Protestants at Mass

[David planning Le Chemin de St Jacques/El Camino de Santiago]

I have a question about religious practices in rural France and Spain -
I expect to be spending Holy Week in various stages before and after Le Puy,
and arriving in Santiago on June 14.

What's the expectation these days when Protestants attend Catholic Mass along
the Camino?   When I attended a (Catholic) Marriage Encounter about ten
years ago in Menlo Park, the priest told us that only those who accepted all
the teachings of the Catholic Church could take communion, but everybody
else could come up for a blessing, as I did.    Then last year when I attended a
funeral in Palo Alto (adjacent to Menlo Park!)
for a man who had converted to Catholicism during his final illness,
the priest said he didn't care about "postal zip codes," meaning denominations,
and all were welcome to participate in communion.   I was surprised but
I took a wafer and held it expecting to intinct it in the cup of wine, and
was even more surprised when there was no wine offered to anybody, and so
consumed the wafer without wine.

So clearly everything I know is wrong.    I expect higher than average
ecumenicality along the Camino, but it's mostly passing through conservative
rural areas.    So what's the correct expectation these days?   I'd rather
not be part of any misunderstandings, but neither would I like to miss
the traditional pilgrim services and blessings.




My plan so far is at http://camino.oakapple.net
I guess it's about time to buy airplane tickets.
It looks like SJC->STL->LON->SJC might be about $1050
and a combination LON->LYS and SCQ->LON about $150 (!).
SJC=San José, STL=St Louis, LON=London,
LYS=Lyon, SCQ=Santiago.
STL is to attend the pilgrim gathering in Missouri.