When I began, at Tours, the nun serving on the bookstall at the shrine of St Martin, asked if I was on pilgrimage, so there must still be plenty of pilgrims travelling through France. At Lourdes, the town was packed with people from all over the world who had come for no other reason than to worship there. In Conques there were numerous people who were obviously there as pilgrims rather than just tourists, and I was surprised by the numbers setting off to cross the Pyranees from St Jean Pied de Port. All along the Camino de Santiago, people were walking whatever the weather, and Santiago de Compostela was as packed with pilgrims as it must have been in medieval times.
No-one makes the effort that many of these people were making for something that has no meaning. God is meeting people on the highways and by-ways of Europe, and no doubt in many other places too - we met an American couple in the hotel in Santiago who told us about a place in New Mexico where vast numbers go on pilgrimage.
I came on this trip to explore various meanings of pilgrimage, and to reflect on the journey of life itself. Everything I have seen so far has confirmed my belief that God accompanies us on the journey if we allow Him to, and that our lives are far richer when we do.
