In an offbeat podcast, this journalist recounts his pilgrimage to Brittany

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You will surely recognize his voice. Hervé Pauchon awakened the French for twelve years with his program entitled A time of Pauchonon France Inter.

At the end of September 2024, he was in Quimper (Finistère). Departing from Saint Corentin Cathedral, he began the Turn Breizh (Tour of Brittany).

For a week, he walked to Landivisiau. Nearly 250 km passing through Locronan, Douarnenez, Pentrez…

He recounts his adventure in his podcast : The Ballad of Pauchon. For thirty minutes, he interviews people he meets during his journey: farmers, residents of small villages or artisans.

“What is your dream?” »

With his own approach, he generally begins by describing the people: “There, there is a young woman who has lots of… what do you have on your tables? »

Once the discussion begins, life stories follow. And all his interlocutors answer the questions: « QWhat is your dream? » or “what makes you happy?” »

“The goal is to get people to tell their stories,” he explains. The first episodes have just been released.

Tro Breizh: a pilgrimage like no other

A support agency in the creation of sacred paths, Via Compostela, commissioned a series of podcasts on the Tro Breizh. The goal? Share this journey.

It’s less known than Compostela, so there isn’t that business side. And when locals see pilgrims, they are friendly and curious. They tell me “oh I’m interested in what you tell me, come and have a coffee”

The Tro Breizh is a route that connects the cities of the seven founding saints of the Brittany : Dol (Samson), Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Quimper (Corentin), Vannes (Pattern), Saint-Malo, Saint-Brieuc, Tréguier (Tugdual).

Unlike other French pilgrimages, the Tro Breizh constitutes a loop. So everyone can start from wherever they want.

All along the route, stoats indicate the way.

This is not his first attempt. Before undertaking the Tro Breizh, Hervé Pauchon had carried out several pilgrimages. The first, in 2022, followed a disappointment at work. Actor in films by Jean-Pierre Mocky or Jean-Paul Rappeneau with Cyrano de BergeracHervé Pauchon was mainly a radio host.

A show with 1,898 episodes

He made his debut at Radio France during the founding of the former station Radio 7, in 1980. He then worked for 25 years at France Inter, including twelve years with his own program called A time of Pauchon. Current affairs reports, always with a slightly offbeat tone. A show which has 1898 episodes.

But his career at Radio France ended in 2020, when he was fired. A change that affected him deeply.

I said to myself that maybe radio wasn’t for me. I wondered what I was going to do. Maybe go back to cinema? I took time for myself, I took care of my children. But very quickly, I found the time long.

An initiatory journey

This is how he embarked on his first major pilgrimage, “1840 kilometers precisely”, he remembers. The path to Compostela. He left, as tradition dictates, from the Tour Saint-Jacquesin Paris, March 21, 2022.

After saying goodbye to his wife and children, he embarked on a two-month and one-week walk.

I remember walking 54 km in a single day in Spain because I couldn’t find accommodation.

This journey turned out to be a real initiatory journey. He celebrated his 60th birthday there. And made his podcast On the way to Compostela.

When it was published, it was such a success, with a million listens, that he turned it into a concept: The Ballad of Pauchon.

Armed with his microphone, he went through a long series of cult marches : the Diagonal of the void going from the Ardennes to the Landes, from Strasbourg to Brest, or even in the tropical forest, in Guyana.

I am not at all looking for physical performance. What I’m looking for is to reconnect with my emotions. I even cry during my walks.

And he felt this emotion several times on Tro Breizh thanks to great encounters, like this one:

Her name was Louise, a young farmer. When she answered the question “What makes you happy?” “, she told me that what she loved was combining her two passions: music and agriculture. And she began to sing there, in her stable. A simple voice… It was very moving.

And what’s next? He will release his book in 2025 about his 1,340 km pilgrimage: The Diagonal of the Void.

Practical information. The podcasts can be listened to online at https://shows.acast.com/de-saint-jacques-a-compostelle

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