Saint-Michel

Today we continued up and over the Pyrenees and into Spain. Allegedly only 11 km but my fitbit says 11 miles. Could have been the path we took down the final descent…I think it was a longcut rather than a shortcut but so pretty! We were walking with our new friend Linda and there was a fork in the trail. We chose left. About 1/4 down a big rocky hillside we started to figure out that the trail we were on was the one that the nice man in the pilgrims office said NOT to take because it’s steep and dangerous. Oops! It was steep but not nearly as gnarly as about half the trails in our national parks. Plus it went through a beautiful forest!

Here the people put bells on the collars of all their grazing animals. The sheep have little bells that sound delicate and beautiful and the cows and horses have big bells, about the size of those cans we used to buy tomato juice in back in the day!

We’re in a tiny village called Roncesvalles with a population of 21! It’s the site of an old monastery that was built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as a layover for monks making the pilgrimage to Santiago. Apparently too many monks were dying as they tried to go the 40 something km from St-Jean, over the Pyrenees, and to Zubiri, so the church established the town and monastery here. As the monks departed after a night’s rest and a meal, they were given a care package that included essentials such as a bottle of beer, a bottle of wine…and some other stuff.

David’s doing better with getting into a routine. What a relief! He still has trouble with knowing where we are and remembering where our things are but at least now he seems a bit more settled. (On our first day of this trip he lost his green beanie and his ATM card, but then he let me carry out passports and money). A big relief for me! I’m so glad we can make this trip together!Read more