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L’Esprit du Chemin a hostel of, for and by pilgrims
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our logo
Our logo consists of three parts, which, to us together form "L'Esprit du Chemin" – the spirit of the way: the house, the shell, the star road.
the house
Every road needs stopping places, where travellers can come to ease. By the way, “L’Esprit du Chemin” to us is also a stopping place on the road to .... ? Who will say. For the time being, here we have left our backpacks on the doorstep and we feel very at home. It is a special experience: first we made long travels ourselves, now people from all over the world are our guests.
the shell
To us, the Camino de Santiago was and still is a great source of inspiration, and by far the majority of our guests is “pilgrim”. For centuries, the symbol of the Camino is the scallop. There are, of course, a lot of legends about the origin of this symbol. For example the one about a knight who was caught by the sea, but was saved by James at the last moment. The knight jumped out of the waves alive, covered with shells from top to toe....
At the façade of our hostel hangs a large, bronze scallop, made by Jan Bruin, Huberta’s father.
the star road
The faith in “holy places” is of all times. For example, the Camino de Santiago follows an old road to Cabo Fisterra which was already used by the Celts. There, at the end of the world, the sun sets and the underworld and the world of rebirth begins. According to some, the Celts in their turn followed an old star road, which led back to the lost kingdom of Atlantis.
In the “Codex Calixtinus”, the pilgrim’s book from the 12th Century (>> alongside), the Camino is seen as the earthly replica of the milky way. According to the book, Charlemagne one night saw
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“a road of stars. It started at the Frisian Sea and led (...) to Galicia, where in that time the remains of the holy James rested without anyone knowing.”
James himself then gives Charles the task to liberate
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“my pilgrimage route (...), so that one (..) can visit my grave.”
(Whether this is true or not, Charles anyway never got further than Zaragoza, from which he made his famous retreat via Roncesvalles).
More > Going down “the road” is also a well known
Codex Calixtinus
The Codex Calixtinus is one of the oldest books about the Camino de Santiago and is an excellent example of the rich history of this pilgrim’s road. The Codex dates from the 12th Century and is named after pope Calixtus II. There is, of course, also a lot of attention for Saint James, the miracles he is supposed to have performed and the transportation of his remains to Galicia. The Codex also urges the pilgrims to behave themselves and curses anyone who wants to steal money from pilgrims, such as: dressed up priests, prostitutes, money changers and... certain innkeepers. Particularly the last part of the Codex is a practical travel guide for pilgrims. In this part, the four main roads through France and the road through Spain are described.
A lot of songs from the Codex Calixtinus are still being sung. We like to play this music during breakfast in our inn:
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•"Miracles of Sant'iago; Music from the Codex Calixtinus", by Anonymous 4; published by Harmonia Mundi, and
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•"Pilgrimage to Santiago", by The Monteverdi Choir, conductor John Eliot Gardiner, published by Monteverdi Productions.
