Hostel Le Chemin

From April 2014 to October 2025, with a lot of help, we renovated an old farmhouse in Burgundy and, together with other volunteers, welcomed more than 6,500 pilgrims there, on the basis of donations (donativo). The hostel is located in the hamlet of Le Chemin (the way!), in the municipality of Anthien, 25 km south of Vézelay.

In the Middle Ages, Roman roads were still widely used, including by pilgrims. The inn is located on one such ancient Roman road. The barn was originally an abbey farm, built between the 12th and 14th centuries. Pilgrims could probably stay there overnight.

The first deed mentioning the house opposite the barn dates from 1496. At that time, it was a stately home, first belonging to the Lords of Le Chemain, then to the Lords of Villemolin. They sold the farm to their tenant, Perreau, in the mid-19th century. In 2000, pilgrim Karel, who happened to be passing by, bought the now former farm. In the barn, he welcomed the first pilgrims along the then newly marked Pilgrims' Way from Vézelay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. 

At the beginning of 2014, we took over from him. We converted the barn into a workshop and turned the house opposite into a pilgrim hostel. During the renovation, we continued to welcome pilgrims as usual...

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Photo album

Renovation of the hostel: 2014 - 2017 (photo album by: Karel Smetsers and many other photographers)

Home for pilgrims (2018)

This documentary about our hostel was made by Gerald van Bronkhorst during the annual pilgrimage of the Pères de Famille to Vézelay. A group of men from Meudon and Sèvres (near Paris) walk to our hostel on Friday, spend the night there, and continue on to Vézelay the next day. There they meet dozens of other groups from other places and directions, spend the night on a large site at the bottom of the hill of Vézelay, and celebrate several services together in the Basilica of Sainte Marie-Madeleine. Texts in French, Dutch (subtitled in French), English (idem), German (idem).