Advertisement
We woke up at 7 am and took turns in our private washroom - did I mention to you how great this is... We repacked for the first stage treck - we both dumped a few more items attempting to keep our overall back pack weight under 10 per cent of our body weight - why did I lose that weight - Moore stuFf to throw out.
Our gracious gite owner made us a great petit dejeuner - coffee, tea, oj, cereal, yogurt, toast and home made peach and apple confiture - we were the only two left at the gite - she gave us an encouraging send off and there you have it - we took our first step on our Camino. We were buoyed by a German woman leaning out her hotel window exclaiming this was the first day with sunshine in over a week.
We eagerly walked down the cobbled streets of St Jean Pierre de Port - beautiful weather - beautiful little storelined streets - the smell of fresh bread, flowers and hope - the challenge lay ahead. We were confident !
We arrived at the gate -
the start of the Camino Francis - another tear up - a high five - no fan fare - we took our first step of many to come.
The walk from St Jean Pied de Port to Auberge Orisson is only 8 km - the elevation change however goes from 170 meters above sea level to 780m - we walked hairpin turns up the side of this section of the Pyrenees until the cows came home - and they did - these mountains are strewn with livestock farms - sheep and cattle - none of the above have their horns shorn off - they also share some of the trails that we walk - the trails were covered with mud and cow/sheep patties - thank goodness we had our trek poles. we walked boot deep in mud and manure listening to the mooing of cattle and braying of sheep and the clang of their bells - the only other sound was our panting as we climbed.
We arrived at the Auberge at 2 pm exhausted - 4 and 1/2 hours after we left - twice the time it takes us to walk the same
distance at home - we have drinks - me beer / Tanya sangria - I start this blog - we get the greatest old French cheese and wild cherry jam and scoff it dow with a great baguette. At 6:30 we join the rest of the pilgrims for a great feast - roast pork, white bean and sausage paella, great bread and wine - dessert a wild cherry cobbler. We meet new friends from Ireland and the USA - share a few stories and laughs - Damion from Ireland is a friend of Brendan O'Connor (sp ?) of Mrs. Brown's Boys fame - my favourite Irish TV show - I get the story as to how the series started.
We take turns after supper standing up, stating who we are and where we are from and our goals on the walk - so proud of Tanya speaking in both French and English - no fear that girl.
We are off to bed early as we start early tomorrow on our second stage - 17 and 1/2 km from 780 m to 1,450 m then downhill to 950m - after today the Pyrenees have earned
our respect. We will need our sleep.
Until tomorrow
Piss off of the day - I am jealous of animals that can crap anywhere.
Tip of the day - prepare / prepare / prepare
Blessing of the day - good weather
Funny event - waited for 3 bulls to clear path - realizing minutes later they were cows with horns - I sure as I walked by I saw a smirk on one of the cow's faces.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.075s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 13; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0313s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Lisa Marsh
non-member comment
Great job on the blog - pictures and all - very impressive. Sounds like quite the adventure!!