Hermits have been one of the most pilloried sections of society, though really their very raison d’etre was to be outside of society.
Which is where you want to be just now.
Now hermits fall into three categories: The Lost, The Saintly and The Imprisoned.
The first of which I definitely am, the second I strive to be and the latter which miraculously I’ve been evading all these years.
The lost: Which is where I normally find myself on my travels.
Particularly if they put 100kms between me and my destination.
Which is the case on the last leg of the Camino in Galicia in north-west Spain www.caminoways.com and A pilgrim’s prayer.
Ciao, Roma
And on the Italian Camino from Viterbo into Rome www.FrancigenaWays.com.
Probably more so the Via Francigena, to be fair, where the irregular arrows can leave you abandoned, alone, in an olive grove.
Still, more time to talk to the Lord while you can squeeze the olives onto those rolls you bought that morning…
A perfect accompaniment for that half bottle of wine.
And here’s a celebration of being alone on the road… Small roads lead to Rome.
For those who prefer the sea there are opportunities aplenty to get lost too.
Like Robinson Crusoe. Still there are worse places to get washed up on than Tobago.
He wasn’t totally alone though. Man Friday? No, the goats he trained.
And yes I got to race them… www.visittobago.gov.tt and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/17/ready-steady-goat-racing-in-tobago/
Halo there!
The Saintly: You can live like the Fast Set in Cannes and Mandelieu-la-Napoule.
Or like the Fasting Set on the hermit’s island of Ile Saint-Honorat where Saint Honoratus went for a little solitude and a natter with his boss.
Word got out and more of his monk pals came out…
He founded a monastery which drew the attentions of no less a luminary than St Patrick.
Today’s traveller skirts the island on a speed boat… well, you have to, don’t you?
Visit https://www.cannes-destination.com/discover and https://www.mandelieu.com and http://www.atout-france.fr/content/about-us.
And come join me as I make a splash on the Riviera The Boat D’Azur.
Boney’s bones
The imprisoned: The best-laid plans des souris et Frenchmen gang aft a-gley.
And the most famous Frenchman of them all, Napoleon Bonaparte ended up here.
On Saint Helena, the second-most remote inhabitable island in the world.
Where I have been destined for this year.
No, not because after spending three weeks locked up with me she wants to send me 5,000 miles away.
But because I’d been planning a trip out there this year. See http://sthelenatourism.com.
MEET YOU ON THE ROAD
