Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[ivar]

Vezelay, France - There are many reasons to visit the Basilica of Saint Magdalene in France's Bourgogne region. Some come for the classic architecture while others want to listen to hymns. But others come for something entirely different.

More here:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/152675.html

[Paulus]

Ivar,

Thanks for this nice info.
I believe the cathedral in Vezelay is the only church dedicated to Maria Magdalena: never saw that before as we walked up and up to Vezelay in april this year!

In the meantime I found a house (fermette) along the route from Vezelay to LePuy in the little village of Chastellux where we will provide a shelter/refugio for pelgrims who are walking south to LePuy. There are not many places to stay the night in that part of France.
"Our" house is about 24 km from Vezelay so a good place to sleep.
But....... I'm still dealing about the price and hope to finish the negociation this weekend. I'll be back than on this forum with my latest news...
Yes........if we have bought the house we will settle us definitely in France and move from Holland to there.

Paul

[Paulus]

YES!!!

We finally agreed about the price with the owner so now we are the owners of a fermette (old farmhouse) in the Morvan.
Our planning is to move from Holland to France in april/may 2008.

The house is situated in a very little village called "La Rue Perrin" which is in the municipal of Chastellux sur Cure in the Morvan/Bourgogne.
This place is situated 23/24 kilometers from Vezelay and is along the old walking-route from Vezelay to Le Puy en Velay....... pelgrims are always welcome in our house and can sleep for free there. For a meal and breakfast w'll ask a little price for covering the costs.

But it will take some time before I can finish the "refugio" because I have a lot to do in the house before we can live there with a little comfort.
So officially I'm not opening the refugio in May already but walking pelgrims are always welcome and we manage something to sleep for them in the meantime.

Further news will be placed in this forum and for the Dutch pelgrims on the site of the Dutch Association of St.James!

[JohnnieWalker]

Paulus

Fabulous news. Congratulations. Good news for you and also for the pilgrims you will welcome. I hope your future plans go smoothly and that you have a happy Christmas dreaming of the exciting New Year which lies ahead for you.

John

[Peter Robins]

Very interesting, Paulus. I see from Geoportail that there is a gite equestre nearby. It's about 16km from Vézelay by road.

I believe the cathedral in Vezelay is the only church dedicated to Maria Magdalena

MM is quite a common dedication, in France notably the Madeleine in Paris that the metro station is named after, plus of course the basilica in St Maximin.

PS. very scenic around there as I recall. I remember the old packhorse bridge at Pierre Perthuis, and also the walk by the reservoir further along. My diary tells me I had lunch on the Yonne/Nievre border which must be quite near you, though I don't remember that bit.

[Paulus]

Very interesting, Paulus. I see from Geoportail that there is a gite equestre nearby.

Correct: not a gite d'étappe but a place for the horse-riders (equestre).

Thanks!

[sillydoll]

Gelukwensing Paulus! You made your dream come true.
Now, what name will you give your new home?
de Pelgrims Rusten of Pelgrims Plaas!

[Paulus]

Sil

I'll bet you used an online translator.....nice!

The name: we dont know yet.
We are thinking about "Bahia" which means (I think) harbour, bay but also sanctuary (?). Maybe some of the veterans here knows the exact meaning of it.
We were in La Isla in 2006 walking the North Route and during that walk we discussed the plans for this and had a very good spirit/feeling about that place and the little hotel were we stayed was called "Bahia".

I'm not going to do it in a commercial way: just because we love to do it and because we know from our Camino's that a clean bed and a nice shower can be very luxurry.........I'm going to fix that for the pelgrims!
Most people on this forum will not walk along our house but the people starting from home in Belgium and The Netherlands certainly do!

If I'm settled I will upload some photo's of the house and...the refugio!

[Peter Robins]

'bahia' does indeed mean 'bay' but I don't think it's used figuratively. English 'harbour' would be appropriate though, as it comes from the same root as alberghe/auberge/albergo: German (and Dutch!) herberge, originally 'heer-berge', army shelter. (Do you have 'bergen' in modern Dutch?)

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Paulus,

Congratulations on this wonderful event!

I am sure that many of us will live vicariously through your reports, wishing we could do the same thing. What a wonderful dream come true. Maybe you can do something like Rebekah Scott does -- I don't know if you've seen her blog, but she is a pilgrim from the US who bought a home on the Camino Frances near Sahagun in a town called Moratinos and routinely shares her adventures on this website: http://www.moratinoslife.blogspot.com/

And by the way, I don't think I ever properly thanked you for your help and advice as I was planning my Camino del Norte. It was a fabulous walk. What is it about the Camino, that we're never satiated?

Laurie

[Paulus]

German (and Dutch!) herberge, originally 'heer-berge', army shelter. (Do you have 'bergen' in modern Dutch?)

Peter...thanks.
Yes in Dutch the word is "herberg" but that means nowadays more an "inn" but you are correct with that explanation of the word..
"Bergen" is the plural of "berg" which means "mountain, hill " so that comes from another side of the language...

Would use "Bahia" figuratively as "shelter" as you said but I understand that's not correct (enough)..........what the hell.....Who knows in France that incorrect translation...
My wife and I have a good feeling with that name so maybe.........

Paul

[Peter Robins]

"Bergen" is the plural of "berg" which means "mountain, hill "

but surely the town name - Bergen op Zoom, Bergen aan Zee - comes from 'harbour', 'shelter'? Not many mountains in those places

[Paulus]

Peter,

Funny± I did a little research on that names.
Bergen aan Zee lies at the Northsea but is a little place which is linked to Bergen itself. The locals call that Bergen/Binnen (translated as Bergen inside the land). In this case the shelter could be at his place.

Bergen op Zoom is different. That means `Bergen at a very littel hill ' . It lies only 20 meters above the surrounding land and there came the name from. Here also the possibilitie that it has been a shelter in the old days where people could hide inside the village.

Greetings!!

Paul

[sillydoll]

In Afrikaans, the word herberg is a verb; the noun is 'hawe'.

[jabri]

Paulus,
Van harte gefeliciteerd met de aankoop van je huis op de route van Vezelay naar Le Puy! Ik hoop er nog eens meer van te horen!

Sil, your word 'hawe' is very similar to the Dutch word ' haven', in English 'harbour', which is a save place (also figurative) like an albergue...

Jan Brilleman

[Sumachado]

Here in Brazil we have an state called Bahia that lies northeast of the country and is a beautiful place full of sun, beaches and beautiful people...Baia in portuguese means "bay" and is always associated to water, beach, harbor...Anyway it is a nice name for an albergue.
Now the funny thing is that we put horses in their "baias"( the stress in this case is in the first "a" , different from the "bahia" state or bay where the stress in is the sound "i" ) here, that means "stalls".... Very approppriate ....
Regards, Sulachado.

[Peter Robins]

in English too, 'bay' can be used figuratively, as in a parking bay or a bay window. Les Barker wrote a song called 'Sudden Waves' which includes the lines: "There are bays, peaceful bays, in the harbour of your hand."

Dutch 'haven' is English 'haven', German 'hafen', Danish 'havn', French 'havre', etc. Etymologically it's not related to 'harbour'.

[sillydoll]

Afrikaans is a form of 'kitchen Dutch' and die hawe means the harbour whereas herberg means to shelter (as jy in die hawe binnekom).

[Paulus]

Paulus,
Van harte gefeliciteerd met de aankoop van je huis op de route van Vezelay naar Le Puy! Ik hoop er nog eens meer van te horen!
Jan Brilleman

Jan,
Dank je wel!
Ik meld me tegen de tijd dat ik klaar ben met de inrichting van de refugio nog wel op tweevoeter en op de site van het genootschap!
Prettige dagen!

[Paulus]

Here I'm again with the latest update:

* definitely we are house-owner in France, Chastellux sur Cure in the hameau "La Rue Perrin"
* our house in IJsselstein in The Netherlands has been sold today!
* much to organize for the emigration to France.......pfffffff
+ date of removal will be around 1 May 2008.

See picture:



Greetings,
paul

[ivar]

Wow.. congrats Paul!

It looks great! Good luck with the moving.

Slaudos,
Ivar

[sillydoll]

Hey Paulus - I can't see a yellow arrow anywhere on "Bahia" !!
Good luck with all the packing!

[Paulus]

Sil,

I'll paint a yellow arrow at the little stone wall which is around the house........but not before first of May.........
I will upload a picture here by that time!

Paul

[PILGRIMSPLAZA]

Pilgrimage is of all people, faiths, sferes and ages - for hunters, gatherers and smorgasbordians:

More here: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/152675.html

This article comes close (but not quite) to the question why Vézelay's hill is called "la Colline éternelle"? Many years ago I saw on a nearby motorway that qualification "éternelle" on an information board but never got an answer since on "Why"? Is there anybody out there who knows? Please tell us!

From prof. Bauer from Gendt (Gent) university I remember his reading about what is so special about La Madeleine there. Here for the first time Christ was not shown as judge on our jounguest day but as a symbol of love. That's why it is so light inside; no dark corners as in older cathedrals.

[Peter Robins]

I've always assumed it was an echo of Rome as the città eterna.

That gothic architecture again, the large windows bringing light to the churches. Presumably the love has never got to Spain, as it's not just the corners that are dark in Spanish baroque churches.