Camino Francés

It's my third day in Spain, and I finally have wifi and actually have the energy to post. A few days ago I stayed in a little town called Ostabat, the last stop before the regular starting point for people doing the Camino. Here's a view of the town.

And here's the view from the very nice gîte I stayed in.

I took a rest day in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, explored the town a little bit, stopped by the pilgrims' office, visited a pilgrim store, did a little shopping without buying anything. This is on the Camino on the way out of town.

Surprisingly, the first day of the Camino Francés portion was not as difficult as I was expecting. I made it without too much trouble, even passing a couple of people. I did walk with them for a bit along the way, a German lady about my age, and an English girl who just finished high school. The German, Julia, is doing two weeks of the Camino because she works for a travel company that sells a Camino trip and she decided it would be good for her to know what it's like. Lily, the 18-year-old, is doing the Camino as a kind of carpe diem experience before she starts at a university. They're both very lovely and I've enjoyed walking with them and talking with them. 

We walked together for most of yesterday, but today Julia's knee is hurting too much for her to walk, and Lily left before I did. But I did talk for a while with a nice Danish gentleman who likes to take walking holidays.

Anyway, as for the first day out of Saint Jean, most of the time was spent climbing a mountain. It was a bit tough going for about the first 10 kilometers and pretty much everyone stopped at the albergue in Orisson (which is really all of Orisson), to eat and get something to drink. I was no exception. But I did not stop again until I was almost to the top. A Basque man had set up a food stand and I bought a Coke and spent some time sitting on the grass, using my handy sit-upon that I made before leaving and decided not to send back to the States because it might still come in handy.

The weather was fairly good all day. It wasn't clear by any means. Instead it was foggy and there were times when we couldn't see much, which was really too bad because I'm sure the view would have been magnificent. But we were able to see some view some of the time. Plus the fog kept us from roasting and kept the temperature in check, though Lily still managed to get sunburnt arms even with the cloud cover. I think the hike was worth it though.

As you might be able to tell from the past few pictures, the path after the first 10k wasn't so bad, though it was still uphill. In fact, we didn't start downhill until at least the last third of the walk, maybe the last quarter. We never actually got above tree line because farther up the mountain there were more trees. It was also a bit surreal. After the cross that you might recognize from the movie The Way, starring Martin Sheen and written by Emilio Estevez, where Martin's character left the first little pile of ashes, there was one more big climb of about 1km, then it flattened out. Except while you walked for a while, it seemed as if the whole world tilted and it was a small struggle to walk straight. Then came the fog and mist through the trees. I was alone at this point and it was easy to imagine I was either back in the Middle Ages or had landed in some fantasy novel or movie and could expect to see knights or a witch coming along the path. Then I would see modern boot prints and the effect would be spoiled a bit, but it was still eerily calm and intriguing.

Before that point there were a lot of people on the Camino but most of them walked faster than me, which is why I ended up alone. I talked to some, and met more at dinner. They came from all over. There were some other Americans of course, and several Spanish. I also met people from Denmark, Romania, even Lithuania and Korea. I have a couple pictures of random people, but this next one is a candid shot of Lily. I don't have a picture of Julia, unfortunately. Maybe I'll see her again and can get a picture next time.

The rock outcropping in this last picture has a statue on it, where many people leave some kind of tribute. I got someone to take a (horrible) picture of me right below it.

The route I took is known as the Route Napoléon. The other possibility is via Valcarlos, so named for Charlemagne, who also took his army across the Pyrenees. Roland's Fountain, however, is on the Route Napoléon.

 

In case you're wondering, that second language on the sign is Basque, the regional language that crosses over the border between France and Spain. Most of the walk that day was in France, until we got to the top and saw this.

In all it was a pretty long day with a walk of about 26 kilometers, which is about 16 miles. It's my longest walk yet but I was able to do it without much problem, even carrying my pack despite its weight of about 15 kilos. I came across Ernst in Roncesvalles and he was surprised and I think a bit impressed that I walked the whole way with it instead of sending my pack ahead like he'd suggested. I must admit I was a bit surprised and impressed myself. Yesterday's walk rid me of being impressed. Only 22km but it seemed farther and the last part, a descent, was dangerous. It was wet, across slippery rock. I almost fell and Lily did fall, though not horribly.

That's much better than some people did. It rained all day and turned much of the forest path into streams and rivers. We did have to cross a few creeks and that plus all the rain meant everyone was soaked despite any ponchos or other rain gear and our shoes were soaked. A couple places were worse than the rest, including one point when we had to cross a gushing creek and there was no bridge, just a rock barrier that the water flowed over. The first rock was tilted, and I think that's what got some people. I passed one woman who had fallen and seemed to be favoring her ribs. She was having trouble walking. Julia told me that another lady had broken her wrist, and one guy broke his arm, so I'm very thankful I made it across uneventfully.

There are a lot more younger people here in Spain as opposed to the mostly middle-aged and retired people walking in France. When the ones I talked to found out I've been walking for about a month already they were very impressed. They're still much faster than me, though, and seem to have more energy when they finish walking for the day. Oh well. I guess I'm just an old lady now.

And here are some final pictures from crossing the Pyrenees (which I did in just one day!).

I stopped early today, because the San Fermín festival kicks off tomorrow and finding a bed in Pamplona would be a nightmare. Apparently they sell all the pilgrim beds to tourists who come for the running of the bulls, jacking up the prices in the meantime. Julia had reserved a bed in an albergue that's normally 15€ per night but she's paying 50€. I didn't want to have to contend with all that, or end up having to walk really far, so I stopped in a tiny town about 10km from the center of Pamplona and for the bed and breakfast included I'm paying less than the normal price of the albergue where Julia's staying.

Bonus: I got to do laundry and it'll dry too because it's sunny today. I did, however, discover something unfortunate. I haven't done laundry the past several days because the weather was bad and nothing would dry anyway. But because it's nice today I decided to hang my damp clothes off of my pack -- a t-shirt, socks, and my underwear. When I stopped today I discovered that I am now minus a pair of underwear. They came off my pack somewhere along the trail. I wanted to go looking for them and asked a group of English speakers who were sitting outside the albergue/bar if they'd happened to see any underwear. One of the girls said yes, she'd seen them hanging off a tree. Quite a ways back. So my panties are somewhere along the Camino Francés, hanging from a tree.

I already lost a pair somewhere because I must have done laundry and just missed putting them in my pack. Now I've lost a second pair. Which means all the panties I have left are the ones I'm wearing. Fabulous!