Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve

Series 1 - Episode 2

Review

by Jane Rackham

“I’ve been blessed with a lot of travel experiences, but I’ll remember this,” says Simon Reeve as he walks the Camino, the 500-mile pilgrimage through France and Spain. Not that he has a Damascene conversion. He remains a person without faith, so although he’s as thoughtful and empathetic as ever, we don’t see the passion someone like Peter Owen Jones displays for all forms of spirituality.

Still, Reeves is a genial and knowledgeable travelling companion so the journey is pleasant. At one point he hears that “a pilgrimage mimics life: it’s difficult and tiring with events that surprise us.” There’s nothing difficult or tiring about this series, and nothing that surprising, either.

Summary

Simon investigates ancient routes and shrines across Europe that are still being used, trying to find out whether modern pilgrims are motivated by religious devotion or a sense of adventure. In the French town of St Omer, he finds piles of shoes left on the tomb of a 7th-century saint with notes pleading for children to be cured of their walking difficulties. Simon also visits the Way of St James, a 500-mile route that starts in the French town of St Jean-Pied-du-Port, crosses the Pyrenees, winds through northern Spain and finishes in the holy city of Santiago de Compostela.