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• 14 mai 2010

  Bernard Delhomme

  GLOVER William - L’Esprit Du Chemin.

  “L’Esprit du Chemin ; A pilgrimage to Santiago”. Zo heet het boek dat we begin november, na terugkomst van onze pelgrimstocht naar Turijn, tot onze verrassing in de stapel post vonden. “L’Esprit du Chemin” ? geschreven door William Glover ? Maar wacht eens, is dat niet die Amerikaanse pelgrim die al twee keer, samen met zijn vrouw Aprille, bij ons heeft overnacht ? Maar waarom koos hij deze titel ? Er zat geen briefje bij het boek. Dat bleek ook nodig niet, het voorwoord gaf een antwoord op onze vragen :

  “This book was originally entitled Walking with a French Ass but was changed to l’Esprit du Chemin because it better reflects the spirit of the book and trail itself. Also, we only spent one week with a donkey and we never met a French pilgrim to make the double entendre make sense.

  However, I liked the old title so much that I was going to use it anyway until we returned to Saint Jean Pied de Port last year and discovered that our favorite pilgrim’s refuge, l’Esprit du Chemin, was still in business. We stayed at this refuge five years ago and met the Dutch couple who had just abandoned their professional careers and opened for business. We were most impressed with the owners who work from five o’clock in the morning (gelukkig niet meer, ACHW) to ten o’clock at night feeding and caring for nervous pilgrims that are mostly just beginning the trek to Santiago. Naturally I did not expect this backbreaking effort at very little profit to last more than a year or two. I was wrong and now realize how strong the spirit of the trail is.

  This couple had done the camino and, like so many thousands others, did not want to quit. They had become infected with the spirit. l’Esprit du Chemin represents that spirit. I borrowed the name.”