Mon. May 9 Roncevalles to Larrasoaña

No More Mud !!!

Another spectacularly beautiful hot sunny day of walking and, no it doesn´t get old. This morning brought shades of the Camino bed race as at 5am everyone was up and rustling about preparing to walk. We walked all day with Dominque and Rene who, we think, appreciated our experience helping them get off to a good start on their Camino - or they could just be patiently indulging us. Dayton is a fountain of good advice and has an incredible memory or every sign, turn, cafe stop and path. We had a our first Camino cafe con leche stop in Viscarret which our two French Canadians say will be one of the easiest things to adjust to on the Camino. We had fun exchanging 'buen caminos' with a couple of young Spaniards who were biking and stopping to treat the other young folk to beers at their Zubiri lunch break, and again in Larrasoaña. Their game plan was basically - bike, bar, beer - bike, bar, beer - bike, bar beer. And they were such a light-hearted delight to meet.

My memory is never as good or clear as Dayton's but it was clear about how steep and muddy our first walk into Larrasoaña was but no more; it is now a long cement-pressed paved boardwalk. What took us an hour of treacherous mindful stepping last time was now a quick ten minute breeze. The other thing I remembered well was the alberque in Larrasoaña, which hadn't changed at all. It was just as charming and comfortable as last time and by that I mean not at all. One couple paid for their beds, had a look at the dormitory, then sold their bed tickets to other naive pilgrims still waiting in line and decided to keep walking. Like last time too was no toilet paper. Honestly, in our alberque in Estella "there will be toilet paper"! We did have a good night though as the four of us choose the only four bunk beds on the main floor foyer - right in the path of the bathrooms but while we had to deal with the nightly flip-flopping and flashlights of those making a midnight trip to the bathroom, we didn´t have to deal with the cacophony of snores and snorts resounding in the crowded upper dorm.

May 8 Orisson to Roncesvalles

Alicia's Stone

This was a day for superlatives: magnificent, spectacular, awesome, glorious and amazing. Under bright clear sunny skies and with a cool, cool wind, we walked over the Pyrenees. I was positively euphoric. We probably climbed more elevation than on our way to Orisson but it was at a much more gradual grade and the views were so wonderful and expansive that it was just awe-inspiring and I was literally crying tears of joy.

There were a few more tears when, at the top of one section of the French Pyrenees there is a cross and we took time to place the stone we had carried from home for our friend Alicia. We wish her love and good health.

All day, we walked with two French Canadians, Rene and Dominque and couldn't help but bore them with how different this crossing was from the blizzard that we faced two years ago. If I could have skipped in my hiking boots, I'm sure I would have. After a couple of hours we crossed the cattleguard that signals the border between France and Spain: "au revoir" and now "hola"!
We enjoyed a few little rest stops and too many to count photo shoots and were in Roncevalles early afternoon. Again the contrast between this time and last was incredible. The place was packed with people as there was a big festival being held. It was almost impossible to move through the crowds. We managed to squeeze our way through to the new pilgrim's office and to the new alberque! No more 120 beds squeezed into a cold, dark, ancient monastery. Now it was a brand new, well appointed IKEA modern facility. Some things haven't changed though, there is still a pilgrim's mass at 6pm and we got reservations at the same restaurant as last time for the early dinner - still can't manage to wait to 8:30 to eat.

So all in all Dayton and I agree that this was one of the best walking days we have ever experienced.

May 7 St. Jean Pied de Port to Orisson

The climb to Orisson was just as tough this year as two years ago but this time the skies were clear and the views were spectacular, as breathtaking as this cardio-intense climb itself. The start of the Camino Frances is baptism by elevation - just straight up. But every time my steps started to flag I just thought of Alicia and reminded myself that she's climbing a much tougher medical mountain every single day right now and is doing it with grace and courage.

We passed several groups of pilgrims having picnics on the side of the path overlooking the steep drops; always a good time to pick up your step and try to look like you're not struggling too hard. Image is everything. Orisson appeared much sooner than expected and we were greeted by a friendly Basque welcome "ongli etorri" from our host Jean-Jacques. Being second time pilgrims staying at his gite, we scored a private room with a double bed. We spent a long afternoon meeting and visiting with all the other pilgrims who decided to enjoy this respite half way up the mountain. One of the highlights of the afternoon was a huge herd of Shetland ponies clomping down the mountain road. Not a sight one sees everyday.

We were also lucky that our clothes were washed and dried before the rains came. It rained all afternoon and evening and the winds were so intense. I was sure we were in for a wet walk over the Pyrenees tomorrow but, in the middle of the night, when I left our little private room and had to go outdoors to get into the main albergue to use the washroom, the midnight sky was ablaze with millions and millions of stars which usually forecasts a clear day.

May 6 Uhart-Mixe to St. Jean Pied de Port 30km

Anne-Marie (Auberge de Pelerins)

Our good natured host guided us to the start of our walk and with a friendly wave and "un bon route" we were off. A warm breeze and a steep climb was our 7am warm-up for this our last day on Le Chemin Le Puy. As usual I was the trail tortoise, as all the other pelerins kept busting past us but I just keep reminding myself that although I may be slow, at least I'm always going forward.

Before long that warm breeze became quite a strong wind which actually made the day quite comfortable. Well except for the hills that is. Our elevation guide was quite deceptive as it showed that we had a very flat day. This was not the case as we went up and down all day. Granted the hills weren't that high but a hill is a hill is a hill. We walked about six hours and then took a great rest and snack at St. Jean de Vieux which left us about an hour to go.

Coming into St. Jean Pied de Port was so different this time but no less exciting. Two years ago when John, Dayton and I got off the train from Bayonne we were anxious excited pilgrims wondering what was in store for us. It was early morning and almost everything except the pilgrim's office was closed. This time we walked in from the opposite direction through the ancient portal and right away we were on the same street as the pilgrim's office; a street that was bustling with bright-eyed, eager pilgrims and lots of charming shops and gites. St. Jean Pied de Port is over-whelmed with pilgrims this weekend and most of the gites were 'competo' (full). Luckily we had reservations at the Auberge de Pelerins and the first person who enthusiastically greeted us was Ann Marie, one of our friends from the first part of our Chemin Le Puy last October. It was so great to see her. Ann Marie arrived in St. Jean at the end of October last year and has stayed ever since. With an amazing instance of serendipity, she is working at the gite where we are staying.

Dayton just went out and bought the new Miam Miam Dodo Dodo book for Spain and looked up where we will be volunteering in Estella. Our albergue is the first one listed for that town and advertises full dinner and breakfast donativo for 32 pilgrims. Time to put our cooking to the test.

Now tomorrow and Saturday we face the Pyrenees. We are dedicating our climb over the Pyrenees to our friend Alicia who is facing a personal medical mountain to climb. We will dedicate every single huffing-puffing, breathtaking step to her and know that our climb is, in the grand scheme of things, so minor. A toi, Alicia.

May 5 Navarrenx to Uhart-Mixe

Welcome To Basque Country - Fries !!!

On a clear day you can see forever. Today was a clear day and forever in the distance were the Pyrenees; so impressive and massive. They completely dominated the entire horizon.

Our Sports Bar gite last night may not have offered an evening meal but it sure offered generous hospitality. Dayton and I waited until the socially acceptable hour of 7:30pm before going out for dinner. We decided to just pick up a pizza and eat it at the tables on the patio of the Sports Bar. Not wanting to appear cheap or take advantage, I went in to order a couple of red wines. The host brought them to our table and said they were gratis from him. After devouring our vegetarian pizza, Dayton went into the bar again, ordered another wine and tipped very gratefully. Ten minutes later our delightfully friendly proprietor brought us out two delicious creme caramel with some liquer drizzled through it. Wonderful and tasty.

We got started fairly early this morning, no petit dejeuner, and left went out under the arch of the huge bastion. After a couple of hours a sign welcomed us to Basque country and not long afterwards we arrive at an Accueil Pelerins - a welcome rest stop for pilgrims. Lo and happy behold, drinks and fries were available. Although it was just before 11am, we had already walked four hours and I figured that a plate of fries was well deserved despite the early hour. They were great and carried me through the next several hours. It was a long confusing way into Uhart Mixe but once again we have scored a great place. It's connected to a restaurant/bar so we can have a glass of rosé (Yes, rosé - my new afternoon delight). Our laundry is done and we just have to rest until our evening meal.

The evening meal, Basque cuisine, was unbelievably sumptuous and wonderful. Catering to the vegetarian was a wonderful vegetable soup, then a platter of salad just for me featuring beets, grated carrots, rice, tomatoes and I was also served a huge, huge bowl of a Basque tomato and peppers stew. My salad should have served six people. The carnivores had the tomato and pepper stew but with sausage in it and it was covered in huge slabs of a country ham. From the groans of culinary ecstasy that were being invoked, I think it was very good. Dessert was fresh fruit, cheese and a chocolate custard pudding served with some sort of liquer. I couldn't identify or translate the name of this after dinner drink but it was watermelon pink, on ice and demanded two extra-strength Advil to deal with its aftermath. Had to have it as we didn't want to insult our lovely hostess Antoinette who I think hired on the entire Uhart-Mixe community to prepare this bon repas. The chance of losing weight walking thirty kilometres a day is getting slim to absolutely none. It's more likely that we won't be able to get our pants done up.

Tomorrow we go to St. Jean Pied de Port - well over 30kms and so far we have been unable to make reservations there. Apparently this upcoming weekend has a huge holiday so everything is booked. We have faith that poor pilgrims will not be left homeless. And then this weekend we tackle the Pyrenees!

BTW - Antoinette got us a reservation at Auberge de Pelerins for tomorrow. Yeah

May 4 Arthez to Navarrenz 32km

Abbaye de Sauverlade

Time flies when you're having fun and it stands still when your feet hurt. I feel like I've spent a straight month is spiked heels. Today was a long hot day but we were able to get an early start as we could get our own petit dejeuner at 6am. It took us almost 40 minutes to get out of town as Arthez is just one street stretching about three kilometres long, as the town is situated along a high ridge. The sun and the heat took over very early and there were lots of climbs to challenge us.

Just before midday, we got to an ancient well preserved abbey. There was a very sacred small chapel gracing one end of the abbey and an Amstel Biere sign at the other end which we took as a sign from above and heeded its call. We stopped to enjoy a snack and soda and to re-meet some of the other pilgrims; a couple of German guys, Marcel and Rolf (the latter whom we'd met at our gite in Moissac the first night.

The heat and the hills took their toll on everyone but none more so than one poor pilgrim who collapsed half way up the last steep climb. Fortunately, there were other pilgrims nearby to offer assistance. When we came across the group, the fallen pilgrim was covered by an emergency blanket and an ambulance was on its way. Once the EMTs arrived and the pilgrim was in expert hands, everyone wordlessly pulled out their water bottles, took several refreshing gulps and continued on their way. An important reminder to stay hydrated even before you realize you're thirsty.

Two more hours and we were in Navarrenz in a chambre d'hote over a sports bar. It is actually better than it sounds as we have our own room and bathroom which is an indulgent luxury on a camino. It does have it's drawbacks as it separates us from the other pilgrims who bravely stay in the communal gites sharing 6 to 8 to a room and often only one bath and shower for all. Guess we'll just deal with the joyful guilt of being on our own.

Arzacq to Arthez de Bearn

Venison Cassoulet

This was a fairly unremarkable day other than the fact that my feet did not feel so tortured. The rain that has been teasing us all week showed up just long enough for us to deal with the hassle of digging out and putting on our ponchos. Dayton and I stopped into a little epicerie with a pilgrim welcome centre to have our lunch and, it turned out, to sit out the rain.

By blind good luck the variant route that Dayton had mapped out for the afternoon took us right by our gite ( which we never would have found if we'd taken the regular route). Our gite was an apartment at the back of a house and dinner was another superlative experience. Our host keeps five adorable sad-eyed hound dogs which he uses for hunting. The bounty of his hunting was offered for dinner - an amazing rich deer stew or cassoulet. Of course, it was not amazing to this vegetarian, nor was the fresh homemade smelly pate, but all the others devoured it. The repas also had plates and plates of fresh crudities, potatoes, celeriac salad, tabouleh and the de rigeur bread and wine. Oh, and all of this was preceded by our hosts version of an aperitif - whiskey neat or some anise tasting liquor. Bon appetit and bon nuit!