Grampies go on their knees?

The idea of this trip and blog is to follow pilgrimage routes in France and Spain until we reach Santiago de Compostella, and hopefully to return. So "on their knees" does refer to pilgrimage. On the other hand it's also a pun, because Dodie's knees have been getting worse and worse, and one of the real challenges is to see if they will be up to the journey.

Although there are many major kick off points for pilgrimage in France, no doubt the central one is in Paris, specifically at Notre Dame de Paris, Paris' major cathedral. One of the pilgrimage traditions is that the pilgrim carries a passport, or "credentiale", usually issued by a church and introducing the pilgrim to those who might help along the way. Sites in the pilgrimage network have stamps that are put in the credentiale. At Santiago, presentation of the credentiale entitles the bearer to a certificate of achievement, or Compostelle.

Anyway, in 2015 we obtained our credentiale at Notre Dame, and we stood at "ground zero", the starting point - they seem to claim - of the routes of France. At that time we determined that we would be back to follow those routes. So that's what we are doing.

At Ground Zero, Notre Dame de Paris in 2015, but no time to go for it. Soon we will be back, and we'll be ready.

Our Creanciale from Notre Dame. It is signed inside by the pilgrimage department and requests that the bearer be received with charity and assistance.

Once the trip gets rolling, we will break it into sections, each one being a known pilgrim route and (preferably for us) a known cycling route. We'll start each section with an oveview map and a paragraph or two covering what we know about the route and why it is special. That way you and we will begin on an equal footing.

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