La Voie de Vezelay Stage One: A Pilgrimage Walk from Sermizelles to La Souterraine via Nevers One

La Voie de Vezelay or Le Chemin du Vezelay is the first part of a very long pilgrimage route starting at Vezelay in France and finishing at Santiago in North West Spain. Pilgrims have walked this route for many years to the place where they believed St James was buried. Lucy and Martyn walked the first 351 kilometres (218 miles) of this camino route from Sermizelles to La Souterraine via Nevers in Spring 2018. Lucy provides some practical information about what to pack for this type of long distance walk. She writes about walking La Voie de Vezelay both in general terms and in more detail on a day to day basis. She describes the places they stayed in and the type of arrangements that existed for making or obtaining meals. She talks particularly about vegetarian food. Some comparisons are drawn between La Voie de Vezelay, Le Chemin du Puy (another camino route through France) and the Camino Frances in Spain. They had walked on these camino routes previously in 2015 and 2016. The early part of this route was not heavily populated with other pilgrims (unlike the Camino Frances in Spain). There was nothing to think about except where to stay, what to eat, keeping their clothes and themselves clean and finding the way each day. Reducing life's requirements to this more minimalist level and having very few possessions was all part of the camino experience. Lucy and Martyn enjoyed this relaxed and relatively simple lifestyle for a few weeks. Then they had to come home and resume their normal life.
Lucy has written several books about long distance walks on Pilgrimage trails including The Couple who Held Hands on the Camino, Le Chemin du Puy, The Camino Finisterre and the Camino Muxia and The North Wales Pilgrims Way. This book is about the first part of the Camino Vezelay.