The main aim of our European trip was to walk the Camino, with Paris being a happy bolt-on for me. For centuries, pilgrims came from all over Europe on pilgrimage; of course, some started or passed through Paris. On our first day in Paris, we were walking down Rue St-Jacques, and I spotted the familiar shell icon on the footpath. Before I saw the shell, I had not realised I was on Rue St-Jacques, but that clued me in. Finding scallop shells was a little bit like a treasure hunt, one that I would continue as we made our way into Spain, the following week.
Walking back to our hotel from the Marais, I passed the Tour Saint-Jacques in the Châtelet district. This is all that remains of the Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie. The church was sold as a stone quarry during the Revolution on the condition that the tower wasn’t touched. This tower is the starting point of the Via Turonensis, one of the four starting points of the Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago) in France, which join at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port before crossing into Spain. It is listed as a World Heritage Site as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.
The Statue of Saint James dates from between 1485 and 1515. It depicts Saint James as a pilgrim wearing a hat decorated with scallop shells, a cloak, and a bag also decorated with scallop shells. Traces of his pilgrim’s staff can also be seen. This was a typical depiction of Saint James in medieval religious art.
Once pilgrims left Paris, the way splits off to go via Orleans or Chartres and rejoins at Tours. I intend to write another post about my day trip to Chartres, but I wanted to highlight this depiction of Saint James on the facade the Chartres Cathedral. Note his pilgrim bag with the scallop shells.
Bonus: The other more modern treasure hunt, and there’s a lot more of these, is Invaders—the mosaic street art dotted around Paris. Here’s some favourites:
Do you ever engage in an informal treasure hunt in your hometown or when you travel?
Comments
12 responses to “Looking for Signs of the Camino in Paris and Chartres”
Love this kind of treasure hunt! But what’s the significance of the shells (showing my ignorance here)?
Oh, what fun, I’ve never seen a treasure hunt quite like that, and in Paris? What a great setting. I love that there’s still so much history still in place in Paris too. How far in the end did you walk?
I love this kind of thing, wandering, finding hidden gems, learning about history and things I did not even realize or think about! That is so fun. I have a question for you and I can’t find an email, so I will ask it here (sorry). Was the Camino super busy? Did you feel like you got to experience the spirituality of the pilgramage or was it just a cluster most of the time? I don’t know why but I picutre it as a hoard of people all walking at the same time, and don’t know if I would like that. I wonder if (1) it is actually nice or (2) it is not like that at all.
I’ve never done this kind of thing while traveling, although we’ve followed a guide book in Boston to hit a series of historical sights. This looks really enjoyable. Is the Camino in Italy too? I think there are people from our parish who went and walked it a few years ago, but maybe I’m getting it mixed up with something else.
There is a pilgimage route in Italy that goes to Rome, through Tuscany.
I love a good treasure hunt! I did not realize the Camino started in Paris! I know of another couple that did the Camino one summer with their daughter in a stroller! I can’t imagine doing that but they are very adventurous. They are both teachers so had the summer off to do this.
There are many different paths to Santiago, because the pilgrims came from all over. Most people who want to do the Camino in France do the Le Puy route, but all the French ones meet up at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to go over the Pyrenees.
I remember seeing one or two of those shells in Paris, but I had no idea of what they meant, how cool!
Luckily I kind of knew what I was looking at, but I didn’t realise they had them in the pavement in Paris.
oh, this is fun… I love how they do this for visitors 😉
That mosaic art is fun. What a fun way to explore a city. And the shells are interesting too.
So is the shell the sign for Camino?
Yes the scallop shell is the sign of the Camino. They’re not sure exactly when or why the tradition happened, but Santiago is not far from the sea and pilgrims would collect a shell to take home.