The French Way is by far the most traveled. Believe it or not, it does not come from France.
(Editor's Note: That's simply #FakeNews. Of course it starts in France, hence the name.)
(Blogger: Well, that seems kind of a dull, obvious name then. I was trying to keep my readers interested.)
(Editor's Note: SMDH.)
When we picked it up less than 60 KM from the end, it was much busier by far than the other two routes we had hiked. It also was not anywhere near as pretty or interesting. Having more people to walk with made it a bit of a celebration atmosphere, but in Galicia the trail winds its way up and down gently rolling hills featuring modestly interesting views. There is not the visual stimulation of the rocky coasts and seaside villages of the North Route, nor the mountain and valley views of the Primitivo.
This made me doubly glad we did the REI way. . .if the rest of the French Way is like what we traveled, it would have been little more than a walk.
We saw the Galician horrios, which were different than the earlier ones we had seen. They are longer, higher, and narrower.
A couple fine examples of Galician horrios.
We passed a man with donkey stamps for the Compostela passports, seeking donations for using his stamps (more on that in a moment). We crossed a stone bridge over a creek, where some tired pilgrims were soaking their feet. Most, however, we wound up and down small hills, past farms, fields, and small houses.
I assume the people who live along the camino accept it. Some profit off of it, renting rooms or selling fruit, drinks, beer, etc. If you live along the camino and do not like, it has to be a miserable existence, because people walking the trail are non-stop from spring through fall.
On the stamped passports, Carol and I made a mistake. We decided not to get them, figuring if we were not doing the whole 100 kilometers to get the Compostela, we did not want to get the partial. A number in the REI group did get the passports, and now they will have those to bring back memories in the future. It's not a huge regret ("regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention"), but it would have been more fun to do even if it doesn't mean anything.
We passed an orchard with large quince, pear, and apple trees.
We ended up staying in an amazing manor house again, the Pazo Eidian, in the tiny town of Eidian. The house was old, with an impressive gate to let us into the inner courtyard. The gate stone was worn in two ruts from wagon wheels going in and out after it was built in the 16th century. There was a huge grape vine just below our second story window, so I could reach down from the window (or up from the courtyard) to pick and eat the grapes. There were two big fig trees (I stopped after five fresh figs!), an amazing horrio, and sprawling public spaces, including a fireplace I could walk into (I'm 6'1").
Dinner was a fabulous paella, and the group seemed to all enjoy not just the food, but the stories we all told.
Even paradise has a downside though. . .our room faced the setting sun and was quite hot. In trying to cool off the room once the sun went down, opening our windows encouraged mosquitoes to buzz us -- Carol was bitten three or four times. The buzzing did not make for a good night's sleep. The place is beautiful, but the mosquitoes were probably the most annoying part of the trip (which tells you how good the trip was).
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