Walking Through Sunflowers: Through Deepest France On the Road to Compostela
Through Deepest France On the Road to Compostela
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Inspired by walking the famous Camino de Santiago, teacher and travel writer Denise Fainberg and companion Patrick Roberts undertook to walk one of the ancient pilgrimage routes running across France toward the same shrine of St. James in northwestern Spain. Walking through Sunflowers: across Deepest France on the Road to Compostela is the account of their journey. Their path leads from the mountainous Auvergne to the high limestone plateaus and fertile river valleys of Quercy; to jewels of Romanesque architecture at the many traditional shrines along the way; through the vineyards and rich farmland of Aquitaine; and over the Pyrenees to Spain. The motley parade of modern pilgrims, the thousand-year history of the path and its artistic and spiritual heritage combine with the seductive environment of southern France to leave an indelible impression on body and soul.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dehydration, sunburn, exhaustion, and monster blisters populate Fainberg's emotionless account of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage through France and Spain. After Fainberg and her husband, Patrick, spent over a month walking 300 miles of the Camino de Santiago pilgrim route across Spain to the shrine of St. James the Apostle in 2002, they returned in 2003 to walk 500 miles of the French Le Puy branch from Haute-Loire to the Spanish border, a two-month journey. Fainberg dryly recounts their journey, for which they are ill-prepared, lacking proper footwear and food for their vegetarian diet. Fainberg and Patrick walk at different paces, which sparks a debate: is the pilgrimage the walk itself, carried out in quiet prayer, or is it visiting all the holy sites along the way? A surprising dearth of emotional insight leaves only a straightforward diary account of sites seen and people met, with little spiritual contemplation. Fainberg, who frequently takes short cuts on the journey that cut out certain shrines, only briefly explains at the end that "the act of walking, though, itself becomes a form of devotion. Not because it's painful... but just because." Fainberg's enjoyable research into the heritage of the region is the sole saving grace of this poorly organized book. (BookLife)
