5,000 km on foot: thanks be
to God
 |
| Guillemette and Camille, pointing out Jerusalem on the map, after arriving in the Holy City |
They walked for over 7 months, from Paris to Jerusalem,
without a penny in their pockets. A pilgrimage in search of God, made up of
encounters, the discovery of others and of self.
By Jean Charles Putzolu - Jerusalem
The adventure began in Paris. Camille Desveaux had this
project in her head since she was 14 years old. It was a dream, locked in a
drawer, one she never talked about with anyone. Three years ago, she decided to
share the dream with her parents. It didn't take long to convince them, but it
would still be a while before she could leave. Meanwhile, Camille met
Guilemette de Nortbecourt at university. They got along well and a friendship
was born. Camille chose not to tell Guillemette anything about her project
until they were renting an apartment together, after finishing their studies.
When Camille did tell Guillemette, she understood they were both looking for
the same thing. "At the same time, I was also looking for the absolute: I
was thirsty for God. Camille was providential”. The idea of this pilgrimage on
foot surfaced thanks to a priest, Fr Louis Hervé Guiny. Camille had no doubt
about her own spiritual search, but her project was intended for one person,
not two. It took them a week to straighten out the details. Then they decided,
and left.
Mass at Notre Dame de
Paris on 10 September 2018, the day of their departure
Notre Dame de Paris
Monday, 10 September 2018, 8.00am. They asked their priest
friend, who accompanied the initiative spiritually, to celebrate Mass for their
departure. Their families were there too: Camille’s three sisters and four of
Guillemette’s ten brothers. They left straight after Mass, followed by the
watchful and slightly worried eyes of their relatives.
They spent the first four days not far from Paris, making
scheduled stops at the homes of friends and acquaintances. They still didn’t
quite realize what this adventure held in store for them. It was on the morning
of the fifth day, that they ventured into the unknown. They had no idea where
they would sleep that night and, most importantly, they had not a single coin
in their pockets. "It was a conscious choice", says Guillemette,
"we wanted to strip ourselves of everything and abandon ourselves to God's
will alone, because He is the one who made this journey possible”. They
eventually arrived at a small village in the Loiret region, where they saw a
castle: "It must be full of free rooms", they thought, as they walked
up to the front door.
Camille with
Veronica, the first stranger to open her home to them
The humiliation of begging
This was still only day five and, for the first time, they
had to ask for hospitality from a perfect stranger. Their request was rejected,
politely, but it was rejected. They realized how humiliating it can be to beg.
But they were determined, and not for a moment did they think of giving up.
They knocked on another door that was opened by an open heart. According to
Camille, they learned a lot from these encounters. “We were surprised by the
extraordinary goodness of these people. Sometimes goodness hides at the bottom
of our hearts and just has to find a way out". Veronica opened her home to
them. In fact, she left the two girls alone in the house because she had
already planned to go out and see a show. Camille and Guillemette settled down
for the night. Next morning, over breakfast, they had time to get to know their
hostess better.
Another evening, after crossing Switzerland, the Italian
Alps, Slovenia and Croatia, they arrived in Bosnia Herzegovina. There they were
welcomed by Pierre, an 80-year-old Serb with years of hard work behind him. He
could not speak any foreign language. Fortunately, his daughter Slavica knew a
few words of English, at least enough to understand each other. Pierre agreed
to host the two girls. "He offered us a single bed," explains
Camille. "When we woke up the next day, we noticed he had slept on the couch
and left us his bed. I don't know if I could have done the same thing”.
Walking in the snow
in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Balkan winter
Guillemette's father is a soldier. He had warned the girls
of the rough winter they could expect in the Balkans. During the period of
their pilgrimage, between November 2018 and February 2019, temperatures were
exceptionally mild: never below -12° and accompanied by a succession of
extraordinary landscapes. Guillemette remembers when they were in Bulgaria, for
example: “We spent a day with our feet in the snow and our heads in the sun.
The landscape before us inspired us to contemplate and to give thanks to God”.
With the wife of
Rustem, the "muhtar" (head of the village) of Kocahidir, Turkey, who
lent them his pajamas
Turkey
Cultural differences can create problems for two girls on
their own, accompanied only by their 10-kilo backpack and a good pair of shoes.
No one was ever aggressive towards them, and they never feared for their
safety, but they did have to put up with the stares of men. Two girls on their
own can also be misunderstood: "They thought we were prostitutes",
says Guillemette. "We had to change our approach and stop smiling at everyone
we met”. Turkey was one of the more challenging stops on their journey, even if
they found extraordinary signs of generosity there.
In Samaila, Serbia,
where the "pope" welcomed them on Christmas Eve...
Churches, place of welcome
They found more than one door closed to them. But that meant
nothing after the reception they were given by Catholic churches in France and
Italy, the Catholic and Protestant churches in Switzerland, and the Orthodox
churches later on in their journey. "Every time, in the parishes, we truly
lived the culture of hospitality". From Serbia to Greece, when the
language barrier became a problem, and when they could not host them
personally, some Orthodox popes wrote letters of introduction for them to
explain their project: these letters were like a real passport.
They were also welcomed in Muslim villages. They would
always knock at the door of the head of the village first. He would either host
the girls himself, or help them find room and board at the home of some other
member of the community. In their 248 nights of pilgrimage, they never slept
without a roof over their heads.
Tea break in
Sülekler, Turkey, with a family gathered to chop wood for the next season
Village humanity
This was the thread that tied their adventure together.
Camille and Guillemette had only one smartphone, which they used to send
messages to their parents, in order to reassure them. As they continued to meet
new people, the list of contacts on their phone got longer and the bonds they
created became sources of constant support: "A bombardment of
messages", says Guillemette. "These people had welcomed us and we had
to respond. We did so, even though sometimes it took a while. And when we were
feeling down, the messages of these people gave us courage”. Every night they
talked about their project to the people who welcomed them. "Every morning
we started an hour late with respect to our program: some new friendship held
us back and we kept talking. We met extraordinary people," says Camille,
her eyes still full of unforgettable memories. They have hundreds of photos of
these encounters, and they have not forgotten any of them.
Long days of walking
through fields and along roads
Self-discovery
Going on pilgrimage with a friend and spending 24 hours a
day together for 7 months, means running the risk of reaching a breaking point.
Since starting out on 10 September, they had the opportunity of getting to know
each other a lot better, and to discover themselves. "I realized I was
proud," Guillemette admits. Occasionally, this caused tensions between
them: "We quarreled, but always over silly things". Camille remembers
one of the biggest and most ridiculous arguments happened when they were in
Italy: "We had to decide whether to wade across a river, or use the
bridge. The river was not deep but you couldn't see the bottom. And there was
an Italian who advised us to cross using the bridge". Trouble was that the
bridge was two kilometers away and Camille didn't want to make detours.
Guillemette insisted on crossing it, though, because it seemed wiser and more
prudent. They laugh when they recount this anecdote, realizing with hindsight
that their argument was completely meaningless. They found themselves arguing
several other times, almost always because of fatigue and low morale... They
passed these tests and today they are inseparable.
Mountains in Turkey
Nearing the Holy Land
Leaving Serbia and before entering Turkey they passed
through Bulgaria. They understood, before leaving Paris, that they couldn’t
cross Syria because of the war. They had to interrupt their journey to catch a
plane. They left from Adalia to reach the Republic of Northern Cyprus, the part
of the island not recognized by the international community and controlled by
the Turks. Then they set off again to cross the island and resume their ritual
of knocking at doors and asking for hospitality. From Larnaka, they flew
directly to Tel Aviv. They landed 40 km from Jerusalem: seven months had
passed, and their goal was finally within reach. Someone suggested they arrive
in the Holy City from the Mount of Olives, to the east. They decided to walk a
few more days and to go around Jerusalem, from the south. They reached
Bethlehem. Their journey revealed all its meaning in this detour. They were
walking in the footsteps of Christ. This is why they had left Paris: for this
very encounter with Jesus.
View of Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Camille and Guillemette had 215 days of walking behind them,
averaging between 25 and 35 km a day, with a few days off from time to time to
recover. The climb up the Mount of Olives coming from the east is not very long
but the slope is tiring. They couldn’t see Jerusalem yet, but they had been
preparing for this first visual contact for weeks. Neither of them had ever
visited the Holy Land. They arrived from the Chapel of the Ascension, high
above the Mount of Olives, passing the Mosque, then the church of the “Pater
Noster”, and before them lay what they had been waiting seven month for. The
view of Jerusalem is magnificent. In the foreground, the Mausoleum of Omar on
Temple Mount, a gigantic esplanade that alone occupies one sixth of the Old
City. They stopped for a moment and exclaimed: "At last!". Then they
began their descent to Jerusalem, stopping in the Garden of Gethsemane, at
Mary's tomb, and right next to it, at the grotto of Gethsemane, where Jesus had
withdrawn in prayer with the Apostles and where he was betrayed and arrested.
They returned to the Old City, crossed the Suk, climbed the Via Dolorosa up to
the Holy Sepulchre and, leaving Herod's Gate, finally put down their backpacks
in the Biblical School. The Dominicans gave them an extraordinary welcome. It
was 13 April 2019. They had walked 5,000 kilometers. Now it was time to rest.
In the garden of the Biblical School they slept in a tent
the Dominicans set up for them. It made them laugh... Since leaving Paris they
had never slept outside. The Dominicans took care of them for 10 days.
They were so happy, and their joy was contagious.
In black, the road
traveled between Paris and Jerusalem
Life afterwards
They never really worried about it, because they entrusted
themselves to Providence, from Paris to Jerusalem. They wanted to
"cultivate" this closeness to God in their daily lives. In Paris, at
the end of their university courses, they had found work. Camille was helping
to raise European funds to support projects for French companies. Guillemette
was a nurse in the Perce-Neige Association, which helps people with serious
disabilities, like confinement syndrome. They resigned from their jobs in order
to make this pilgrimage, and they had no idea what they would do once they
returned to France. But they certainly knew what they would not do: their lives
would not continue without God. Has the pilgrimage sparked a vocation in them?
They don't exclude anything. "I often think back to Pierre, the
80-year-old Serb who gave us his bed," says Camille. "I try to see
myself in a few years’ time, and I hope I too will be capable of such great
generosity”.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:
What are you taking away from your pilgrimage, Camille?
- I would like to say that the challenge of abandoning
yourself to God, and coming to awareness of Him, is something that gives human
life its light and allows it to reach its fullness, giving life its true
meaning. A meaning that goes beyond one's own life and that makes it truly
worth living.
Guillemette?
- As far as I am concerned, I was very moved by the
landscapes, the work of God's creation, during the pilgrimage. They were truly
a source of amazement. All the people too, because they are also God's
creation, in which we believe. They do not belong to themselves but to God. In
the end, considering all this, we saw God's masterpiece.
Camille, Guillemette: 5000 km on foot...
- Yes, more or less, we have not counted them exactly...
...more or less. Would you do it again together?
- Of course!
Yes, together?
- Yes, yes. Sure!
- We would do it again together.
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