The French Way or The Way of St. James is an 800 kilometer pilgrimage.  We hope to complete the walk in 35 days which equals about 24 kilometers per day with 2 days of rest.  At the moment we do not have our return flight booked so still have several options.  Most likely we will fly home from Amsterdam around the 20 of November. Our lodging will be either hostels (albergue) B & B's, inns or casa rurales (private rural homes).  We are not with a tour group , will try to manage as hundreds of thousands before us have done.

Many ' pilgrims' complete the camino for religious or spiritual reasons.  When friends and family ask why we are doing this Sid has the perfect answer "because we can"!  We are not getting any younger and we believe we have the physical and mental ability required for this journey.  That's not to say it won't be a spiritual journey - those perimeters are just not clear to me yet.  

I anticipate that we will meet people from all over the world with all sorts of life stories. How can that alone not be inspiring?  My brothers death this spring is still pretty raw....how does one make sense of a two year struggle with cancer anyways?  Lots of questions.....about so many issues.....

"A pilgrimage starts the moment we become conscious that life itself is a sacred journey, carrying with it the responsibility to act accordingly"

This is the link to a Camino de Santiago web site that I have found invaluable!

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/