Aroue-Arüe

Leaving Navarrenx a little later than usual today. It’s a beautiful sky today. I’ve just crossed the river and continue heading south and west, walking 24 Km (15 miles) and gaining 1500 feet of altitude. If you look closely at the horizon on some of the landscape photographs, you’ll see the Pyrenees rising in the southwest.

It’s about 2 PM. I’m sitting outside my gîte / alburque waiting for the magic hour when pilgrims are welcomed. My host just welcomed me in and offered the typical sirop and water. Her our house-made which is not typical and she offers unusual such as sage and lavender.

We are now in Basque country. You’ll notice that the homes have a very neat appearance. Typically the walls are painted white and the shutters maroon. You’ll notice that the signs are written in both French and the Basque language called “Euskera.”

Euskera is considered unrelated to any other language is spoken in Europe. It sounds strange to my ear. When I attended a Mass in Basque country, I didn’t even recognize the Lord’s prayer.

Words of the day:

French
Les cachuètes - peanuts

Basque
kaixo - hello (rhymes with pie show)

Milesker and Mila esker - a thousand thanks

Notes: if you see pictures of cows, look closely and you’ll frequently see white birds walking the fields with them. It’s difficult to get a picture of them because they’re quite easily disturbed. The white birds are called cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis). In French, they are known as the héron garde-bœuf (ox-guard heron). The egrets feed on insects stirred up by the grazing cows. The cows ignore the birds.Leer más