Adventure on Camino Francis

August - October 2022

Hi there! I’m off to hike the famed El Camino de Santiago—Europe’s longest and most storied pilgrimage route - starting September 3. I’m taking the Francis Route that starts in SJPDP, France and takes me over the Pyrenees and down into Spain. Read more

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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Aug 31, 2022, 11:08am
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 42 m
- United States Connecticut Town of Darien Noroton Heights 41.101078, -73.51051341°6’4” N 73°30’38” W
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Day 1
All set for the big trek!
August 31, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
All packed and ready to go! My pack weighs 12.5lbs - will lead a minimalist existence for the next couple of months. I’m taking a flight to Paris and then a train and bus to St-Jean-Pied-De-Port (SJPDP), France, where I’ll start my trek.Read more
Traveler You are awesome! So excited to follow you on your journey…. From the comfort of my couch 😁
8/31/22Reply
Traveler 😆
9/1/22Reply
Traveler Haha, Happy to oblige!!
8/31/22Reply
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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Sep 2, 2022, 4:10pm
- ☁️ 22 °C
- Altitude: 177 m
- France Nouvelle-Aquitaine Uhart-Cize Béhérobie 43.169418, -1.25417143°10’10” N 1°15’15” W
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Day 3
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
September 2, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Arrived yesterday. Train from Paris to Bayonne and then a bus to SJPDP. Spent the first night at a farmhouse and second at a B&B. Both inn keepers are super friendly and helpful. Had community dinner with friendly peregrines. What an international crowd - Brazilian, Danish, Aussie, New Zealander, German, British, Swiss, American and French. All under the same roof - many together in a dorm. Except for 2 of us, the rest were under 30.Read more
Traveler Great pictures!
9/2/22Reply
Traveler Awww you look so cute!
9/2/22Reply
Traveler Amazing photos!
9/2/22Reply
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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Sep 3, 2022, 8:47am
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 308 m
- France Nouvelle-Aquitaine Saint-Michel 43.142628, -1.24148343°8’33” N 1°14’29” W
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Day 4
Camino Kickoff !!
September 3, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Day 1 to Borda - was an absolutely beautiful climb to Orisson! I went from singing “I’m leaving on a jet plane….” to “Heaven, I’m in heaven….”
Traveler Yay!! You look so good
9/3/22Reply
Traveler Surprisingly, I felt v good! Considering I only got a couple of hours of sleep due to jet lag hitting me!
9/3/22Reply
Traveler Beautiful weather for hiking!
9/3/22Reply
Traveler Yes! Overcast and quite cool.
9/3/22Reply
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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Sep 4, 2022
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Altitude: 868 m
- France Nouvelle-Aquitaine Arnéguy Bois d’Orisson 43.101433, -1.23873743°6’5” N 1°14’19” W
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Day 5
Over the Pyrenees - From France to Spain
September 4, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Day 2 to Burguete - This was a toughee!! About 14 miles slow uphill to 2500’ climb and then a fast descent. I took the longer route that was a little less steep coming down - still felt it on my knees 😀
The day before was also 2500’ climb - but in 5 miles and no descent. I much preferred that.Read more
Traveler Absolutely stunning!
9/5/22Reply
Traveler Wow this is gorgeous!
9/5/22Reply
Traveler There was a fierce 50mph wind blowing almost all day. Not cold, so very bearable.
9/5/22Reply
Traveler I don’t know. Quite like that fierce look.
9/5/22Reply
Traveler Haha!
9/5/22Reply
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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Sep 5, 2022
- ⛅ 22 °C
- Altitude: 1,362 m
- Spain Navarre Auritz/Burguete Roncesvalles 43.034981, -1.29117543°2’6” N 1°17’28” W
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Day 6
An easy day…
September 5, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Day 3 to Bizkarreta - I couldn’t find a place to stay tonight in Zubiri so booked one in Bizkarreta which is only 9km from Burguete. As I meandered my way to Bizkaretta, I found the cutest little town, Espinal, on the way so stopped for photos and a coffee.
Bizkaretta is also nice, but not much going on here and couldn’t find any restaurant open. Luckily the Inn keeper made a delicious meal for 9 of us pilgrims.
I’ve been listening to Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and todays trek was the perfect setting for it!Read more
Traveler Such Spanish hospitality!
9/5/22Reply
Traveler Yes!
9/5/22Reply
Traveler A few days back I learned, thanks to bumbling along in Wordle, that the corner masonry blocks are called quoins. Now they are everywhere in your pics. 😂
9/5/22Reply
Traveler You learn something new everyday! Now I know it too 😀
9/5/22Reply
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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Sep 7, 2022
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Altitude: 470 m
- Spain Navarre Pamplona Plaza Consejo 42.812496, -1.64410142°48’45” N 1°38’39” W
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Day 8
Made it to Pamplona!
September 7, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Day 4 and 5 Pamplona - Had to make up for the easy day before - walked 32 kms from Bizkaretta to Pamplona - with some significant climbs and a serious descent! Luckily I ran into a woman who had done this route before and she knew where to find the elevator that takes you up to the walled city of Pamplona. Saved me about a hundred steps up 😀. Spent 2 days in Pamplona to recover from it!
Having listened to Hemingways book en route and to the vivid description of the 7 day bull festival I decided to check out the bull ring. They had a self guided tour with photos and videos of the whole process including the famous bull run. I’ve added a video of a small section of their show.Read more
Traveler I like the path!!
9/7/22Reply
Traveler Amazing!! Really made up…
9/7/22Reply
Traveler 20 miles! Wow, you rocked it! Enjoy the sights.
9/7/22Reply
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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Sep 9, 2022, 6:41pm
- ☀️ 24 °C
- Altitude: 490 m
- Spain Navarre Cirauqui 42.675751, -1.89226242°40’33” N 1°53’32” W
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Day 10
Pamplona - Puenta La Reina & Cirauqui
September 9, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Day 6 and 7 in Uterga and Cirauqui - This was a beautiful hike. First a significant ascent to Perdón Peak walking along gigantic windmills overhead and then stopping to take pictures of the monument of the Santiago Way which depicts a group of pilgrims from different periods crossing the line of windmills. Very iconic. After a very steep and rocky descent (that almost killed my knees) stayed last night in a cute Albergue in the town of Urtega.
Left early this morning and had a much needed breakfast and coffee in Puenta La Reina. Admired the 13th century doorway of the Santiago church and crossed the Arga River over a beautiful Romanesque bridge to get to tonight’s Albergue in Cirauqui.
Cirauqui is a beautiful medieval village perched on top of a mountain. The path to Cirauqui goes through recently harvested grain fields, vineyards and several fig trees growing along the side. The albergue overlooks the Romanesque church at the top of the hill - just one more final climb for the day!Read more
Traveler 🙌🏾
9/9/22Reply
Traveler Magnifica!
9/9/22Reply
Traveler iOS tried to autocorrect “dogsbody” 😂. Not in the business of expanding vocabulary 🙄.
9/9/22Reply
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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Sep 11, 2022, 9:49pm
- ⛅ 28 °C
- Altitude: 425 m
- Spain Navarre Estella-Lizarra 42.670849, -2.02876542°40’15” N 2°1’44” W
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Day 12
Estella
September 11, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Day 8 and 9 Estella - Arrived here, in Estella, yesterday via Lorca and Villatuerta - small towns with prominent churches. The walk was quite uneventful with the usual ups and downs through fields and of course laden fig trees, olive trees and grape vines.
Today I wandered around Estella and saw it’s beautiful old buildings. The tourist office is in a Baroque Palace and the town museum that houses the works of Gustavo de Maeztzu is in the former Romanesque palace of The Kings of Navarre. There were also two churches to see after climbing 100s of stairs - and being a Sunday, everything was only open from 11:30am - 2pm! Needless to say I had a busy afternoon!Read more
Traveler Hope you slid DOWN the banister 😁
9/11/22Reply
Traveler That’s a lot of steps!
9/11/22Reply
Traveler Beautiful!
9/11/22Reply
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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Sep 13, 2022, 3:53pm
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Altitude: 500 m
- Spain Navarre Sansol 42.55415, -2.26774242°33’15” N 2°16’4” W
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Day 14
Villamayor de Monjardin and on to Sansol
September 13, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Day 10 Villamayor de Monjardin and Day 11 in Sansol - From Estella to Villamayor was a nice 11 mile walk past the Iratxe monastery, on the side of which is a popular fountain that dispenses water and/or red wine. I could only take a sip of this - too vinigery for my taste!
Villamayor is a small town and I stayed at a wonderful Albergue run by volunteers from various countries - a German, 2 Italians, 2 Dutch and 3 Americans. I stayed in a dorm with bunk beds with 2 Korean women, one Swedish girl and one Canadian man who snored all night! But the dinner was amazing! The volunteers set up tables on the terrace overlooking the Romanesque Church and distant vineyards. 21 pilgrims and 8 volunteers from about a dozen or more countries ate under a sky threatening to rain, along with the thunder and lightening! Managed to finish before the heavens opened up to pour out the much needed rain.
Soon after dinner we were invited to a meditation and prayer session. We came together in a low cavernous room set up with low sofas and cushions and dim lights. Mint tea was served. After some spiritual mumbo-jumbo and meditation we sat around and everyone recounted experiences on the Camino. It was very nice, peaceful and very, very friendly - a special Camino experience.Read more
Traveler I was wondering about the photos… relieved that they are coming…
9/13/22Reply
Traveler 😀
9/13/22Reply
Traveler What’s going on with the knee?
9/13/22Reply
Traveler My osteoarthritis acting up! It’s the extra weight of the backpack, so for a few days am having my bag transferred….
9/13/22Reply
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Traveler Adventure on Camino Francis
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- Sep 15, 2022, 7:03pm
- ⛅ 23 °C
- Altitude: 410 m
- Spain La Rioja Logroño Teatro Bretón de los Herreros 42.465046, -2.44861242°27’54” N 2°26’55” W
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Day 16
From Sansol to Logrona
September 15, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Day 12 and 13 in Logrono - The Albergue Palacio de Sansol turned out to be an amazing place. It was a 320 year old palace lovingly restored by the current owner, José Maria. His family had owned it in the early 1900s and then sold it. Jose bought it back for €30,000 in the 1990s and more recently spent a millón euros to restore it into a really charming albergue.
The pilgrim dinner was cooked by Jose and consisted of a watery soup of what looked like celery to me - but turned out to be artichoke stems. I was among the 5% that didn’t particularly like it (it needed some masala). Luckily there was a twenty-something sitting next to me who was starving and had my share - so was not wasted. This guy is an aspiring actor from LA - so we took a selfie I can show off one day.
The next morning, yesterday, I reluctantly left Sansol - I had such a nice room, I wanted to hang out - and made my way to Viana, the halfway point. That path, all 11 kms - was a complete knee buster - there were seriously steep climbs and descents all the way to Viana. At Viana I found I had caught up with all my dinner friends who had left at 6 am because there was a bull festival happening in town and they were hanging out waiting for it. I watched the fireworks and the procession with them but didn’t wait for the bull run because of the timing. I had another 10km to get to Logrono.
Logrono is a vibrant town. One neighborhood is devoted to tapas/pinchos bars and people hang around there snacking and drinking. Nobody eats dinner till 9 or 10pm. The town has a beautiful cathedral, Santa María de Palacio, and I got a much coveted stamp in my pilgrim passport - the lady at the tourist office said that it was hard to get.
Last night, as I sat outside with a glass of red Rioja, some of my Sansol friends showed up and we ended up having more wine along with some a amazing but weird tapas. Surprisingly the 2 glasses of wine didn’t give me a headache!
I spent 2 nights in Logorno. And btw, I’ve completed a hundred miles walking the Camino….Read more
Traveler Congrats on 100! Love the photo descriptions—feel like I’m there with you.
9/15/22Reply
Traveler 👍🏽
9/16/22Reply
Just what we’re having! We have cheeks and feet too! Miss you! [Juliet]
9/15/22Reply
Traveler Haha, you certainly have some cheek!!
9/16/22Reply
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