A Day In The Life

CAMINO FRANCÉS – Day 7: Tuesday 15 April 2025 – Los ARCOS to LOGROÑO (28 [+2] kilometres)

Today saw two milestones. Firstly I have been walking for a week now on the Camino Francés path, with the first seven stages of my planned walk completed, bang on schedule. And second, just this afternoon, on the outskirts of Logroño city be precise, I crossed from the Spanish province of Navarre into the region of La Rioja. If the former county is focussed on agriculture, then the latter is renowned for its vineyards and the fine wines they produce. Logroño, where I currently have my feet up after nearly 30 kilometres on the trail today, is the regional centre of La Rioja, with a population of over 150,000 souls.

As I complete the first week of my Camino trek I would like to thank those who have been following this Blog, both at home and on the path with me at various times over the last week. I have had a lot of new followers joining these last few days, and my thanks to you all for signing up – or just dipping into this website! For the latter, then if you would like to receive an automated email with the daily Blog as each one is published, then simply go back onto the BLOG tab above and scroll down a short way to the bottom of the page to register your email address. Naturally there is no charge and no advertising – I post just words and photos of the great outdoors (plus a bit of music trivia for good measure). Thank you all, and here is how my walk went today.

A number of you have asked about a typical day on the trail. If there is such a thing then it might look something like this: a 6.30 am alarm (seldom needed), dress and pack, breakfast if available (if not then taken at the first village en route), 8.00 am start walking for, say, four to five hours, but with stops for photos, water and points of interest, then lunch (usually in a village café), before another two to three hours of walking. On finding my hotel the process is invariably: unpack, do washing, have shower, put feet up, and plan for the next few days’ routes and accommodation, answer messages and do general admin, ring home, and (in my case) write my Blog. Then it is time to go out for dinner with others from the trail to talk about our journey – a truly international gathering. After dinner, I complete the Blog, and read the news (oh boy). A day in the life!

As a footnote, when I planned my Camino walk I divided the route into five sections for my own convenience. The first section, seven days, was the part from southwest France and through the Spanish province of Navarre, that I have now completed. As per schedule this section has taken me seven days in total, although I walked two long days at the start, and then had two nights and a rest day in Pamplona. The approximate cumulative totals so far read 163 kilometres (101 miles) covered, and nearly 3,500 metres climbed, taking me about 47.5 hours (including breaks) on the Camino path itself. In addition to these stats I have walked another 26 kilometres (16 miles) on diversions to points of interest and on my walking tour in Pamplona, as well as on my evening strolls in the towns and villages along the way. So far I have no strains or blisters (save one on the inside of a thumb from excessive poling) and, perhaps even more remarkably, I have not yet had cause to deploy my waterproofs.

As a Beatles fan, I am very pleased to be able to include ‘A Day In The Life’ as my Blog heading today, and hence to include it on my Camino playlist. The song is a one-off, a unique collaboration of the diverse songwriting skills of John Lennon and Paul McCartney at a stage of the band’s evolution when the pair wrote largely independently (even though they continued to share the credits for each other’s compositions under the Lennon & McCartney banner). The two band members take the lead vocal parts on their respective sections of the song, that was recorded in early 1967 and released in May that year as the closing track on the group’s ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ album. The closing chord must be one of the most famous in popular music history.