Sellos away from established routes

[Peronel]

The tentative plan is Bury St Edmunds Cathedral to Santiago, autumn 2014. (On foot except for the wet bits - devotion to the trail doesn't extend to sea beds!)

All though England and in Northern France I will, of course, be away from pilgrim routes and - I suspect - most of the time having to explain the camino to people who have never heard of it.

So... no sellos. So how does one get the credential stamped to prove one's passing?

Thank you!

Nel

 

[Deleted member 3000]

You will be surprised how many places in France have stamps, and you may be surprised how many know about pilgrimages. I am not a scallop shell kind of guy, but if you have one in France off the major camino routes, you probably will be approached with very friendly greetings.

Bon chemin.

 

[Kitsambler]

With less pilgrim traffic, there is less motivation for pretty designs on the stamps. But darned near every business you would routinely contact in the course of your day's journey will have a stamp: lodgings, town halls/mairies/rathause, and some churches (esp ones dedicated to St Jaques or St Roch). The stamp may not have a graphic design element; but it will have the name of the business, the street address, and the phone. Plenty of info for validation!

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Some of the people who provide accommodation on the less-travelled routes in France have a deep interest in St Jacques, and they will quite possibly have stamps with their own design. These are my sellos from Cluny to Le-Puy-en-Velay, and you'll see there are some very nice ones. (There were just a couple of places where I didn't get a stamp.)
Margaret

 

[lovingkindness]

hi there, Nel. Whenever I sleep out or stay somewhere where a sello isn't available I create my own. It's part of the fun.

Cheers,

ps, I had no difficulty getting a Compostela....
pps my hosts had fun too. Sometimes they or their children drew an amusing picture in my credencial or they glued in a souvenir of our time together...an elephant... a cow...a chocolate logo (yum)...

 

[Tia Valeria]

Hola Nel and welcome.
We have started our pilgrimages in the UK too and have asked in our own cathedral, (bookshop stamp plus bought sticker souvenir badge). Local post offices always have a date stamp and are usually happy to stamp the credencial - we then add any additional info we feel we need, such as distances. Places you spend the night might have a stamp or else just ask them to sign and date in the space. We have a few like that from Spain itself when no sello was available. Like lovingkindness Terry has at least one that was drawn for him


We use the CSJ credencial which has good big spaces for stamps. If you think you will need 'extra' space ask for a credencial capable of holding 'x' number of sellos, or 2 credenciales....
Available to members of CSJ only but, if you are not already a member, it is well worth joining CSJ - not just for the credencial.
Buen Camino

 

[Peronel]

Hi All,

Thank you for the suggestion of post-offices. That's a brilliant idea, date and location in one, and one I hadn't thought of.

I'm hoping that, after the first few days, it'll be easier. Because all I'll have to do is point and say, "Like that, please". At least in England, I hope to spend some nights with friends, and am hoping for sellos saying "good luck" and "best wishes" which I can re-read for strength on the lonelier parts of the trail.

And, yes, some hand-drawn ones would be amazing.

Kiwinomad thank you for posting pictures of your credencial. Really lovely to see. I'm not concerned so much about from Cluny or Vezelay (still figuring out routes) onwards, because from there I'll be on pilgrim routes, albeit ones much less frequented than the Frances.

I had the pages from last year's credencial (yes, a CSJ one and, yes, I am a member) copied and made into a poster. It's up on the wall behind me. I love looking through it - so many memories.

All the best,

Nel

 

[hecate105]

Don't forget tourist offices too! They will give you free local maps, stamp your credencial and often have advice on campsites/hostels/albergues etc. We were surprised that some had St James routes/maps - that we did not know of, and at two different ones we had our credencial stamped by fellow pilgrims who worked there! Be open to finding any of the pilgrim saints - in statue/painting form in any church or building along the way - as well as the human froms who will be there to help too....
We travelled the Camino Portugues, then returned home to Devon, along as many 'Ways' as we could find. Bon Camino

 

[Peronel]

Hecate, tourist infos have stamps? Really?. I never knew! In what countries did you find this?

(And, yes, will be keeping my eyes peeled for St Roche or unexpected scallop shells along the way.)

 

[oursonpolaire]

Tourism offices throughout France have got stamps (ask them to Tamponnez mon credentiel du pelerinage) and some of them have got splendid designs (I'm away from home right now else I would happily post an example or two). Other places were mairies and, in Spain, the ayuntamientos. I never ran into puzzlement or confusion and occasionally got coffee (in one place, a shot of cognac with it!).

Cathedrals and churches are great sources as well and, in any case, your hostel or gite or hotel will do so. One of my favourites was from the Guardia Civil in a Catalan village, after the guards insisted on driving me in after spotting me walking down a path at 38C.

Your stamped credential will be a great souvenir and, I am informed by a member of our local constabulary, useful for alibi purposes. When asked by police detectives where you were on a certain date, you can answer "At the albergue in Comillas," and then comment on the hot water situation, the paella, and how badly Hanoverians seem to snore.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

You can see a lot of sellos here, mostly from Spain:

http://monk-frames.com/lossellosdelcamino.com/

 

[Tia Valeria]

If you take the ferry or train across the channel then they might have a sello. Brittany Ferries check-in desk at Plymouth have a bear's paw for children's amusement. On board had a stamp with ferry name.

 

[hecate105]

We had them in Portugal, Spain, France and in England. In Spain, when we got a train through the Picos de Europa (I have a disability and could not manage mountains!) the station manager insisted on stamping our credencial. -It was a good thing we already had our Compostelas, as the people at the Pilgrim Office might of raised an eyebrow at that!
In England we had them stamped at Brighton Tourist Office by a young lady who had walked the Camino the year before - she was overjoyed to be asked for a 'sellos'. At most T Os people were bemused but happy to stamp - even if Amiens was upside down! We asked often at churches but it was rare if anyone had access to, or could find the stamp.
We were sometimes waylaid whilst filling up water containers by people who saw our scallop-shells and had been, or were planning to go, on pilgrimage, which was lovely for all concerned. Especially uplifting when you are in the middle of a snarling row with your husband over quite why you had just had to drag your bike through a mile of sand dunes. Good for returning you both to the status quo - of trying to be better people!
We met people who were inspired by what we were attempting to do - and others who inspired us. It reminded me of a book i read where the guy was cycling around the UK, a huge undertaking, he was tired, downhearted and felt like he had been 'out' too long, he felt too intrepid and wanted to rush home. Then he went on a ferry, and the ferryman turned out to have pedalled a boat across the atlantic, nearly dying in the process. The guy felt humbled by the ferryman's story, and the fact that he was now content to shunt forward and back across the same river, inspiring people every day!
So it is not what journey we take, but the fact that we take it, and how we set about it that matters. The cherry blossom tree at the bottom of the garden might be an arduous or labyrinthine journey to some....(IMHO)!
And now I just want to load up my panniers and set off somewhere...

 

[Peronel]

That's brilliant, thank you so much. It sounds like that the gathering of sellos (already precious for the memories they carry, even if I don't make use of them as an alibi!) will provide the perfect excuse for getting into interesting conversations along the way. Really excited!

 

[Rebekah Scott]

When I first walked the Camino Invierno I had some trouble getting sellos, as lots of people really had no idea there was a camino in their town. That particular credential bears some of my favorite stamps: a Döner kebab place, two wineries, a doctor´s Rx stamp, the parador in Monforte, "Las Nimfas gentlemen´s club," and a chicken-and-rabbit slaughterhouse. (Things have improved a lot in the last few years, I assure you!)

Reb.