I was working away this morning on a number of tenders when I got a call from John to join him in town as quickly as I could. "Bernard is due back at any time now and a bunch of us are waiting to greet him!" So I dashed off as quickly as is possible here, parked up and found John waiting with a number of others, including Annick, Bernard's better half, and the local press photographer. A little while later and a murmur went up - "He's on the way, nearly here". Why all this excitement? We haven't seen Bernard for a couple of months now as he has been doing the Pilgrim Trail all the way to St Jacques de Campostelle. He finally got there last weekend.
I'm not totally clear on all Bernard's reasons for doing the pilgrimage, but part of it was that he wanted to find himself and that he wanted to prove he could do something like that to himself and his family. He did a bit of training, including with the Sunday morning group, and got the right kit, as he would have to carry EVERYTHING with him. It took him 61 days and I lost count of the number of kilometers but certainly near or over 1,500.
Annick gave us updates from the route - he had got to Dax, he had grown a beard, he was into Spain, he had slept in Police cells as a pilgrim can demand lodgings from the community and they are obliged to provide, he had slept in the board room of a fire station too on that basis. On Sunday, we were told he had made it, although after weeks on the trail he found being among some 200,000 other pilgrims a bit difficult. But now, she said, it is time for him to come home.
To a round of applause and some cheering, Bernard made the last few yards to his favourite cafe in the town, was photographed for the paper and then settled in for a drink or two with his friends. Sadly we couldn't stay to celebrate with him - work called. But we were delighted to have been part of the Pilgrim's Return, so very proud of him, and perhaps just a little jealous too.