via St Jean de Luz to Irun

Catching up with my original itinerary by using the local bus, I was able to set out on foot from St Jean de Luz where I found my first yellow Camino waymarker. Fabulous feeling! A lot of asphalt walking, but I managed to find a path through the middle of the traffic-y roads in proper countryside, mountain views to the south and coast to the north (of course). Nothing to do but walk and breathe and laugh and sing, and think, and not think! I like the sense that the path is hemmed in by hills and sea. There's only one decision to make, and that's to go ahead. Simplicity.

Someone opened her car window and shouted 'buen camino!', for my first time, and it made me sob, actually, that feeling of belonging to this something-special that I'm at last IN.

And, as has often been the case at the start of my long treks, I notice the wonderful vibrancy of the flowers, trees and grasses in the verges. Some of the plants produce just one flower head, modest or glamorous, tiny or grand, others shoot out many stems or trunks with multiple flower heads or branches. I'm thinking about the personality of each, and about human personalities that possibly match. What does my sense of myself suggest I am like? Random thoughts, fun.
The city is buzzing at dinner time, families and couples and groups of people of all ages, kids playing footy in the square, people sitting at outside tables - in coats, as it's pretty chilly, especially in the wind - and I am bemused at not finding somewhere to eat that isn't primarily a bar. But it's fun wandering around; I'm probably missing something key about Spanish food culture. Perhaps it's just too early.
Trying to read the menu and order food in Spanish is hilarious, but I manage.Read more