The Camino Frances is traditionally departing from St. Jean Pied-de-Port and totals 863.5 Km from St. Jean Pied-de-Port to Cape Finisterre. It is a recent tradition for pilgrims to burn their clothes or boots at the end of their journey at Cape Finisterre: I am not sure I want to do this. If I shall feel the urge of burning something, I hope it is not going to be something material, but rather obsoleted habits or ways of thinking.
After further consideration from the late reply from Singapore Airlines to grant me a seat of the flight to Paris, I have tried other flight options to reach the starting point. In addition to the waitlisted flight to Paris, I also tried Milan which was also on waiting list, and called SQ to solicit a resolution on either option. A stop over in Milan actually would allow Raffaella to travel with me and to celebrate her birthday with the all our friends over there. A few days later, SQ confirmed my seat on the flight to Milan, therefore giving a definite hint to which itinerary was destiny for me.
Found out that Ryan Air offers a connection from Milano Bergamo to Lourdes. Then from Lourdes to St. Jean PdP it’s another complicated train connection taking a long time. But then: “Heck, I thought, I am there to walk, so let’s walk from Lourdes instead! ” It adds only some 145Km to the total, bringing it to a hefty 1,009Km. Now that’s a serious walk! The connection between Lourdes and St. Jean PdP is mapped in the pilgrimage chronicles and is known as the Chemin du Piemont Pyrenees. Hope God will bless my new itinerary and provide me with the little essentials I shall need.
I shall therefore leave from Singapore on Saturday, Sep 1st and then continue to Lourdes on September 4 arriving at about midday.
Including in and out flights it is a total of 44 days of which 33 on the walking path and 11 days of rest. In average, that is 26.2Km per day. The plan is still indicative, and will depend a lot from the weather and my physical conditions.
The itinerary I am plannign so far is the following:
| Week Day | Date | # | Distance | km to the end | km from the start | From | Overnight |
| Tue | 4-Sep | 1009.3 | 0.0 | Milano Bergamo | Lourdes, arr. 12:25, Ryan Air, FR4005 | ||
| Wed | 5-Sep | 1 | 28.8 | 980.5 | 28.8 | Lourdes | Bruges |
| Thu | 6-Sep | 2 | 36.0 | 944.5 | 64.8 | Bruges | Oloron |
| Fri | 7-Sep | 3 | 24.0 | 920.5 | 88.8 | Oloron | Hopital St Blaise |
| Sat | 8-Sep | 4 | 28.0 | 892.5 | 116.8 | Hopital St Blaise | Garaibie |
| Sun | 9-Sep | 5 | 29.0 | 863.5 | 145.8 | Garaibie | Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port |
| Mon | 10-Sep | 6 | 25.0 | 838.5 | 170.8 | Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port | Roncesvalles |
| Tue | 11-Sep | 7 | 21.5 | 817.0 | 192.3 | Roncesvalles | Zubiri |
| Wed | 12-Sep | 8 | 22.0 | 795.0 | 214.3 | Zubiri | Pamplona |
| Thu | 13-Sep | 9 | 23.5 | 771.5 | 237.8 | Pamplona | Puente la Reina |
| Fri | 14-Sep | 10 | 22.0 | 749.5 | 259.8 | Puente la Reina | Estella |
| Sat | 15-Sep | 11 | 22.0 | 727.5 | 281.8 | Estella | Los Arcos |
| Sun | 16-Sep | 12 | 28.0 | 699.5 | 309.8 | Los Arcos | Logroño |
| Mon | 17-Sep | 13 | 29.0 | 670.5 | 338.8 | Logroño | Nájera |
| Tue | 18-Sep | 14 | 21.0 | 649.5 | 359.8 | Nájera | Santo Domingo de la Calzada |
| Wed | 19-Sep | 15 | 23.0 | 626.5 | 382.8 | Santo Domingo de la Calzada | Belorado |
| Thu | 20-Sep | 16 | 24.0 | 602.5 | 406.8 | Belorado | San Juan de Ortega |
| Fri | 21-Sep | 17 | 28.0 | 574.5 | 434.8 | San Juan de Ortega | Burgos |
| Sat | 22-Sep | 18 | 40.0 | 534.5 | 474.8 | Burgos | Castrojeriz |
| Sun | 23-Sep | 19 | 23.0 | 511.5 | 497.8 | Castrojeriz | Frómista |
| Mon | 24-Sep | 20 | 19.0 | 492.5 | 516.8 | Frómista | Carrión de los Condes |
| Tue | 25-Sep | 21 | 39.0 | 453.5 | 555.8 | Carrión de los Condes | Sahagún |
| Wed | 26-Sep | 22 | 19.5 | 434.0 | 575.3 | Sahagún | El Burgo Ranero |
| Thu | 27-Sep | 23 | 38.0 | 396.0 | 613.3 | El Burgo Ranero | León |
| Fri | 28-Sep | Leon | |||||
| Sat | 29-Sep | 24 | 24.0 | 372.0 | 637.3 | León | Villadangos del Páramo |
| Sun | 30-Sep | 25 | 28.0 | 344.0 | 665.3 | Villadangos del Páramo | Astorga |
| Mon | 1-Oct | 26 | 20.0 | 324.0 | 685.3 | Astorga | Rabanal del Camino |
| Tue | 2-Oct | 27 | 32.5 | 291.5 | 717.8 | Rabanal del Camino | Ponferrada |
| Wed | 3-Oct | 28 | 23.0 | 268.5 | 740.8 | Ponferrada | Villafranca del Bierzo |
| Thu | 4-Oct | 29 | 30.0 | 238.5 | 770.8 | Villafranca del Bierzo | O Cebreiro |
| Fri | 5-Oct | 30 | 36.5 | 202.0 | 807.3 | O Cebreiro | Sarria |
| Sat | 6-Oct | 31 | 21.0 | 181.0 | 828.3 | Sarria | Portomarín |
| Sun | 7-Oct | 32 | 24.5 | 156.5 | 852.8 | Portomarín | Palas de Rei |
| Mon | 8-Oct | 33 | 25.5 | 131.0 | 878.3 | Palas de Rei | Arzúa |
| Tue | 9-Oct | 34 | 36.5 | 94.5 | 914.8 | Arzúa | Santiago de Compostela |
| Wed | 10-Oct | 35 | 23.5 | 71.0 | 938.3 | Santiago de Compostela | Negreira |
| Thu | 11-Oct | 36 | 24.0 | 47.0 | 962.3 | Negreira | Maronas |
| Fri | 12-Oct | 37 | 31.0 | 16.0 | 993.3 | Maronas | Cee |
| Sat | 13-Oct | 38 | 16.0 | 0.0 | 1009.3 | Cee | Cap de Finisterre |
| Sun | 14-Oct | Cap de Finisterre | Santiago de Compostela, by bus | ||||
| Mon | 15-Oct | Santiago de Compostela | Milano, Italy by Ryan Air |
I walk, therefore I am.... 