Day 41 - Fast Transit Navigating Home : Santiago de Compostela to Paris

Fast Transit Navigating Home 

Leaving Santiago de Compostela

We awoke this morning early and wandered back to the cathedral to spend some time watching excited pilgrims rush into the main square. It was here that the depression began to settle in. Our trek was done and we didn't belong in the flood of new pilgrims who came with their groups to finish their quests. Two days after arriving it is clear the transformation from pilgrim to tourist is complete, and it is time to go home and figure out how to fit the Camino into our lives back in Canada.

With all of this in mind, we began our homeward journey. We hired a taxi from our hotel to the small, clean, and modern-looking Santiago airport to catch our Air Iberia flight to Madrid.  At first, this was a stunning experience, as the taxi was travelling at a much faster speed than we had been for the past 4 - 5 weeks.  However, by the time we arrived at the airport, we had already begun to adjust back to the pace of the automated world we had left behind. 

 

With few other people in the Santiago airport, we quickly checked in and took the time to admire a scale model of Santiago and the Cathedral which was set up in the waiting room. 

Flight to Madrid and Paris 

We caught our flight to Madrid, where we had a two-hour layover before catching a flight back to Paris.  By 8 PM we were back in France, and from the airport, we caught a Le Bus Direct to the Ibis Styles Paris Roissy Hotel. 

Given our late arrival in Paris, we were advised to order dinner before closing time. As such, after rather basic fair in the hotel restaurant, we were back in our room by 10 catching up on our final journals and preparing for our morning flights from Paris to Montreal and then from Montreal to Toronto, and our final shuttle drive back home. 

By the end of the day, both of us had sore legs and sore backs - ironically from sitting all day on planes and not being able to get out walking or hiking. How quickly our bodies began to expect certain lifestyles and physical demands. Ultimately today was relatively uninspiring and uneventful, but I suppose that is how you want things to go when you are on a series of plane flights. In the end, we are grateful to have been able to safely travel from Santiago to Madrid to Paris without incident and to arrive at our hotel in time for an evening meal.

See you on the Trail!

https://www.comewalkwithus.online/

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Practical information:

Distance: 1,495 km
Max Temperature: 17°C
Accommodations: Ibis Styles Paris Roissy Hotel (95.95 Euro/room)