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France Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

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  • Camino de Santiago
    2222
    Day 4

    1st stop - Orisson,

    Yesterday in France ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F

    The 1st steps of our pilgrimage began at 0645 this morning.
    3 hours and 2200 feet of elevation gain later to a welcome stop for food and coffee at Refuge Orisson.
    Today’s walk was as steep as I think we’ve ever walked for such a long distance- 4823 feet elevation gain over 16 miles.
    It was definitely a test of endurance and will. Thankfully, it was cool and foggy the first 2/3 of it and beautiful, sunny and blue sky the last. Proud to say we made it. I’ve been told todays crossing the Pyrenees is the most arduous of The Way. We will see.
    I dunno though, 9 hours folded up like a taco shell on the flight to Madrid runs a close second .
    Good night!    Read more

  • TravelerIl cammino
    1
    1
    Day 1

    sanitjean-orissons 8

    April 22 in France ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Sveglia doccia colazione
    Dalle idee all'azione
    Senza indugio o incertezze
    Sono pronta per l'ebrezza!!
    Oggi è dura, la strada è erta
    Piove forte, sono incerta
    Quanti dubbi in un momento
    Ohi la mente, che tormento!!!!Read more

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  • TravelerThe Beauty of Moving Slowly
    11
    Day 1–2

    St Jean Pied de Port

    April 17 in France ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Hola pingüinos, or more accurately, bonjour les pingouins because I’m still in France – just.

    I’m in the village of St Jean Pied de Port in south-west France after having spent 60 hours getting here thanks to a baggage handling problem in Paris and a missed train connection. But, here we are, and I’m sitting over a beer next to the River Nive before setting out on the Camino Santiago, el Camino, tomorrow. The Nive, by the way, is the lowest point on the Camino so it’s all up hill from here.

    St Jean is a beautiful little village and the most popular starting point of the Camino, although many Spanish pilgrims will say that it really starts in Roncesvalles where I’ll be heading tomorrow. St Jean has a long and colourful history that includes Richard the Lionheart, Napoleon, Roland, Charlemagne, and others. Today, the town is buzzing with family groups and a lot of pilgrims who will be setting out tomorrow. On the train in today, there was a large contingent of Koreans who are about to set out and their excitement was palpable.

    I’ll leave you to explore St Jean on-line if you like but it is worth a look and my photographic skills can’t compete with more able artists who can be found.

    While there are many people from all around the world, there are also some friends of mine who will be completing their own Caminos, and some who are just around because I know you like to hear from people like Efren Gonzalez who many of you enjoyed listening to last time. I’ll include a link to Efren’s video of the daily walk for you in each post and here is his first one. It's an overview to whet your appetite.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux1hAlG9ETA&amp…

    Pete from Sydney is starting out with me tomorrow and, when we reach León in around three weeks time, Catherine and Lorraine from Point Lonsdale, and Vanessa from Sydney will be commencing their Caminos as well. As I’ve explained to many of you who have asked, we don’t walk together all day, every day, because we all walk at a different pace, but we do hook up at the end of each day for a drink and we will tell lies to each other about how great we think we are.

    Regarding my expectations, I’d like to remain open to the possibilities that the universe and the Camino will provide. While that side remains an open book, I do enjoy the scenery, the sights and sounds of nature, living in my head for a month, the food, the culture, and the camaraderie that I will experience along the way. I’m hoping to take more photos this time around on my humble iPhone and I hope you enjoy what we might see together.

    I’ll try to post each evening so that you’ll have something to accompany your morning coffee (for the followers in Oz), but that will all depend on the internet gods and the wifi connections that I will have at each stop.

    Anyway, that’s enough from me, I’ve include a few pics below but hopefully tomorrow will bring new vistas and more faces along The Way.

    Buen Camino    Read more

  • TravelerCamino De Santiago (Francés)
    1
    Day 7–8

    On our way: SJPDP to Borda

    April 13 in France ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    At breakfast this morning, we met a wonderful guy from Ireland that comes to the Camino Every Year!!! And later on, we took our own first steps of the journey.
    It was a foggy, rainy morning and at times we could not see beyond a couple of feet away. There was a good number of pilgrims starting and we could feel the excitement in the air.
    The first day was challenging at times because of the elevation, but with good company and a slow pace, we made it to Borda without problems.
    Immediately after leaving St. Jean, we met Shawn and Jamie from Alabama, and Stephanie from the Netherlands, first timers also. So we kept company, we laughed, and shared stories until we arrived at Orrison, where they stayed for the night.

    At Borda, we were met by Laurent, the owner, who gave us a little history of the place. He cooked dinner for all 16 guests and will do breakfast tomorrow.
    There, we met Jaquelina from the Netherlands, and we walked back to Orrison for some lunch. There we met our friends from Alabama again and had a fantastic time discussing religions, our backgrounds, spirituality and everything in between.
    Borda was the perfect place to spend the first night and get to feel the Camino.
    Jaquelina said something that stayed with me today.
    She took the picture of us amid the fog and she said: “Every time you look at this picture, people will see just that, a beautiful picture, but you will remember us all, all of us who shared the table and walked today, the people you will never see again and belong only to this moment, just this one moment. That is all there is.”

    That was so true of our dinner. Laurent prepared an amazing home cooked meal of vegetable soup, a traditional basque dish with pork, onions, and peppers, creamy potatoes and a chocolate mousse dessert.
    The conversation and laughter was non stop and it was like we had been friends forever, this strangers that will probably never cross paths again.
    An unforgettable start!

    At the table: North Korea, Iceland, Norway, Netherlands,
    USA: Washington, California, Virginia, North Carolina.    Read more

  • TravelerJakobsweg '25 / Camino Francés
    1
    Day 2

    Nire ibilaldiaren hasiera Palmondoan

    April 13 in France ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    … das war Baskisch „Start meiner Wanderung am Palmsonntag“ in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Zum Auftakt meiner Reise habe ich an der Messe auf baskisch beigewohnt. Wer das baskische mal gehört hat, dem fällt es schwer die Sprache einem Platz in der Welt zuzuordnen.

    Zum Nachwandern:

    https://www.komoot.com/de-DE/tour/2143491012?re…    Read more

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  • TravelerCamino De Santiago (Francés)
    1112
    Day 6–8

    St. Jean Pied de Port

    April 11 in France ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    St. Jean Pied de Port… I am here!!!
    It was amazing to see the train packed with pilgrims and hearing so many different languages!
    St. Jean in a beautiful little town tucked in the foothills of the Pyrenees, with narrow, cobblestone streets and old basque facades.
    The town was surprisingly quiet at 6:30 pm already and by 9, after settling in my room and taking a shower, it was difficult to find a place to have dinner.
    But I found it! And to celebrate, I treated myself to a nice steak and a glass of sangria.
    1st. Night Stay: Gîte Le Chemin vers l'Etoile.
    10 bed room, 8 men and only two women: myself and a lady from Australia who was beyond excited and a little uneasy about having been placed with so many men.
    The night was quiet, but we were up to a rude awakening in the morning when most of the men got up, turned on the bright lights and starting chatting and laughing like there was nobody else still sleeping.
    2nd. Night Stay: Gite D’Etape Zuharpeta.

    To celebrate the beginning of the walk, we had a nice dinner of traditional dishes and some Basque cider.
    Then we walked over one of the places in the movie “The way,my way” and had another drink before retiring for the night.

    We can hear the thunderstorm and the rain coming down. I guess we will have the full Camino experience tomorrow!    Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances 2025
    1571
    Day 1

    Bayonne Day 1... 💜

    April 1 in France ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    After an incredible day navigating my way from Madrid and arriving at Ben and Elodie's, I had to force my brain to STOP thinking and go to sleep. Last I looked at the clock, it was nearly 3 am! I finally awoke just before 1:00 pm!! It felt amazing to sleep that long. After a shower and a delicious omelet for breakfast (it still counts as breakfast at 2 p.m., when you've "fasted since 7 a.m., the day before!! 😂), we headed to the beach for a long walk! The views gave me goosebumps, as it finally hit me that I was nearly halfway around the world on another continent! We walked nearly 5 miles. With the company of Ben and Elodie, the amazing views, it was nothing short of spectacular! 💜Read more

  • Camino De Santiago 2024
    21
    Day 2

    Mad Cow Attack

    September 23, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Today was 8k uphill on a glorious day for hiking through the Pyrenees. We started off slowly enjoying an espresso in SJPP before we left. I was feeling a little nervous about the long walk ahead. Todays lesson which cannot be underestimated was the need to focus on todays journey and not the enormous big task ahead. We need to get into a rhythm and everything’s a bit clunky at the start. I’ve fussed around with organising where to put things in the backpack and bumbag and keeping the important things accessible. The views all the way up today were just gorgeous, beautiful mountain scenery, very green and leafy with enormous expanding vistas in all directions. A few hawks flew overhead but mostly it was peaceful. We were delighted to hear cowbells and cows wandering on the track in front of us. They looked cute and gentle. But be warned! Cows are dangerous. To our surprise and shock one of them attacked Michael. Sounds dramatic but he was gored in the chest and knocked backwards off the track. Michael sustained a red graze on his chest, and was bleeding from the leg where he went into bushes on the side of the road trying to get away from it. He’s pretty lucky not to break a rib or puncture a lung. We had a bit if a laugh about it but it was not funny really. Day One and we’re all still here resting up at Refuge Orisson. Winning!Read more

  • TravelerCamino 2023
    Day 4

    First day on the Camino

    May 14, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌧 54 °F

    We walked what is considered a half stage today, but it was actually farther than I've walked on the first day on the Camino Francés. This is the "crossing the Pyrenees" stage. While the terrain isn't difficult (it's actually foothills of the Pyrenees and most of the walking is on a paved road), it is very steep. The first five miles is the steepest section on the entire Camino Francés.

    In the past I've split this section by spending the night at Refuge Orisson which was the only hostel between St Jean Pied de Port in France and Roncesvalles in Spain. There is now another hostel one kilometer up the road, but my walking companions weren't keen on sleeping in bunk beds so we chose to use a service that picked us up when we reached the halfway point of this stage - about 7.5 miles.

    The day started out drizzly, but the walk was fairly dry until we reached Orisson where we stopped for lunch before continuing for 3 more miles. After a bowl of delicious vegetable soup we set out again for about another hour or so of walking until we reached our pick up point. Then it started to rain - lightly at first and we all put on our ponchos and deployed our handsfree hiking umbrellas. It wasn't long before we were in a torrential downpour with some hail mixed in. I also heard some thunder rumbling in the distance, and I thought of my umbrella and poles - the umbrella has a fiberglass shaft and ribs, and the piles are carbon fiber, so I was hoping that they wouldn't make me a lightning rod! Fortunately, I didn't see any lightning - in fact I couldn't see much at all at this point due to the mist that formed up in the mountains. Thankfully, the shuttle service sent the van up early because of the worsening weather and I arrived at the meeting point just as he got there. The others were behind me, and very happy to see a warm, dry van waiting for them.

    As is typical of days like this when we got back to town the skies cleared and it was beautiful!

    Until the rain really started the views were stunning, and I regret not taking more pictures.

    In the afternoon we walked around a bit more in St Jean which is an interesting old walled Basque town before heading to dinner.

    Tomorrow we will take the shuttle back to where we left off - hopefully it will be a lot dryer!    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago/ Camino Fra
    Day 3

    Day 3 Pamplona/St. Jean Pied de Port

    Yesterday in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Start of day 3 Thursday April 24th left Pamplona at 10am by bus to St. Jean Pied de Port where i will start my walk. The weather is nice, cool and great for walking.
    Pamplona is a beautiful city. This is where there is the Running of the Bulls in July.
    People are very friendly and even if they didn’t speak English they tried to help. It’s a typical Spanish city with lots of Churches, restaurants squares and monuments very lively and lovely!
    Arrived in St. Jean Pied de Port at 12:00 but can’t check in till 3:00 pm. Met and had coffee with a couple of ladies from Australia. They aren’t staying in the same Albergue as me but Im sure I will see them again.
    It is very pretty here and there are so many pilgrims that are starting their walk tomorrow so I won’t be alone!!! Tonight I will be having dinner with other pilgrims that are also staying here.    Read more

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