Our man in a van: We’re nearing the end of the road... and hoping Ireland aren’t

It feels appropriate that we’ve parked for the night in Tours, to break up our mammoth, 900km trip from Bordeaux to Lille.

We’ve been reliably informed that the city in the Touraine region of the Loire Valley was historically a stopping-off point for pilgrims heading south towards the Camino walk.

Though headed in the opposite direction, many of the Irish faithful are stopping here for the evening, before heading the rest of the way, on their own pilgrimage of sorts, towards Lille.