On Friday morning I decided to forgo my walking boots and wear my trainers in order to give my achilles tendon a rest; I’m glad I had the option! My walking boots were great but probably overkill for most of the journey. I can only imagine what it must have been like for medieval pilgrims, without the benefits of high tech walking gear and probably with much less well-marked and surfaced paths, but I think I’d rather be walking in the 21st Century!

I spent most of the morning chatting with Roger, the fellow Brit we’d met the day before. We had a lot of similar points of reference – people and places and also ideas and theologies – which makes sustained conversation easy. However, it was also good to see the familiar faces of many other fellow pilgrims, those we’d talked with and mere nodding acquaintances. It reminded me of what it’s like after your first few days of working in a new place, when you recognise a person and have at least a slender thread of relationship before you open your mouth to say “hello” (or, en espa