Camino de Santiago Frances

May - June 2023

A 37-day adventure by The Peregrino Read more

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37days
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500miles

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Traveler Camino de Santiago Frances
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- May 8, 2023
- ⛅ 90 °F
- Altitude: 486 ft
- United States Texas Travis County Del Valle Austin–Bergstrom International Airport 30.202579, -97.67025830°12’9” N 97°40’13” W
The Beginning
May 8, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F
That would be my excited but pensive look…
I am very excited about walking the Camino de Santiago Francés but also wondering can I really do this? I am not a long-distance hiker. My Fitbit typically (politely) informs me I have walked 6 to 9 thousand steps on any given day and gets all excited when I exceed 10 thousand steps. To meet my current schedule of arriving in Santiago on June 17th, I’m going to have to average over 30 thousand steps a day for 37 days and walk over 500 miles.
The first couple of weeks Dorothy will be with me, but for the majority of the camino, I will be alone. Beverly and I have never been away from each other this long. I will miss her. I will most definitely be well out of my comfort zone. Thirty-Seven days walking across virtually an entire country. Actually, I know I can do this. One step at a time.Read more
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- May 9, 2023
- 🌧 59 °F
- Altitude: 128 ft
- France Île-de-France Paris Paris 10 Ancien - Quartier Monnaie Hotel de la Monnaie 48.85762, 2.33673848°51’27” N 2°20’12” E
Evening walk around Paris.
May 9, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌧 59 °F
Dorothy and I arrived in Paris on our way too late in the morning for us to make a train to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port so we had a day to walk around the city and start the process of letting our internal clocks adjust. Tomorrow we will spend most of the day on trains making our way to SJPDP to start our adventure.Read more
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- May 10, 2023
- ☁️ 61 °F
- Altitude: 545 ft
- France Nouvelle-Aquitaine Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port 43.162994, -1.23788943°9’47” N 1°14’16” W
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port France
May 10, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F
We arrived by train in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port France about 7:45pm and headed straight to our Albergue “Belari” for a communal dinner where we first had a chance to meet some of our fellow Peregrinos. We spent the evening and the following day in SJPDP exploring so we could start off fresh on our Camino on the morning of May 12th.Read more
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- May 12, 2023
- ☁️ 50 °F
- Altitude: 2,641 ft
- France Nouvelle-Aquitaine Arnéguy Bois d’Orisson 43.10881, -1.23918743°6’32” N 1°14’21” W
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Day 1
Day 1: St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Orisson:
May 12, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
The Camino begins… Dorothy and I walked out of SJPDP headed for Orisson. Whew! Although we only walked about 8k today, it was pretty much all steep uphill climbs. The good news, there was no rain! I’m so glad we decided to stop here in Orisson rather than the full 25k to Roncesvalles. The majority of the other pilgrims staying at Belari (our SJPDP albergue) are also staying here or just up the path at Borda so I don’t feel too wimpy. 😉 Tomorrow, will be a tough day. About 25k continuing over the Pyrenees to Burguete. Our albergue had a great communal dinner with folks from Spain, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sardinia, Germany, two islands in the Caribbean, of course the US, and probably one or two countries I’m missing. Tomorrow we go on to Burguete. It will be a much harder day, about 25k and lots of up and down over the Pyrenees.Read more
Love this pic [Mark Stevens]
12/12/23Reply
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- May 13, 2023
- 🌧 50 °F
- Altitude: 2,963 ft
- Spain Navarre Garralda Auritz 42.990463, -1.33606242°59’26” N 1°20’10” W
Day 2
Day 2: To Burguete
May 13, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 50 °F
Today we walked from France into Spain over the Pyranees to Burguete. It was a little over 20k. Most folks that do the Camino stop in Roncevalles but since we stopped in Orisson we decided to go the extra 3k to Burguete. We are staying at the same place where Hemingway stayed and described in “The Sun Also Rises”. Ironically, it was less expensive than the shared room in Orisson and we have a private room! In fairness to Orisson, the room there did include a very good dinner with wine and a simple breakfast.
Today we had a little hard rain and lots of fog and mist that made for some interesting photos.Read more
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- May 14, 2023
- ⛅ 57 °F
- Altitude: 1,765 ft
- Spain Navarre Esteribar Zubiri 42.930309, -1.50390742°55’49” N 1°30’14” W
Day 3
Day 3: To Zubiri
May 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
It was a tough but beautiful day on the Camino today between Burguete and Zubiri. All in all, it was a bit over 18 Miles’s and 42k steps. Unfortunately, Dorothy woke up with a fever this morning after several days of a slowly progressing cold. She (wisely) made today a rest day and slept in then met took a taxi to Zubiri.
I ended up walking with some of our Camino family, (Rebekah, Cecilia, and others.)
The tough part was the steep hills and descents. Including the notorious descent at the end of the day down a creek over angled slate rocks covered with slippery mud. The pretty part was the rain (mostly rain) and sun giving everything a beautiful glow. Another truly beautiful part of the day is our wonderful Albergue Suseia. Wow!
Tomorrow we are off to Pamplona.Read more
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- May 15, 2023
- 🌬 61 °F
- Altitude: 1,526 ft
- Spain Navarre Pamplona Church of San Saturnino 42.818275, -1.643942°49’6” N 1°38’38” W
Day 4
Day 4: To Pamplona
May 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 61 °F
Yea! It was a nice weather day and a really nice hike. Today our hike was (relatively) flat (in other words I never thought I might die doing down ridiculously steep muddy slick trails or supper steep inclines). I’d say any of my friends reading this could have done todays hike. Speaking of friends, we walked with our little Camino family that is falling into place. Rebecka from Brisbane, Linda from Sydney, Dorothy and me. The trail wound through an industrial site then on to trails through wildflower laden pathways and fields of wheat punctuated with red poppies. All in all, it was beautiful. This evening we went and had wine and pinchos at “Iruna”, the bar Hemingway frequented in Pamplona.
He was even kind enough to pose for a photo with me at the bar.
Fortunately, Dorothy, while she did not feel well, she felt much better than yesterday and didn’t want to miss out on the day, so she did great. Even so, after multiple 20k hiking days, we’re bushed and are going to take a rest day tomorrow in Pamplona.Read more
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- May 16, 2023
- 🌬 59 °F
- Altitude: 1,526 ft
- Spain Navarre Pamplona Church of San Saturnino 42.818275, -1.643942°49’6” N 1°38’38” W
Day 5
Day 5: A rest day exploring Pamplona
May 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 59 °F
Today we had a well needed rest day in Pamplona. We basically just rested, walked around the old town, took a tour of the Cathedral, and shopped for a pair of hiking pants for Dorothy.
In retrospect, in the future I think I will just try and plan my stages, so I arrive earlier in the day in the cities I want to explore vs spending an extra night. My feet are ready to move on.Read more
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- May 17, 2023
- 🌬 64 °F
- Altitude: 1,184 ft
- Spain Navarre Puente La Reina – Gares 42.671661, -1.8155242°40’18” N 1°48’56” W
Day 6
Day 6: To Puente La Reina
May 17, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 64 °F
This morning we headed out of Pamplona a little after 7:00 on our way to Puente La Reina. It’s a officially little under 24k but my Fitbit is showing 19.27 miles or 44,000 steps. My legs agree… That being said, it was a beautiful day and not too difficult a walk.
The first 5k were mostly city streets leaving Pamplona, then we went on pathways through waves of wheat fields and wildflowers up through the wind turbines. (I’m guessing they were very happy, (it was very windy)). Then up to Alto del Perdón where there is a large monument to the peregrinos (pilgrims). Then down a steep slope and through a few little villages on our way to Puente La Reina. The town is named after the bridge an 11th century queen (“The Queens Bridge”) built to assist pilgrims on their Camino to Santiago. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around pilgrims have been crossing this bridge for over 1000 years.Read more
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- May 18, 2023
- ⛅ 61 °F
- Altitude: 1,427 ft
- Spain Navarre Estella-Lizarra 42.673676, -2.03182542°40’25” N 2°1’55” W
Day 7
Day 7: To Estella
May 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
It was another beautiful day for our trek from Puenta La Reina to Estella. All in all today was just less than 17 miles. (38,610 steps).
Just as we were leaving town, we passed an old church (there are lots of those here) and heard singing so we stepped in to find the beautiful sounds of a nuns choir. We then walked down a wildflower lined path through fields towards the town of Cirauqui. It’s a really pretty little town that looks like most of it hasn’t changed in many hundreds of years. Leaving the town, we walked on a really really old Roman road and over a really really old Roman bridge. We then continued through several other charming Spanish towns. Lorca where we stopped for lunch, (I had a tortilla (not what you think of in the states)), Villatuerta, and of course Estella. This evening we were pretty tired and staying in an apartment, so Dorothy picked up some fresh cherries and I ran out and got a bottle wine, fresh bread, Jamin (wonderful cured meat) and a jar of artichoke hearts. It made for a wonderful dinner!Read more
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