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Paris to the Pyrenees: A Skeptic Pilgrim Walks the Way of Saint James Hardcover – April 1, 2013

by David Downie (Author)

3.8 214 ratings

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Part adventure story, part cultural history the author of Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light explores the phenomenon of pilgrimage along the age-old Way of Saint James in France

Driven by curiosity, wanderlust, and health crises David Downie and his wife set out from Paris to walk across France to the Pyrenees. Starting on the Rue Saint-Jacques then trekking 750 miles south to Roncesvalles, Spain, their eccentric route takes 72 days on Roman roads and pilgrimage paths―a 1,100-year-old network of trails leading to the sanctuary of Saint James the Greater. It is best known as El Camino de Santiago de Compostela―“The Way” for short. The object of any pilgrimage is an inward journey manifested in a long, reflective walk. For Downie, the inward journey met the outer one: a combination of self-discovery and physical regeneration. More than 200,000 pilgrims take the highly commercialized Spanish route annually, but few cross France. Downie had a goal: to go from Paris to the Pyrenees on age-old trails, making the pilgrimage in his own maverick way. 32 pages of color photographs by Alison Harris. 32 pages of color photographs

From Booklist

An eclectic author of cookbooks, novels, and tourist guides, Downie embarks here on the genre of travel writing. His journey, which he completed on foot between the titular locations, in general followed the hallowed Christian pilgrimage route to Spain, le Chemin de Saint Jacques. France being France, history accompanied Downie as much as his walking companion, his wife, Alison. Their conversations were sparked by route-side sights, such as a centuries-old château that counted as young, and became enmeshed with Downie’s interior reflections about his reasons for undertaking the journey. Downie’s initial motivation was to improve his health, but after aches and pains suspended the trip, he was sustained by coming to grips with the spiritual auras of the pilgrimage route. Residing in local memory of druids, and in Christian symbols of crosses, churches, and statues of the Virgin Mary, religiosity became a topical constant in Downie’s thoughts and discussions, as did Vercingetorix, Julius Caesar, and François Mitterand. Astutely ruminative, Downie hovers between past and present in this enjoyably offbeat travelogue. --Gilbert Taylor

Review

“An entertaining read… fabulous company!”
- Jackie Lyden, "All Things Considered," National Public Radio

“In the tradition of Patrick Leigh Fermor, David Downie takes off on foot. Such a rigorous, slow journey―the polar opposite of airport-to-airport travel―gives him the gift of time, and the chance to absorb, taste, and experience the places he sees. Downie’s adroit, learned, and ambitious book re-invigorates my sense of travel, taking me back to the happy knowledge that the world is still large, and history unfathomably deep.”
- Frances Mayes, author of The Tuscan Sun Cookbook and Under the Tuscan Sun

“Profound. A witty and intelligent spin on the spiritual-journey motif.”
- Kirkus Reviews

“Evocative and moving… Downie’s quest is unconventional in tone and spirit as well as route. A lively wordsmith, Downie brings a deep and impassioned knowledge of French history, culture, and language to this pilgrimage. He also brings something more, a longing that he himself can’t pin down at the beginning… they encounter a memorable succession of taciturn, deep-rooted local farmers and gregarious, transplanted-from-Paris innkeepers. They also encounter the multi-layered, interweaving pathways of French history, commerce, religion, and spirituality―and manage to tuck in a few sumptuous celebrations of French food and wine, too. The result is an extraordinary account that illuminates France past and present and casts a light on something even greater: the truth that, however we choose to label our journey, we are all pilgrims on a common quest, to answer why we wander life’s question-paved path.”
- Don George, National Geographic Traveler

“Bristling with knowledge and often with theinsights of good fiction, Downie takes you on a trip that is as much acompelling intellectual journey as it is a rich revelation of place. It’s ahard book to put down.”
- G. Y. Dryansky, author of Coquilles, Calva and Creme

“A great writer and a very interesting trail, what more could you want?”
- James Martin, About.com Europe Travel

“Richly textured, meticulously detailed, a compelling, picaresque narrative of adventures on the road and a sophisticated meditation on the past, present and future of France.”
- Sandra M. Gilbert, author of Kissing the Bread

“Brilliant, witty and stylish.”
- Anton Gill, author of The Sacred Scroll

“Richly illustrated with Alison Harris’s color photographs, it is not only a fascinating journey through France on foot, with illuminating glimpses into French history from prehistoric times to the present. Downie also shares his idiosyncratic observations and provocative musings about connections between the Roman and American empires, the character of Francois Mitterrand, and the shadow of both Nazi collaboration and the French Resistance. It is also an intimate, personal journey, the author sharing his candid ruminations. There are moments of comedy, many grins and even some laugh-out-loud moments. A word of advice? Don’t peek! Every page of this book is worth reading, and in order to understand the ending, you’ll have to have been there for the whole journey.”
- Janet Hulstrand, Bonjour Paris

“A wonderful book: historically, culturally and spiritually fascinating, refreshingly honest without being self-aggrandizing, full of humor and sharp observation of the people and the landscape. Downie is a great companion on the road.”
- Imogen Robertson, author of Instruments of Darkness

“David Downie’s pilgrimage/anti-pilgrimage has two things no one else does. One is his inimitable wit. The other: he travels not just in space, but in time, creating constant delightful surprise and reassuring familiarity. An atheist who starts the Way of Saint James necessarily sees the world with a certain irony. One who finishes the trail from Paris to the Spanish border won’t let that irony consume him. It is the conversation between the two that makes this such a special book.”
- Andrew Riggsby, Professor of Classics and of Art History, The University of Texas at Austin

“Perhaps the most evocative American book about Paris since A Moveable Feast.”
- Jan Morris

“David Downie is the master of educated curiosity. With him we discover Paris, a seemingly public city that is, in fact, full of secrets―great lives, lives wasted on the bizarre; forgotten artisans; lost graves. I have walked some of the city’s streets with him, and reading this book is just as tactile an experience.”
- Michael Ondaatje

About the Author

David Downie, a native San Franciscan, lived in New York, Rome, and Milan before moving to Paris. Downie’s travel, food and arts features have been published worldwide. He is the author of two previous novels and over a dozen nonfiction history, travel and food books, including the highly acclaimed Paris, Paris; A Passion for Paris; Paris to the Pyrenees; and A Taste of Paris. He divides his time between France and Italy with his wife, the photographer Alison Harris.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pegasus Books
Publication date

April 1, 2013
Dimensions

6.3 x 1.3 x 9.4 inches
ISBN-10

1605984329
ISBN-13

978-1605984322
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pegasus Books; First Edition (April 1, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1605984329
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1605984322
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.3 x 9.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,935,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #558 in Agnosticism (Books)
- #890 in Paris Travel Guides
- #3,081 in General France Travel Guides

Customer Reviews:
3.8 214 ratings

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David Downie
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Author of a dozen nonfiction books on the culture, history and food of France and Italy, and half a dozen adventure, murder and mystery novels set in California, Italy and France: that's David Downie in one line.
Downie is a native San Franciscan who moved to Paris in the mid-1980s and divides his time between France and Italy. His travel, food and arts features have appeared in over 50 print magazines and newspapers worldwide and on dozens of websites.
His latest nonfiction books are The Paris, Paris Timeline; A Taste of Paris: A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food (winner of the 2017 Gourmand Award for best American food-travel book) and A Passion for Paris: Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light, both published by St. Martin’s Press. His collection of travel essays, Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light, and his travel memoir Paris to the Pyrenees: A Skeptic Pilgrim Walks the Way of Saint James, are considered classics in their genre and have been reprinted countless times.
Downie's most recent novels are Roman Roulette: Murder in the Catacombs; and Red Riviera: Murder on the Italian Riviera, mystery/crime novels set in Rome's catacombs and on the stunning Riviera in Portofino, the Cinque Terre and Genoa. They are the first in a new series featuring the fictional Italian police commissioner Daria Vinci. Four of Clubs: Murder in the High Sierra, is a stand-alone mystery set in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Downie's classic espionage/political thriller Paris City of Night was reissued in an updated second edition by Seine, Tiber and Bay.
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Alison Harris
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3.8 out of 5

214 global ratings

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pENELOPE NOVAK

Felt like I was walking alongside...

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2014

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Everyone who walks the Camino has their own experience. I read about David and Alison's trip primarily because of the premise, he's a skeptic, feeling the age and wanting to go for a walk. Oh perhaps not in that order, but if I am questioned why I want to go on this journey, it would be for those reasons. I don't know who I will meet, what conversations I will experience or what weather I may encounter, I may want to stay longer at a place, or bypass another, maybe even turn back because it really wasn't for me. And if I have that spiritual awakening, I'm all in, of course one will have a spiritual awakening of some kind, the universe just works that way. The spiritual awakening begins the moment one decides to join the throngs of pilgrims who carry the load of personal baggage, physical, emotional and yes, the back pack.

If one reads the book and enjoys the experience of two people and not read your own agenda into it…then you are reading. Enjoy this one because as he says in the beginning, For Alison, Another one from the heart, that is just it…honestly written, beautifully presented, Alison's wonderful photography and enriching because…you just might learn subtle somethings along the way about France, art history, relationship, moments, yourself, and in many ways how to think and organize your reasons going into a journey of this magnitude. Isn't that really what it's all about, reflective thinking? Love the book, relate to the characters, and found it super helpful on a personal level. if you want to know distances and have detailed conversations about the Camino…buy a Lonely Planet book and or google and join your local chapter of Camino Pilgrims, there you will find all of those intricacies and more.

7 people found this helpful

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Jeff Titelius

A fascinating, non-traditional pilgrimage across France and the Way of Saint James!

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2017

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Continuing my own literary pilgrimage, once again, I find myself exploring the Way of Saint James, but not along the traditional route from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (SJPDP) where most peregrinos begin their 500-mile walk to Santiago de Compostela, but from Paris, the city where author David Downie calls home. From the City of Light, it's 750 miles to Roncesvalles, Spain; the first leg through Burgundy, followed by the second from Le Puy-en-Velay to SJPDP to Roncesvalles--the legendary village immortalized by the "Song of Roland" in northern Spain.

Throughout his pilgrimage, Downie channels Janus himself, the god of beginnings and transitions typically depicted as a man of two faces simultaneously looking backward as well as forward; as he regales the reader with remarkable insight into the past--resurrecting influential figures and events as he describes his present surroundings. I can't tell you how much I learned about the many places that Downie visited: the history, the locals' ancestry and the vestiges of fallen empires.

As I mentioned above, I learned much about the history of France and the places Downie visited, but I found myself craving more personal reflection throughout. Finally at the end, especially in the epilogue, I was rewarded when Downie shares how his pilgrimage opened his eyes a little wider than before.

Having read a number of books about the traditional Camino de Santiago pilgrimages, all of which began in SJPDP and ended in Santiago de Compostela, this book is unique in that it traverses France via ancient Roman roads and trails blazed by leaders of long-gone civilizations, as opposed to the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain where on average, 200,000 pilgrims trek 500 miles from SJPDP to Santiago de Compostela every year!

If you're a pilgrim, past, present or future; or perhaps a descendant of Janus, you too will really enjoy this nontraditional fascinating pilgrimage of discovery to the past and present and future!

2 people found this helpful

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Angela Risner The Sassy Orange

I did learn a few things....

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2013

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I have been on a roll of reading about walking the Appalachia Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, so I thought I would expand my knowledge base and go international with this book. To be honest, I didn't realize that James the Greater aka St. James was the same James of Jesus.

This is David Downie's recollection of his attempt to walk from Paris to the Pyrenees. His wife, photographer Alison Harris, is along for the pilgrimage. Downie is facing a health crisis and is searching for meaning in his life.

I find people who either a.) have moved out of the US or b.) never lived here have very strong opinions of things about which they know little. It's easy to watch the media and form opinions without talking to residents. It's also easy to forget that the US is one large country that covers many miles and many different people. For example, I have lived my entire life in Ohio (not bragging, just stating fact.) I know that when I traveled to Los Angeles, I felt as though I had landed in a different country. And people from LA have felt the same way about Ohio. So, even though we are one country, there are many differences by geography, by culture, etc. So for an American to assume that he knows every other American's background/politics/moral character is quite foolish. In other words, I didn't care for Mr. Downie's politics. At all. If you weren't in the US during September 11, then you don't understand the emotions.

As for the title, I would say he might have considered A Curmudgeonly Pilgrim instead of using skeptic. And he didn't quite make it to the Pyrenees, as his back and leg injuries would not allow it.

Overall, it was just okay. I am not a Francophile, so I didn't know most of the places through which they traveled. I did learn a great deal about my own ancestors (the Celts and the Germans). The writing was not stellar.

4 people found this helpful

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Lunarsprite

Misled and Disappointed

Reviewed in Australia on September 18, 2018

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The title of the book, “Paris to the Pyrenees,” is misleading. It is an account of the trip by the author through Burgundy from Vézelay to Mâcon. Paris is the starting point for a train trip to the real start of the walk. Then in an epilogue the book jumps to months later (after a health break) walking 12 pages on the actual portion of the route to the Pyrenees and barely described anything. The author just stopped looking for meaning, which pretty much summarises the whole book. The editor may have said - Let’s just pop a bit at the end so we can finish it so there is something to publish!

The majority of the novel gets bogged down in endless bizarre references to Vercingetorix, Caesar and Mitterrand. This is then interspersed with general travel diary descriptions of predominantly non-French guest houses. The author is confused as to whether he is trying to educate us on isolated parts of French history, describe a trek, or resolve an inner reflection. He fails at all of them. I would have been given 3 stars if any one of the 3 was achieved. I don’t know why I persevered, perhaps I thought that something would be resolved.

Donald Winkler

Hiking through history

Reviewed in Canada on July 3, 2013

Verified Purchase

In a pilgrimage, it is the journey more than the arrival that truly matters. That is all the more true here, as David Downie and his photographer wife, Alison Harris, trek the French leg of the Compostella trail, but off the beaten path, where other hikers are few and far between. Their quest is for the Gallo-Roman outcroppings along their chosen route, and the paradoxes of French civilization that they embody. Downie burrows into this history, and into his own psyche as well, as the journey proceeds. All this with understated deftness. The book is rich in anecdote, colourful characters, discomfort and misadventure, humour and small epiphanies. A fascinating read, that charts unusual and unexplored territory.

5 people found this helpful

Claire McNmara

Thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2014

Verified Purchase

I found this book to be a thoroughly delightfull jaunt through the French countryside with a touch of the 'why are we here' questions interspersed with historical fact. Also it was laugh out loud funny in some parts. I very much want to do this walk myself now - I wish the author would produce a book with maps of the actual walking routes. I can't find very much information on line.

3 people found this helpful

canpau

Paris to The Pyrenees.

Reviewed in France on October 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

Bright, inteligent, prickly, well informed pilgrims on a different "Way" .The author shares with me a view that france is closed !
Closed fermé when you need a coffee, a church door to open and the villages to be alive, as they certainly are on the more famous "Camino Frances" in Spain.
What we do not share is that his writings are brilliant .
Read and re read many times .
Can Pau

Painter

it is not David Downie's usual brilliantly descriptive, fast moving style

Reviewed in Canada on March 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is indeed a fascinating tale. However, it is not David Downie's usual brilliantly descriptive, fast moving style. The trek was long and, for him, physically painful and this unfortunately shadows the story all the way through. The historical background of the route, the regions traversed, and the larger than life figures recalled is captivating the first time through, but the continuous repetition of aspects of it, while relevant to the locations en route, is likely of greater significance to the person experiencing it than to the one reading about it. Still a good read, but an overly long one.

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