In the Northern Hemisphere it is summer, and in Europe the heat is unbearable. Many artists are preparing their holidays, although for an artist there is no real pause in the ongoing story of creation and life. On the contrary, holidays are often an opportunity to enter the project more intensely and more deeply. So I imagine many of you right now bent over maps and GPS devices, designing your holiday routes through every corner of terrestrial geography.

And yet I wonder, walking artists: how many of you have considered walking on water?

A miracle? Not quite. Jesus Christ did it to show his apostles that what mattered was to walk with trust. Nor was he the only one: the Advaitin Padmapada, disciple of Adi Shankara, managed to approach his master because, with every step he took across the waters, a lotus blossomed beneath his feet. This is remembered in Kerala, India, during Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti, the festival dedicated to the great master of Advaita Vedanta.

But without going quite so far in my claims, I myself, as a walking artist, have enjoyed the pleasure of walking on water — well, not exactly "on" it, but almost. It was seven years ago, in the Ebro Delta, in Catalonia, Spain — still a relatively unexplored region for tourists, especially in its northern area. From the village of L'Ampolla, in the province of Tarragona, one can walk through the water all the way to La Marquesa beach, around 15 kilometres. There, the water barely reaches 20 or 30 centimetres. Only in the final stretch will you have to set foot on a little beach sand.

Artist Simon Faithfull, who accompanied us on this walk over the waters in 2019, has made several works with the waters of the world. He does not exactly walk on water, but his work comes very close to it. He spoke to us about this at the Caseta de Fusta in the Ebro Delta, together with geographer Sergi Saladié, evoking the dangers of the Delta's regression and the subsequent loss of alluvial land. I am pleased to announce that, very possibly, this October we will return to the Delta in a new edition of the Grand Tour.

For those who have not yet decided on their route across dry land, here are a few suggestions for walking journeys over water, or almost over water, with your feet submerged only up to the ankles.

The famous Fairy of Galamus, in the Fenouillèdes, in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of France, opened a breach for the water to pass through, leaving high above it the marvellous suspended hermitage of Saint-Antoine. After walking through the waters of the Agly, the brave may climb up to the hermitage to ring the Bell of Wishes, said to fulfil the desires of whoever makes it sound. They can walk downstream, follow the gorge, and end at the hermitage to ask, at the very least, for beautiful dreams.

Mont Saint-Michel can also be reached by walking over the waters, though the crossing is more dangerous, as it cannot be done at just any time. Only when the tide has withdrawn is it possible to walk the five or six kilometres separating the Norman coast from the abbey. Tides are variable and the sea is always unpredictable, so this route is reserved for those willing to take certain risks.

A tidal walk over water can also be made at Cortegada, in the ria of Vilagarcía de Arousa, in Galicia, Spain, already mentioned by Pliny the Elder. At low tide, the distance can be covered on foot through the camiño do carro, the cart track, so called because it was the path marked by the carts that came from the town of Padrón to collect seaweed, later used as fertiliser. From this also came the name of the town and port of Carril.

And to end, there is also a festival: the water-walking Jindo Miracle Sea Road Festival, in South Korea. During an exceptional low tide, a passage of around two kilometres emerges for approximately one hour between Jindo and Modo, and thousands of people cross it on foot, often with the water still around their ankles. The festival combines this collective walk with music, rituals, food and activities linked to the sea. It is almost a massive staging of the miracle of Moses, but with its own local legend: the story of the elderly Bbyong, who is said to have prayed for the sea to open so she could be reunited with her family.

Heat inflames the mind and makes us imagine worlds in which we forget gravity. And yet walking on water is possible. Above all, it is a matter of trust, though trust must be earned through one's own experience. I advise you to throw yourself into the waters, with your feet on the ground.

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