Notes from Ann

A Huge Project - Completed

I’ve just returned from France, where I completed something that has been quietly shaping my life for years : visiting all 305 towns in France named for Saint Martin of Tours. Five pilgrimages, 14,230 kilometers on foot, and a whole lot of grace later… it’s done. This last loop—68 Saint-Martin towns and 2,792 km around the northeast of France—felt like the perfect culmination of the whole project.  Enormous is the impact of St Martin - 1,700 years after his death, more towns are named for him in France - and throughout all of Europe - than any other person!

As a mendicant pilgrim, I never quite know what each day will bring, but this journey reminded me again and again that people are so good. Soooo good. Embrace the unknown!  About 67% of my nights were unexpectedly spent in family homes—spare bedrooms, corner rooms, kids’ art taped to the walls, warm kitchens with late-night tea.  Formal dinner parties; casual receptions.  Such warmth!  The rest were in municipal or religious spaces, each offered with generous hearts. Everywhere I went, people welcomed me, fed me, encouraged me, and set me back on the path with a smile. I truly couldn’t have done it alone. No pilgrim ever does.  A pilgrimage may be personal, but never every private - A silent pilgrim does the world no good.

This north-eastern route became a cascade of encounters—helpful people, curious people, sympathetic people, people who simply saw me walking and thought, Let’s help her out. And through those encounters, the story spread. Thanks entirely to a wide network of anonymous people who made introductions and insisted, “You should talk to our journalist,” I ended up doing twenty-nine newspaper interviews. Twenty-nine! I never sought them out; they just found me. I felt like a tiny mustard seed lifted by a great, warm wind—carrying the story and virtues of Saint Martin far wider than I ever could on my own. His charity, compassion, justice, equality, and tolerance still resonate so deeply.

Was there a single most memorable moment? Impossible. The whole pilgrimage was stitched together with countless small acts of goodness. And that’s what moves me most: the lived reminder that love prevails. People are good. So good. A pilgrimage may be personal, but it’s never private. Every person who opens a door or asks, “Where are you walking today?” becomes part of it. Jeez, I love being a pilgrim.

And now, the next paths are taking shape. First up, I’m heading to the Santuario de Chimayó in New Mexico for the Christmas Posadas—a cherished pause before the next long walks. Then I’m off to Scotland and Northumbria to continue exploring the 5th- and 6th-century saints, many of whom were shaped—directly or indirectly—by Saint Martin and the monastic community he formed at Marmoutier in Tours. That thread of spiritual lineage fascinates me, and I’m eager to keep following it.

Looking ahead to summer and some of the Via Sancti Martinis, I’m gathering young pilgrims (twenty-somethings) for a Saint Martin pilgrimage from Zaragoza, Spain to Tours. And later immediately after, I’ll be inviting 'more mature' pilgrims to join me from Utrecht, Netherlands to Tours. Both routes are rich with history, story, and opportunities for deep encounter. Details for each are here on the website: Saragosse and Utrecht.

To everyone who walked alongside me—physically or in spirit—thank you. You made this final loop a triumph of human connection and grace. Onward we go, together.  The world needs more pilgrims!