Bayonne to St Jean Pied de Port

Bayonne to Cambo Les Baines to St Jean Pied de Port. 

Our day begins with a lazy morning. Finding the post office,we send items we no longer need back home. John purchased a phone, for emergencies. Then we had some cafe con leche and headed back to our room. 

Many of our travel clothes are left in the hotel room. Our backpacks are as light as we can get them. We are both overweight. I suspect mine is 17#. It should be no more than 14#. I will be lightening the load tonight. My soap and lotion bottles are required...but I can empty some out. Muscle and joint herbal cures and oils stay, if at all possible. 

On our walk to the station, we stop at the Bayonne Cathedral for a prayer together. We have asked Our Heavenly Father to watch over us, guide us and help us on our way. We have asked that He hold those we pray for close and help them in their life struggles. We ask for strength to be pilgrims.

Now we begin our our last leg of train and bus rides. The train is filled with backpacks and pilgrims. We have met some Aussies who are doing only bits and pieces of the way. A great many of these folks have done this before. Our Aussie friends have. For a few days, we can follow the group, to insure we get ourselves into the right places.  

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St Jean Pied de Port. The bus from train and bus from Bayonne was filled with backpacks. Our first stop is to register at the Pilgrim headquarters. Everyone on the bus trudged up the hill, over the ancient cobblestone, to register. A fine mist is falling, but the chatter and sharing of stories cannot be dampened. 

After we are registered, we wander around this incredible little village, seeking our first albergue. Our first choice is already full at 1:30. We next wander past a scallop shell on the side of a bar, (we would call it a cafe) and a young woman runs out to ask if we need a place to stay. She has plenty of space, dinner, breakfast and internet. Bonus-we can have a room alone. So we stay. Cite d' EtApe is a beautiful little villa and there are pilgrims starting and finishing here. A couple of Irish women are finished and flying home tomorrow, a man from Idaho is starting tomorrow with companions, and many more pilgrims we met during dinner are, getting going tomorrow or Monday.

Once we know we have a place to sleep, we do some sightseeing. Again, we visit the church here. Mighty small compared to the cathedral in Bayonne, but I can feel God's presence and feel blessed to be taking this first step. Outside of the church is the first fountain of our trip. John filled the first of many water bottles there. All along The Way, water flows from founts, making it easy to stay hydrated. 

The park is filled with Corvettes. Yes, those US muscle cars. And a few vintage Chevys and Fords. I sure wasn't expecting that. I guess men and their cars are the same all over the world. Fast, strong, loud cars!

We must leave our albergue by 8 on Sunday morning. First off, we need to post a warranty for the Euro phone John purchased today. After that, we head to Orrison, where the albergue is full, but they have platform tents with bunk beds we can sleep in. Most people head to Roncesvalle, but this seems to be a crowd of pilgrims who are over 55 and recognize that the journey is not a race. Our walk tomorrow will be about 3-4 hours, with an elevation gain of about 3500 feet. I think we will be very happy that we have our down sleeping bags tomorrow.

Later in the evening, we became amazed that there are so many pilgrims starting tomorrow that the albergue a in town are full. This surprises us, as we thought most of the walkers would be back at work and school. Retirees are making the season shift and keeping the albergues full. We are also watching the weather closely. The fog never lifted in the Pyrenees today. We hope to hike over them, but if necessary, we will walk around them. I've no desire to get lost in those foggy mountains. The decision will be made tomorrow. 

For tonight, a glass of vino blanc with a wonderful meal, engaging conversation and a warm feeling of concern for people I've never met and may, or may not, ever see again. The spirit of The Way is alive and thriving in St Jean Pied d Port. 

Buen Camino

Boyonne is a Jewel

Much like a speed limit, the Paris bus schedules are a suggestion. We arrive 10 early for our bus, it arrives 20 minutes late. In the meantime, I can only hope we make our 8:15 AM train to Bayonne. EuroRail is notorious for running on time, however we are in luck this morning. The Bordeaux St Jean train is also running late. So we continue our journey to the next phase. Smaller, slower and quieter times are ahead. 

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As we approach Bordeaux St Jean, my John says, 'wow, all of those grapes,'. To which I reply, 'duh, Bordeaux'. The train station is beautiful and filled with people heading somewhere. Punatic sorts, complete with their hula hoops, very French women and their splendid ways, families finishing holiday. We ate our packed lunch in the square, and headed to our next connection. Bayonne.

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If I didn't know that Notre Dame is in Paris, I could have been convinced it's in Bayonne.

We were privileged to discover the Bayonne Cathedral, an incredible Gothic designed cathedral that replaced Romanesque cathedrals that burned in 1258 and 1310. The town has been under the control of the Romans, English, Spain and finally the French. But it is thoroughly Basque. This is an area I could return to. Small town feel and the ambiance is delightful. But we walk.

We had our Credencial del Peregrino stamped for the first time today at the Bayonne Cathedral (Cathédrale Sainte-Marie de Bayonne) as it is on the pilgrim path.

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We dined at XTOTX, a Basque bar that had overflowed to the sidewalk. Blood sausage, mussels, calamarie and other tapas filled our bellies. It's just a damned good thing we start walking on Sunday, as the food in the past week has filled us just a bit too much. 

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Back in our room, we've reduced the packs, yet again. It won't be the last time. I suspect we will get a better feel for what we can, and cannot, live without in a few days.

Tomorrow, St Jean Pied de Port and our first albergue.

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Bon Jour Roissy en France

The first time is the outskirts of Paris and I am awake at 4 AM. What's with that? Call it jet lag, if you wish. I call it normal. I'm often awake at 4 AM at home. Am I used to the time zone so quickly? Does this mean I'm built for travel??? My sleep pattern may adjust, but my stomach isn't. I seem to be hungry, all of the time. 

Our 14 hour layover in Mexico City, with precious little sleep in the flight there or for the nights before,was rewarded with over 5 hours of sleep in route to Paris. At our hotel in Roissy en France, we had the pleasure of a shower and some reorganization. After our luggage missteps in Mexico, we were thrilled to see both suitcases on the luggage carousel at Charles de Gaulle airport and overjoyed that everything was intact.

In the evening, showered and bundled up, we strolled away from the pig smell into the small, ancient town. The center of town is Eglise St Elois, a beautiful cathedral built completed in 1597. We enjoyed the gardens of the cathedral, the handsome homes and watching the people. My mastery of the language is leftover from the days my work took me to Montreal. Essentially, I can be polite in French and, thankfully, none of my Montreal associates taught me to swear. 

Dinner was delightful at La Brasserie de Terroir, right around the corner from our hotel. How can pâté melt in my mouth? It was delightful. Charcuterie is an art form here, (perhaps due to the close proximity of the pigs??) so we were compelled to enjoy a plate filled with the local sausage. But for heaven's sake-why would anyone have a pig farm SO close hotels? Which came first-the pigs or the hotels?

What were my lessons of yesterday? Be thankful for the wine served on Air France, as it certainly helps to sleep on 10 hour flights. Use of the towel warmer in the hotel bathroom speeds the drying of our smalls. Carry a camera everywhere.

I'm thankful for this short opportunity to see the outskirts of Paris. I will return, when my agenda is for Paris and for France. But for now, my path is set to The Way. Off we go to Bayonne today. The legendary EuroRail awaits.

Aloha Kapoho

Yesterday morning I viewed our beautiful Kapoho sunrise a bit differently than normal. Knowing that this would be my last sunrise in Hawaii for a number of weeks, I spent more time than usual appreciating the colors of blue, red and orange changing as the sun made it way to my lanai. The breeze making the bamboo wind chime sway, swing and sing was tinged with the sounds of the ocean and our neighborhood duck. I love those peaceful mornings of Kapoho. 

Chasing my thoughts of yesterday, brings me to now, as I try to catch some sleep after our red eye flight to LA. It is such a joy to be with Aunt Pam and Uncle Dean for a couple of days before we travel on. They are world class travelers and enjoy telling us stories, correcting one another's forgetful moments and sharing a glass of port. I hope that John and I will be as loving, caring and entertaining in 20-some years.