Another The Way Filming Location Query

[rappahannock_rev]

On other threads I've very much enjoyed Forum regulars trying to pin down The Way filming locations.... Here's another one that I'm curious about. So!

At 21:27 minutes in, we see Tom ascending the Route de Napoleon, reaching a picturesque rocky outcrop, and seeing a rustic wooden cross wrapped with rosary beads. He interprets the cross as the the place where his son Daniel's body was found. He spontaneously sprinkles a bit of Daniel's ashes.... and sits prayerfully till after sunset. Touching scene!

Where was that? It's clearly depicted as being in France. A nearby sign reads "Roncevaux," not Roncesvalles. It's a French policeman who notifies Tom, not the Guardia Civil. It's depicted as being somewhere after the Virgin de Biakorri and before a sign reading "Espana." No paved road is visible.

Anyone found it? Photographed it?

 

[TSchulen]

Could it have been a movie prop? One of the things that struck me when I re-watched the movie post Camino - They made it seem like the trail was not well marked. Having him walk across open fields and asking for directions, etc. The route seems a lot easier to follow than the movie showed. Follow the road up until it goes down, then go down.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

The video below is the John Sikora and Dave Bugg one. I've checked the path from Orisson to the border. I see a possible spot for filming at 49:00 plus (on the left). But check out 53:00 to 56:00 also.

I think the sign in the movie may be real because of the bicycle symbol but it could have been borrowed and moved. The sign doesn't look planted well.

 

[Kathor1]

It's depicted as being somewhere after the Virgin de Biakorri and before a sign reading "Espana." No paved road is visible.

But no doubt near a rocky outcrop close to a paved road as the crew vans need to park somewhere close ... Isn't it a bit to the left of the road when you look back towards SJPP? I thought we had identified this location already. I know that I had looked at this view and had identified the houses/buildings on the left half way up the mountain.

 

[Kathor1]

I am reasonably certain that the scene was filmed at this rocky outcrop. You may find better and more convincing views on videos or photos taken by pilgrims. It's on your right after you have left the tarmac road for good. The signpost may or may not be a prop or it may or may not have been temporarily moved a bit.

As already mentioned by @Rick of Rick and Peg, the sign (two circles and one triangle) marks a mountain bike trail of which there are many in the area.

The "Roncevaux" sign screams "movie" at me, actually. It looks like a signpost from the Wild West to me. ☺

 

[rappahannock_rev]

I am reasonably certain that the scene was filmed at this rocky outcrop. You may find better and more convincing views on videos or photos taken by pilgrims. It's on your right after you have left the tarmac road for good.

Just past the Croix Thibaud?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Just past the Croix Thibaud?

Yes. I translated the coordinates on the Google photo to another format (43.057517,-1.267617) so we can get pictures taken nearby. Checkout https://www.flickr.com/nearby/43.05...ltime&sort=interestingness&page=1&show=detail

 

[Kathor1]

Yes. I translated the coordinates on the Google photo to another format (43.057517,-1.267617) so we can get pictures taken nearby. Checkout https://www.flickr.com/nearby/43.05...ltime&sort=interestingness&page=1&show=detail

Wow, I didn't know that you can do this. Lot's of photos there. And look what I found:

https://flic.kr/p/furSYs

 

[Kathor1]

And look what I found:

https://flic.kr/p/furSYs

The information on Flickr says: Taken on August 9, 2010. However, the title of the photo series is Camino 2009.

I hereby take back what I said about the Wild West. .

The photographer was on a pilgrim journey from Le Puy-en-Velay to Roncevalles.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Tomorrow morning I'll try working with some maps. My laptop screen is broken so I need to use the TV as a monitor but the TV has its original use scheduled for tonight.

PS. I PMed Bert to make sure he sees this thread.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

One of the things that struck me when I re-watched the movie post Camino - They made it seem like the trail was not well marked. Having him walk across open fields and asking for directions, etc. The route seems a lot easier to follow than the movie showed. .

Agreed!

 

[Bert45]

Wow, I didn't know that you can do this. Lots of photos there. And look what I found:

https://flic.kr/p/furSYs

Wow! You looked through over 200 photos before you found that one. That's perseverance! How did you get your photo in Google Earth? When I go to ground level in GE the scenery just goes flat. and how come the elevation is 15m (eye alt 3m)? When I went there in GE it said the elevation was 1238m.

 

[Kathor1]

Wow! You looked through over 200 photos before you found that one. That's perseverance!

No, that would be so tedious . Whether it’s a church, a shelter or a signpost, you just look for patterns ....

The screenshot was taken in Google Earth Streetview so you need to position the small figure on the appropriate blue line ... .

 

[Bert45]

Is Google Earth Street View the same as Google Maps Street View? How did you find the photo without looking through 200 images?

 

[Kathor1]

I clicked on thumbnails and noticed it.

 

[Bert45]

I just did that. Instead of 9 images on my screen I had 48 images. That makes it harder in a way, as the images are so small it would be easy to miss what you're looking for. That photo was the fourth on the fourth page in thumbnails, that's the 196th photo, and it's the same in 'Details'. I still say that's perseverance above and beyond the call of duty!

 

[Kathor1]

I would venture a guess that Google Earth Street View and Google Maps Street View are two different apps with slightly different options and that the images of the environment that are displayed are identical in both apps. I would further venture a guess that the elevation number that is shown in one of the screenshots above (15 m) is a number that GESW generates in connection with their Elevation Profile option. I ignore it.

 

[Kathor1]

I just did that. Instead of 9 images on my screen I had 48 images. That makes it harder in a way, as the images are so small it would be easy to miss what you're looking for. That photo was the fourth on the fourth page in thumbnails, that's the 196th photo, and it's the same in 'Details'. I still say that's perseverance above and beyond the call of duty!

I tried to explain about efficiency and about looking for patterns but I guess I will have to accept that I am just a diligent girl and not a smart girl.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

You used to be able to call up Google Streetview with a URL that incorporated the coordinates of a place, an angle of view (e.g., 90 = east), an angle width that would get wide angle to zoom views, angle of camera in the vertical plane and maybe some other things like time. I think they still have this feature but you also now have to supply a licence number so they can charge you per view.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I've used gpsvisualizer.com to try to get a more accurate location based on @Kathar1na's Google Earth view. I think the position of the Roncevaux sign is close to 43.056471,-1.268073 or 222 meters southwest of the Croix Thibaud. From the cross the camino proceeds southeast to Roncevalles. The rocky ridge is between the open area of the camino in the Croix Thibaud area and the wooded area to the west and it is much closer to the wooded area.

For those using smartphones the URLs may not work so well so here is a screenshot I took.



Here are two links to views of the area. You can use gpsvisualizer to zoom in and out, change the background maps, and recenter the map.

GPS Visualizer: Freehand Drawing Utility: Draw on a map and save GPX data

www.gpsvisualizer.com

GPS Visualizer: Freehand Drawing Utility: Draw on a map and save GPX data

www.gpsvisualizer.com

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Wow, I didn't know that you can do this. Lot's of photos there. And look what I found:

https://flic.kr/p/furSYs

Tat looks like te sign tey used

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Wow, I didn't know that you can do this. Lot's of photos there. And look what I found:

https://flic.kr/p/furSYs

Guess what emphasizer I use when I say "I _______ hate Microsoft!". I'm on Android now.

That looks like the very sign from the picture. It has the notch in it and the bike symbol. The text for the photo indicates that was for a 2009 camino so the 2010 date may be for when it was uploaded.

 

[Kathor1]

Here are a few photos from the day they filmed the scenes near the Croix Thibaud. These photos are not taken from the movie. And no, I a not going to say any longer how I found them or how quickly I found them.

Click to enlarge:

 

[Kathor1]

And this is what it really looks like when they are walking The Way.

This movie will never be the same for me.

Click to enlarge:

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

And no, I a not going to say any longer how I found them or how quickly I found them.

This works well in Google images:
stills from filming "the way" sheen

I haven't yet seen one yet with coordinates in the exif info of the jpeg.

 

[Kathor1]

That looks like the very sign from the picture. It has the notch in it and the bike symbol. The text for the photo indicates that was for a 2009 camino so the 2010 date may be for when it was uploaded.

I wondered about this. However, the person who took this and other images, the name is Stefan Vossemer, is apparently a professional photographer from Hamburg. I downloaded a few images from Flickr and looked at date and hour in the EXIF data, see below as an example, and also at the dates displayed for the sequence of photos in the album in question, and I do think the photos were taken in the summer of 2010.

https:// www.flickr.com/photos/vossemer/9510908750/in/album-72157635065338371/

 

[Stivandrer]

And this is what it really looks like when they are walking The Way.

This movie will never be the same for me.

Click to enlarge:

View attachment 74284

I so not hope it is a portable green screen behind them !!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I do think the photos were taken in the summer of 2010.

I'm going crazy trying to do things on my smartphone so I'm not seeing exif data. But if I click on the SJPDP pic you posted Flickr says it was a 2009 camino and then when you return to the forum the picture you posted has 2009 superimposed on it. The photographer may be as confused as I am.

 

[Kathor1]

I'm going crazy trying to do things on my smartphone so I'm not seeing exif data.

I sympathise. I'm on an iMac with a modest 21.5-inch Retina 4K screen. ☺

Below is is what I get when I click on "Map" in the appropriate data window of the original photo after having downloaded it from Flickr. I can still enlarge the map further, of course. I use an app called GraphicConverter.

 

[Kathor1]

Here are the data that I extracted from the photo of the Roncesvalles/MTB trail sign on Flickr:

​

GPS Latitude: 43 deg 3' 31.73" N [??? N 43º 3.5289' 0"?]​

GPS Longitude: 1 deg 16' 2.90" W [??? W 1º 16.0483' 0"?]​

Date/Time Created: 2010:08:09 12:29:12+02:00​

And:

Image Description: Bilddokumentation der Pilgerreise von Le Puy-en-Velay nach Roncevalles​

Artist: Stefan Vossemer​

Date/Time Original: 2010:08:09 12:29:12​

Create Date: 2010:08:09 12:29:12​

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Here are the data that I extracted from the photo of the Roncesvalles/MTB trail sign on Flickr:

GPS Altitude:​

0 m Above Sea Level​

GPS Latitude:​

43 deg 3' 31.73" N​

GPS Longitude:​

1 deg 16' 2.90" W​

Date/Time Created:​

2010:08:09 12:29:12+02:00​

And:

Image Description: Bilddokumentation der Pilgerreise von Le Puy-en-Velay nach Roncevalles​

Make: Canon​

Camera Model Name: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS​

Modify Date: 2010:08:15 16:09:18​

Artist: Stefan Vossemer​

Date/Time Original: 2010:08:09 12:29:12​

Create Date: 2010:08:09 12:29:12​

Thank you. I use https://www.verexif.com to view exif data so I can get lat/long coordinates. It is a Spanish site (ver exif) but you can choose English and French if you wish.

I see that the sign was right at the point where the camino left the road.

 

[Kathor1]

I see that the sign was right at the point where the camino left the road.

Indeed. It's been in plain view in GE Street View (dated 9/2008) all the time. We just didn't look carefully enough.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Indeed. It's been in plain view in GE Street View (dated 9/2008) all the time. We just didn't look carefully enough.

I haven't been up there. What is the purpose of that small fenced area near the sign?

 

[rappahannock_rev]

I take my hat off to you folks. I am genuinely impressed.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

An edited/cropped snap from my 2017 walk. That stubby little thing at 4 o'clock from photo center must have been the sign in question. Never noticed it.

 

[David with new Kit!]

What attention to detail you all have i recognise that view, I walked past the little sign last September and didn’t notice it

 

[Bert45]

Tat looks like te sign tey used

Wic key doesn't work, Rick?

 

[Bert45]

Guess what emphasizer I use when I say "I _______ hate Microsoft!". I'm on Android now.

That looks like the very sign from the picture. It has the notch in it and the bike symbol. The text for the photo indicates that was for a 2009 camino so the 2010 date may be for when it was uploaded.

Would I be right in guessing 'really'?
This has all gotten above my pay grade. Android? GPSVisualizer? exif data? The height above sea level that Kathar1na extracted from Flickr seems a bit at odds with reality. The sign in the film was held between a couple of rocks, and the view behind it was the rocky outcrop. I guess they must have moved it for the scene, then put it back. I'm still asking why Daniel went in the wrong direction when he was standing next to a sign pointing in the right direction. Obviously, if he'd gone in the right direction he probably wouldn't have died, and there would be no story to film, but there should be a better reason.

 

[Bert45]

I haven't been up there. What is the purpose of that small fenced area near the sign?

Do you mean the fence round the Cross of Thibaud or the fence in the foreground?

 

[dailycamino]

Would I be right in guessing 'really'?
This has all gotten above my pay grade. Android? GPSVisualizer? exif data? The height above sea level that Kathar1na extracted from Flickr seems a bit at odds with reality. The sign in the film was held between a couple of rocks, and the view behind it was the rocky outcrop. I guess they must have moved it for the scene, then put it back. I'm still asking why Daniel went in the wrong direction when he was standing next to a sign pointing in the right direction. Obviously, if he'd gone in the right direction he probably wouldn't have died, and there would be no story to film, but there should be a better reason.

Rick,
As the police captain tells Tom, there was heavy fog in the area and the weather is famous for being unpredictable. There actually was a young man who died in that area on his first day out. I believe it was over ten years ago. I myself have gotten lost on many a “well-marked” trail

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Rick,
As the police captain tells Tom, there was heavy fog in the area and the weather is famous for being unpredictable. There actually was a young man who died in that area on his first day out. I believe it was over ten years ago. I myself have gotten lost on many a “well-marked” trail

It wasn't me who wondered about his death. I made up the story for myself that it was lightning. Peg and I walked the Valcarlos route because there was a chance of lightning.

 

[Bert45]

Rick,
As the police captain tells Tom, there was heavy fog in the area and the weather is famous for being unpredictable. There actually was a young man who died in that area on his first day out. I believe it was over ten years ago. I myself have gotten lost on many a “well-marked” trail

There was no mention of fog. In the telephone conversation at the golf course, Capt Henri says, "He was caught in a storm on the Camino de Santiago." Later, in Capt Henri's office, Tom asks, "What happened?" Capt Henri replies, "(It) was an accident. The weather in the Pyrenees is famous for being unpredictable." It was a bit misty, but Daniel was standing right next to the sign, and we could read it from about 10 feet away. He checks his guide book and walks off, completely ignoring the sign. I accept that it's a movie, not a documentary, but if they had just shown him lost and wandering and looking puzzled/worried I would have accepted that he had an accident. To show him RIGHT NEXT TO the sign for Roncevaux was a mistake imo. I know that people have died on the Camino in the Pyrenees, people who were probably on the right path, but got caught in severe bad weather, or who stumbled an fell into a gully where they were not seen by other walkers till it was too late.

 

[Kathor1]

The height above sea level that Kathar1na extracted from Flickr seems a bit at odds with reality.

I removed "GPS altitude 0 m sea level" from the quote. The camera may not have recorded the altitude. The app I use may not have extracted the altitude data correctly. What does it matter. It's chaff not wheat. We know where the photo was taken.

 

[Kathor1]

I haven't been up there. What is the purpose of that small fenced area near the sign?

As to the rectangular fenced area between the road and the camino trail, my guesses would be that it has to do with sheep farming or multi-annual archaeological digging.

Likelihood: 70% for sheep farming (counting them? shearing them?) and 30% for archaeological digging although there are plenty of neolithic and Bronze Age sites in this area. Anyone knows for sure?

But there is something else that seems distinctly odd to me. See next post.

 

[Kathor1]

Can you spot the difference between @rappahannock_rev's photo from 2017 and an older photo from previous years? I mean: major difference? I have looked at a few other similar photos. I've been rubbing my eyes. Do I see this correctly or are seven weeks and three days of lockdown getting to me?

 

[Bert45]

I removed "GPS altitude 0 m sea level" from the quote. The camera may not have recorded the altitude. The app I use may not have extracted the altitude data correctly. What does it matter. It's chaff not wheat. We know where the photo was taken.

No criticism of your extraction skills intended, Kathar1na. Just showing my bafflement at the technology.

 

[Bert45]

It was a bit misty, but Daniel was standing right next to the sign, and we could read it from about 10 feet away. He checks his guide book and walks off, completely ignoring the sign. I accept that it's a movie, not a documentary, but if they had just shown him lost and wandering and looking puzzled/worried I would have accepted that he had an accident. To show him RIGHT NEXT TO the sign for Roncevaux was a mistake imo. I know that people have died on the Camino in the Pyrenees, people who were probably on the right path, but got caught in severe bad weather, or who stumbled an fell into a gully where they were not seen by other walkers till it was too late.

To answer my own misgivings, here's what it says in the script – which was in draft form, but the film closely follows it at this point:
Daniel moves along the well beaten path of The Camino. It’s late in the day. Up ahead, he sees a fork in the road, one path, clearly marked, yellow arrows point the direction. The other, less so, looks like it might have been a logging road many years ago, truly “The Road Less Traveled.” Daniel stops and weighs his options, looks at the clearly marked trail, then once again at the other - which call out to him like some mythical Siren. He pulls out his guidebook and traces the route, then makes the choice that will ultimately be his undoing - he takes the unmarked trail with his trademark of equal parts confidence and stubbornness and off he goes.
WE HOLD ON THIS IMAGE as he walks away from US, getting smaller in the distance now. The trees, the rocks, the Pyrenees themselves seem to swallow him whole.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Can you spot the difference between @rappahannock_rev's photo from 2017 and an older photo from previous years?

You mean the car parked behind that sign?

 

[Bert45]

Can you spot the difference between @rappahannock_rev's photo from 2017 and an older photo from previous years? I mean: major difference? I have looked at a few other similar photos. I've been rubbing my eyes. Do I see this correctly or are seven weeks and three days of lockdown getting to me?

View attachment 74333

No, I can't spot a major difference. Obviously there is the new sign on the left, but you don't mean that. The path is more worn in the recent photo, but that's no surprise.

 

[Bert45]

Can you spot the difference between @rappahannock_rev's photo from 2017 and an older photo from previous years? I mean: major difference? I have looked at a few other similar photos. I've been rubbing my eyes. Do I see this correctly or are seven weeks and three days of lockdown getting to me?

View attachment 74333

The cross seems a bit less cross-like in the more recent photo?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Can you spot the difference

Reminds me, somewhere along the way I noticed that the Roncevaux sign got replaced with a new one without the notch in the top.

 

[Kathor1]

The cross seems a bit less cross-like in the more recent photo?

Getting warmer ...

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Do you mean that the cross is fenced or barricaded now? On the whole I didn't notice any differences that would be surprising.

 

[Kathor1]

Do you mean that the cross is fenced or barricaded now? On the whole I didn't notice any differences that would be surprising.

Please tell me that I am wrong because it looks to me that they added a monument - a kind of rough stone, like a mini menhir - and even moved the Croix Thibaut to a place a bit closer to SJPP. I got this impression when I looked at various photos on Flickr. Although surely this must be an optical illusion?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I'm seeing a monument to Nazi torture victims on Wikiloc but I can't see anything in your pictures.

Look at the wikiloc pictures here https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/donibane-garazi-orreaga-18-10-12-29535440/photo-18868300

Does this show up on Flickr?

 

[Bert45]

Please tell me that I am wrong because it looks to me that they added a monument - a kind of rough stone, like a mini menhir - and even moved the Croix Thibaut to a place a bit closer to SJPP. I got this impression when I looked at various photos on Flickr. Although surely this must be an optical illusion?

The cross (if it is still a cross) is no longer protected by a fence, but it was still there in 2015. There are (at least) a couple of spellings of the name Thibault/Thibaud. I was amazed and delighted to find that I have a photo taken from almost the same spot as the other two. Mine was taken in September 2014. Also two of the inscriptions.
The cross has been moved. Who would do that and why? Not an optical illusion, Kathar1na.
Can anybody (and I probably mean Kathar1na) tell me who was Thibaud? And why is his cross here? All I get from Google is pictures of the cross and descriptions of the camino between SJPdP and Roncesvalles.

Can you show us (me) what you mean by the menhir? Can you put a ring on it? (Beyoncé reference)
Is it the memorial that Rick found? When was the older photo taken in your spot the difference comparison?

 

[Kathor1]

I'm seeing a monument to Nazi torture victims on Wikiloc but I can't see anything in your pictures. Look at the wikiloc pictures here https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/donibane-garazi-orreaga-18-10-12-29535440/photo-18868300

Thanks, that’s the first close-up I see. This must be a very recent addition to the Route Napoleon. That‘s what you see in @rappahannock_rev’s photo. But did they move the Croix Thibaut in connection with this? What happened to the iron railing? Now you see it, now you dont‘t. I find this ... odd.

Obviously, whoever owns this plot of land can arrange things there the way they like. And I always forget what the purpose of the Croix Thibaut is. It is also a very recent addition to the landscape.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Can anybody (and I probably mean Kathar1na) tell me who was Thibaud?

Probably Theobald I of Navarre or his son Theobald II.

 

[Kathor1]

Probably Theobald I of Navarre or his son Theobald II.

I most definitely do not think so ...

 

[Bert45]

Here are a few photos from the day they filmed the scenes near the Croix Thibaud. These photos are not taken from the movie. And no, I a not going to say any longer how I found them or how quickly I found them.

Click to enlarge:

View attachment 74281
View attachment 74282
View attachment 74283

The first two are on the IMDb website. Where's the third?

 

[Kathor1]

The proper name of the older of the two monuments is croix d'Urdanarre - cross of Urdanarre. Urdanarre is the geographical name of this area. Then somehow it acquired also the name croix Thibault or similar spelling. This may be a family name.

The Croix Thibault was apparently put in place in 1993 at the occasion of the Santiago Holy Year 1993 that fuelled the contemporary Camino revival.

 

[Kathor1]

This is a photo taken in the spring of 2018. The text (in Portuguese) mentions the three names that are inscripted at the base of the small monument: A small monument in honour of three French heroes of the Resistance against the Nazis in World War II. Jean Baptiste Arretche, Jean Pierre Arretche and Jean Baptiste Cristeix. This monument was probably erected by family members. The name of the two Resistance networks concerned are also mentioned at the base: Orion and Brett-Morton.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

The cross has been moved. Who would do that and why?

I think you're on to something here!

This is better than any television mystery!

 

[Bert45]

The inscription on one side is: Makila eta Gogoa, which Google Translate says means Stick and Mind. On the other side some starting points are inscribed: Paris, Le Puy, Arnegi, Donibane, and Santiago, and Ni Naiz bidea [I am the Way] ... Je suis le chemin ... . At the bottom right there is what looks like a year, but it is not clear. It could be 1990, or almost anything else. Any idea what 'Stick and Mind' means? Another thing is that the 'stick' sticking out of the ground, just a bit left of centre and a bit higher than centre in my first photo ('That stubby little thing at 4 o'clock' in rappahannock's photo) is not the marker that appears in the film. There is nothing attached to it. I bet somebody nicked the sign as a souvenir of the film.

 

[Kathor1]

This is better than any television mystery!

The internet is full of mysteries. For example, much as I try, I cannot get to the place where the photo below is stored. It obviously existed once on the Alamy website but now it is apparently gone. It is nothing but a chimera in the vastness and timelessness of cyberspace ... the traces of its existence still kept alive by the mighty Search machines but for how long?

Or can someone find it and I will expunge my lyrical outpourings ...

 

[Bert45]

I googled this: "cruz thibault" alamy.es and the first photo was the one you posted. There were a load more related images on the rhs.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Any idea what 'Stick and Mind' means?

This is just a guess but it has the feel of monument in commemoration.

 

[Kathor1]

I googled this: "cruz thibault" alamy.es and the first photo was the one you posted.

Well yes obviously. That's why I included this text in my screenshot. Did you get the image itself on Alamy? I can't get it. That's the whole point of my comment.

 

[Isobeljc]

If this helps, these were taken on the 17th September 2017. Little did I know that day was the start of a whole new outlook on life for me.

 

[Kathor1]

If this helps, these were taken on the 17th September 2017. Little did I know that day was the start of a whole new outlook on life for me.

@Isobeljc, I enjoyed looking at your photos. I was earlier than 2017 when I walked over this pass. I remember the site of the cross where I stopped and had a look at it and wondered about a few things. I knew a lot less about it then than I know now ☺. I don't recall any of the other signs or signposts but one doesn't pay attention to such details - the course of the trail was pretty obvious. I had not yet been made aware of the movie! And I don't recall any cars being parked there - something I noticed on a number of recent photos. I don't have any objections, I just notice the difference. Thanks for sharing!

 

[rappahannock_rev]

And I don't recall any cars being parked there - something I noticed on a number of recent photos.

When I passed that point in Sept 2012 there were not only cars parked there, there was a food truck. And, to be honest, I was glad to see it!

 

[rappahannock_rev]

The inscription on one side is: Makila eta Gogoa, which Google Translate says means Stick and Mind. On the other side some starting points are inscribed: Paris, Le Puy, Arnegi, Donibane, and Santiago, and Ni Naiz bidea [I am the Way] ... Je suis le chemin ... .

Arnegi is the rather forgettable hamlet located where you cross the Franco-Spanish frontier via the Valcarlos route.... Odd that it should be named on a monument way up on the Route de Napoleon!

 

[Bert45]

Well yes obviously. That's why I included this text in my screenshot. Did you get the image itself on Alamy? I can't get it. That's the whole point of my comment.

You know by now that I don't understand all this modern technology, I clicked on the photo (first on the page) then 'copy image' and this is what I have:

What more do you want? The URL is https://c8.alamy.com/compes/e2b35f/...lt-esta-completamente-decorado-por-e2b35f.jpg

 

[rappahannock_rev]

The inscription on one side is: Makila eta Gogoa, which Google Translate says means Stick and Mind. On the other side some starting points are inscribed: Paris, Le Puy, Arnegi, Donibane, and Santiago, and Ni Naiz bidea [I am the Way] ... Je suis le chemin ... .

And Donibane Garazi, it turns out, is a Basque name for St. Jean Pied de Port! ...

 

[Kathor1]

At the bottom right there is what looks like a year, but it is not clear. It could be 1990, or almost anything else.

I posted a quote in an earlier comment that dates the Croix Thibault to 1993 which was a Jacobean Holy Year but the squiggle looks more like a 9 than a 3. Which would also make sense as 1999 was another Jacobean Holy Year. Another French blogger wrote that it was a local company from nearby Ascarat who produced the cross. They are stone masons and the company name is Berho. A number of these bloggers are people who go on local hikes with the cross as their starting point; they are more likely to have local knowledge than camino walkers.

The cross is placed at the point where the Camino trail leaves the road. Whether in 1993 or in 1999, the trail didn’t see the hordes of camino pilgrims that it sees nowadays and the trail wasn’t as well trodden as it is nowadays. The cross had a double function then: a way marker and a memorial of a Holy Year. Now it serves mainly as a photo op and as a recipient for what I call „camino junk“. Luckily, this gets removed regularly.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Arnegi is the rather forgettable hamlet located where you cross the Franco-Spanish frontier via the Valcarlos route.... Odd that it should be named on a monument way up on the Route de Napoleon!

View attachment 74410View attachment 74410View attachment 74410

Hola @Rappa, I would have to differ - I walked the Valcarlos route in May 2107 (I think it was May 1st) but at the border there was a large super market and a bar. I did not need the bar but went into the supermarket to buy my lunch and drink supplies. From memory despite May 1st being a holiday in both Spain and France there were a number of lorries pulled up outside the bar, it was cold and trying to rain so obviously the drivers were inside having a warming brandy!!!

 

[Kathor1]

The inscription on one side is: Makila eta Gogoa, which Google Translate says means Stick and Mind. [...] Any idea what 'Stick and Mind' means?

Without knowing anything about the Basque language and in particular Basque grammar and how verbs and nouns change their form and endings in a given context it's next to impossible to know what it means and the machine translations don't have enough context to make much sense of it. There are Basque online dictionaries which may be more useful.

Interestingly, if makila is a noun in nominative singular form, it denotes a walking stick and in particular a traditional Basque walking stick. Wikipedia has an article in English about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makila

The article says: Outside of Basque Country, the term has come to be associated with the unique walking stick carried by Basques. Well, obviously not for most of us here on the forum. I had been completely unaware of the name and its meaning.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

You are both right Rev and Mike. You enter Spain at the Venta area and then walk to a village of Valcarlos named Pekotxeta.something like Pexota. This and Arneguy are adjoining and nearly indistinguishable. You do some zig-zags a zig to the left and cross a bridge back into France and then a zag to the right. You then remain in France until you cross the river again at that short, really steep climb into Valcarlos.

 

[Kathor1]

Arnegi is the rather forgettable hamlet located where you cross the Franco-Spanish frontier via the Valcarlos route.... Odd that it should be named on a monument way up on the Route de Napoleon!

I deleted my earlier post because I want to replace the visual with a better one that I just made. Yes, I really have nothing better to do .

The cross Thibault IS on the territory of Arneguy. Pilgrims who walk the Route Napoléon walk through the territory of Arneguy because Arneguy, just like other villages, is not only the built-up area but includes also the pastures, fields and forests owned by the village or by individual villagers. The map shows the territory of Arneguy with a green border. The Route Napoleon trail is marked in purple. You see Orisson and earlier Huntto. A red 'x' marks the Croix Thibault.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

You are both right Rev and Mike. You enter Spain at the Venta area and then walk to a village of Valcarlos named Pekotxeta.something like Pexota. This and Arneguy are adjoining and nearly indistinguishable. You do some zig-zags a zig to the left and cross a bridge back into France and then a zag to the right. You then remain in France until you cross the river again at

Here's a map. The camino is the red line.

 

[Kathor1]

There is so much where we walk past without knowing anything about it or even noticing it.

I noticed in the map in post #79 that there is a Forêt d'Orion - the forest of Orion. Orion is a hamlet in the area. And it is the name of one of the networks of the French Resistance during WWII that is honoured by the new memorial on the Route Napoléon; the network took its name from the hamlet, there is an article about this connection in the French Wikipedia.

I also happened to discover why the other network was called Mission Brett-Morton. Albert Brett and Morton were the code names of two members of these clandestine networks. Their real names were Albert Brouard and Roger Mitchell.

This really happened. Unlike the movie.

 

[Stivandrer]

Rick,
As the police captain tells Tom, there was heavy fog in the area and the weather is famous for being unpredictable. There actually was a young man who died in that area on his first day out. I believe it was over ten years ago. I myself have gotten lost on many a “well-marked” trail

By accident it could also be inferred that hypothermia could have set in, especially in heavy rain and wind over a proloned period of time...
I remember from my time in Scotland that weather should be respected at all times.

I especially recall how a youth hostel warden at the foot of Sgurr Alisdair in the Red Cuillins on the Isle of Skye instructed me to write down in his book as to which 2 routes I would take on the way up, and all the altenative ways I would or could take on the way back..
As to my question to this why this was at all nescessary:
he hissed; "Because I am the f****ing mountain rescue team as well, you frigging bampot" , and "you lot never learn.."!!
And sure enough, some time later a couple was later found barely alive, losing themselves in the fog, the mist and the dark up upon the skree of Sgurr Alisdar, not knowing where they were and without a whistle or a torch !!!
I have never traveled without both...
I was to cross over at late April in ´17, the day before , the Napoleon route has been closed, the Friday was looking fine, but I took the Valcarlos, I was having none of that...Just as I arrived in Roncevalles, it started to snow again... smallish, but anything can happen when the tap is dripping....

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Going back to the original post: where did Tom find Daniel's rustic cross? The cross itself was surely manufactured for the film.... And I'm confident that the spot where Tom found it was selected by the filmmakers not for its Camino "authenticity" so much as for it's dramatic location below a great picturesque rocky crag.... We're talking Hollywood, OK?

Neither of the two monuments under discussion ever appears in the film. And I just don't see a compelling connection yet made between those monuments and the great rocky crag!

But, to keep the game alive: If you were to walk beyond the monuments, up the slope and thru the gap in the ridge -- I recall seeing a rundown stone shepherd's hut off to the right of the path? -- you'd pass through a whole great big world of rocks. I'm not as good as some of you when it comes to maps and photos.... But if I were, I might try looking for that great rocky crag up there!

 

[Kathor1]

Neither of the two monuments under discussion ever appears in the film. And I just don't see a compelling connection yet made between those monuments and the great rocky crag!

I think if you look at enough photos of the vicinity of the two monuments, at views of Google Earth both from satellite and from the road and at all the relevant scenes in the movie and the still photos of them shooting the movie, there can be no doubt left that the rocky outcrop is the one identified in post #5 and #4, i.e. within sight of the two monuments.

Every angle of the horizon, the silhouettes of the surrounding mountains, the vegetation patterns i.e. shape, directions, dimensions of forest, rocks, grassy areas, everything fits. The compelling evidence is not just the few screenshots in this thread; there's a lot more but there's not much point in cramming it all into this thread. What's in the thread pinpoints the spot. And that's more than enough.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Going back to the original post: where did Tom find Daniel's rustic cross

My post #20 pinpoints an area 200 meters from the Cross Thibault that looks like the film location. It is also about 200 meters from a hut that I think is the one you mentioned. You have to expand the thumbnail map I included.

 

[Kathor1]

I would think that the photo in #23 is pretty compelling ...

 

[Kathor1]

More variations on the same theme ... :

(Click to enlarge)

 

[Bert45]

We're talking Hollywood, OK?
Not strictly Hollywood. I don't know the ins and outs of it but it was not a Hollywood big studio production. Privately financed -- I heard (on this forum) that Charlie Sheen put up some of the money. OK, Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez are Hollywood people. But, in the sense that 'Hollywood' means a film made to tell a good story, whether "based on a true story" or fiction, and to make a profit, I guess you could call it 'hollywood' (small 'h'). The film is fiction and they had to tell a story and get some good scenery in the shots. I think they did rather well.

 

[Bert45]

Kathar1na just gets better and better! .... at fooling me!

 

[Bert45]

Kathar1na wrote: Now it serves mainly as a photo op and as a recipient for what I call „camino junk“. Luckily, this gets removed regularly.
Amen to that! What is it with people? In any other circumstances, what they do, leaving their little photos and prayers and "inspirational" messages, would be called littering, and when the messages are on mojones it would be called graffiti. These are some photos I took in 2016 near Lavacolla. I asked the Santiago tourist authority to try to get the mess cleaned up. Thankfully, the next time I passed it was clean. And are you amused when you see a boot left on a signpost? I know that some people agree with me, as there are signs on crosses and memorials saying "Please do not leave a stone here". Leave only footprints, take only photographs.

 

[Bert45]

And this is what it really looks like when they are walking The Way.

This movie will never be the same for me.

Click to enlarge:

View attachment 74284

Another search begins (or not). This shot somehow reminds me of the scene where they see the three flagellants near León. Do you know where the photo was snapped?

 

[Kathor1]

It is also about 200 meters from a hut

Here is this old shepherd's stone hut, as seen from the Route Napoléon trail. There is nothing in the topography in this area that would even remotely fit the topography of the movie scenes.

The screenshot below is taken from a YouTube video of BK Lee who recorded his whole walk from SJPP to Santiago and beyond in videos of something like 5 hours for every day.

I had obviously looked at these videos and at topographical maps before I posted comment #5 where I said that I am "reasonably certain" that I had located the spot where the movie scenes had been filmed. It's not that I held a wet index finger up in the air to see where the wind blows and then said, ooh, there's a rock, that could be it.

 

[Deleted member 73526]

View attachment 74592

I'll give you 9.5 out of 10 for that ... Deducting half a point because Martin Sheen is not 4 meters tall. ;-)

 

[Bert45]

I can't see a hut there, but there is one at 3:10:39. I don't get the 4 metres reference.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

It's not that I held a wet index finger up in the air to see where the wind blows and then said, ooh, there's a rock, that could be it.

Ouch! If I have offended, then I beg forgiveness.... No more musings from me on this thread, I think.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Ouch! If I have offended, then I beg forgiveness.... No more musings from me on this thread, I think.

No, no. Keep posting. Musing posts and amusing posts are both accepted.

 

[Bert45]

I'll give you 9.5 out of 10 for that ... Deducting half a point because Martin Sheen is not 4 meters tall. ;-)

Are you telling me that the figure of Tom and the cross were photoshopped into the scene at #87?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Are you telling me that the figure of Tom and the cross were photoshopped into the scene at #87?

Crudely photoshopped.

 

[Bert45]

Crudely photoshopped.

Oh! Now having clicked on it and enlarged it, I see what you mean. I'm too trusting.

 

[Deleted member 73526]

I've got a feeling, though, that the pink, neon, tube lettering and arrows were really there. I don't see any clumsy borders around them. I hope the installation is still in place when I get to walk that route.