title: Paris to the Pyrenees: A Skeptic Pilgrim Walks the Way of Saint James
author:  David Downie 
description: An eclectic author of cookbooks, novels, and tourist guides, Downie embarks here on the genre of travel writing. His journey, which he completed on foot between the titular locations, in general followed the hallowed Christian pilgrimage route to Spain, le Chemin de Saint Jacques. France being France, history accompanied Downie as much as his walking companion, his wife, Alison. Their conversations were sparked by route-side sights, such as a centuries-old chteau that counted as young, and became enmeshed with Downies interior reflections about his reasons for undertaking the journey. Downies initial motivation was to improve his health, but after aches and pains suspended the trip, he was sustained by coming to grips with the spiritual auras of the pilgrimage route. Residing in local memory of druids, and in Christian symbols of crosses, churches, and statues of the Virgin Mary, religiosity became a topical constant in Downies thoughts and discussions, as did Vercingetorix, Julius Caesar, and Franois Mitterand. Astutely ruminative, Downie hovers between past and present in this enjoyably offbeat travelogue. --Gilbert Taylor
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  ![image](../images/MyCoverImage.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  PARIS
  
  
  TO THE
  
  
  PYRENEES
  
  
  A SKEPTIC PILGRIM WALKS THE WAY OF SAINT JAMES
  
  
  DAVID DOWNIE
  
  
  PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALISON HARRIS
  
  
  ![image](../images/fig01.jpg)
  
  
  PEGASUS CRIME
  
  
  NEW YORK LONDON
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _For Alison:_
  
  
  _Another one from the heart._
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  SAINTS ALIVE
  
  
  The storied medieval pilgrimage site of Vézelay stretched lengthwise across a
  hogback Burgundian ridge like a patient on a psychiatrist’s couch. At the head
  of the hill was the Romanesque repository of Mary Magdalene’s relics. Our
  hotel stood near the former fairgrounds at the saint’s feet. The simile seemed
  imperfect. I had heard much about the site’s purported psycho-therapeutic
  powers, though no psychiatrist’s couch I’ve seen is ringed by tall, crumbling
  walls, studded with belfries and surrounded by Pinot Noir vineyards and cow-
  flecked pastures.
  
  
  As a seriously overweight freethinker with wrecked knees, a crazed individual
  proposing to walk 750 miles on pilgr