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Our (not so) long walk, 2023Our (not so) long walk, 2023
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A walk of more than 1000 kms in France and Spain, via the Camino le Puy and Camino Frances, that was cut short … Read more

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  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 9 Arthez to Navarrenx, 18 of 31 kms

    October 9, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Just back in our room after a wonderful communal dinner in our gite in Navarrenx. For now just some photos, but I may come back to this post when time allows. It was an unusual day, that included a rendezvous this afternoon with friends Danielle and Ross who used to live near us in Pretty Beach, Australia and now live a few kms from Navarrenx. 😎

    PS. I’ve gone back to Day 6 and concluded that episode, solving the mystery of how Michael and Yasmin found us in Aire sur l’Adour. 🥰    Read more

  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 10 Navarrenx to Aroue, 19 kms

    October 10, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    After our delightful early evening catch up with Pretty Beach friends (now resident near Navarrenx in France), French-Australian couple Danielle and Ross, we returned to our gite for the communal dinner.

    Since we started walking 10 days ago, we’ve stayed in some wonderful gites, some favourites we enjoyed so much in 2014 we wanted to revisit, and some new to us. Thé gite / chambre d’hôte Le Cri de la Girafe in Navarrenx was a new one for us. And it was wonderful. Merci to our friend Bronwen for the recommendation.

    Hosts Marie and Fabian have created a welcoming and comfortable environment for pilgrims - with both dormitories and private rooms available. Gites (albergues in Spain) that offer this combination are ideal for us - we opt for a private room if possible (sometimes you have your own bathroom, other times shared) yet still have the same shared experience of communal dinners and breakfasts.

    Marie and Fabian have capacity for 15 pilgrims. Last night we were 11 around the table. Some of the friends we’ve spent time with before were here including German couple AnneMarie and Georg, French Michel and Canadian Peter. Added to the group Piotr, who shares his time between Poland and China! That’s not someone you meet every day. And, of course, the considerably less exotic Australian, me.

    Speaking of favourite gites, we have been looking forward to today’s destination - the wonderful farm gite - Ferme Bohoteguia with Simone and Manu and family. The French and I stayed here in 2014 - not as a couple but as two pilgrims walking our own Ways. In fact we reminisced today that in 2014 we had not walked together from Navarrenx to here. We had stayed in different gites in Navarrenx. Dominique had set out with his friend Raymond and I walked largely on my own from memory. But we all ended up at the Ferme Bohoteguia. It is as wonderful this time around as it was 9 years ago.

    More tomorrow.    Read more

  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 11 Aroue to Saint Palais, 19 kms

    October 11, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    A brief update tonight here in Saint Palais. We came across a lovely American couple we’d met about 4 or 5 days ago, so we enjoyed an aperitif with them before dinner, so signing off a little later than usual.

    Last night - a wonderful stay at the farm gite, as expected. Simone and Manu, themselves pilgrims, created this gite on their family farm 10 years ago. The French and I stayed here at the start of their second season, in April 2014. Such a pleasure to be here again and to enjoy a sumptuous dinner with some of our pilgrim friends we’ve met along The Way.

    From Aroue, it’s about 48 kms to Saint Jean Pied de Port - typically just two walking days. We need to arrive in SJPP on Friday 13th as we have a dinner date with our friends Pierre and Nadia. So, even though we have walked quite short stages in recent days, we still have an extra day up our sleeve. We thought about spending the extra day in SJPP. It’s a lovely town - but we have been there many times, so instead we took the alternative path to Saint Palais. And tomorrow we will rejoin the usual path again. I’ve included a map which shows the detour.

    Due to our diversion, we will have a very short walk tomorrow - just 15 kms. We could go further but there is a particular gite we’d like to stay at, so we will make a late start and take our time enjoying the countryside and the still fine weather. We are in Pays Basque now so it’s sure to be picturesque. ♥️    Read more

  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 12 Visit to Refuge Les Franciscains

    October 12, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We had only 15 kms to walk today so we had a late start so we could visit the Refuge Les Franciscains - a beautifully restored Franciscan monastery, now a cultural centre, peaceful gardens and accommodation and information centre that welcomes modern day pilgrims.

    We left the monastery around 10. An hour later after a long climb, we would see the striking tall wooden sculptures, by Christian Lapie, entitled ‘Dans le Reflet du Ciel’ - in the reflection of heaven.

    A translation regarding the sculptures.

    CHRISTIAN LAPIE'S SCULPTURES IN SAINT-PALAIS

    Accessible on foot from the Chemin du Vezelay or by the "Xibaltare" path, you find Christian LAPIE's monumental work, "Dans le Reflet du Ciel", installed at the top of Mont-Sauveur.

    There, three great oak figures watch over this millennial path in a magnificent overview, from the high Pyrenean peaks to the Ocean.

    "De l'Air et du Ciel", a superb set of seven other figures, has also found its place in the centre of the renovated cloister, a place to the measure of this great artist.    Read more

  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 12 Saint Palais to Larceveau, 15 kms

    October 12, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Just a quick note tonight. Glorious Pays Basque. Hopefully the pictures illustrate what a wonderful day it was. A short distance with a few long climbs but the views made it all worthwhile.

    Just 19 kms to walk tomorrow to Saint Jean Pied de Port. Looking forward to dinner with our friends Pierre and Nadia, then planning to cross the Pyrenees into Spain on Saturday.Read more

  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 13 Larceveau to SJPP, 19 kms

    October 13, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    SJPP = Saint Jean Pied de Port

    We had a most enjoyable and leisurely walk into SJPP arriving around 12-30. It’s a town we know well and it never loses its charm for us. I had planned to write more but our afternoon and evening were busier than anticipated. And we’ve just returned from dinner with our friends, Pierre and Nadia. So will leave it at that for now and hope to write more tomorrow.

    Speaking of … we have a big day ahead. About 25 kms crossing the Pyrenees from SJPP to Roncesvalles in Spain. We’ve done it before and it’s tough, even in ideal conditions. The weather can play a huge part. Clouds have been circling all afternoon. Grateful for cooler temperatures but would be even more so if the rain and wind stayed away. It can get wild up there.

    We’ll see what tomorrow brings. 🤞🤞🤞    Read more

  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 13 SJPP & Walking the Camino Frances

    October 13, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    It’s the next afternoon. We have finished the first day of the Camino Frances and we are in Roncesvalles, Spain. It’s almost dinner time.

    I was going to write a little about deciding to walk the Camino Frances again (after 10 years) but … time has gotten away from me. So, I’m just adding more photos from SJPP. Maybe I’ll come back to this post later … to fill in some blanks.Read more

  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 14 SJPP to Roncesvalles, 25 kms

    October 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Today’s path on the Route Napoleon over The Pyrenees, from France to Spain, can only be described as glorious.

    It’s a long climb up to 1450m and then a steep descent. And after the first 8 kms there are no facilities. The weather can play a factor and can change quickly, for the worse. That’s what we had in 2014 - rain, icy winds and, finally, hail. It was challenging and we saw nothing.

    Today, thankfully, a very different story. We left SJPP at 7am, and arrived at Roncesvalles at 2pm. We started early because rain was forecast for the afternoon. But our weather angel took care of us and the rain did not arrive (until this evening) and we walked in to Roncesvalles in sunshine.

    I don’t think the photos (and video) can do justice to the feeling of walking on this stunning path. But … can give an idea at least.    Read more

  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 14 SJPP to Roncesvalles, more photos

    October 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    A few more photos from today.

  • TravelerOur (not so) long walk, 2023
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    Day 15 Roncesvalles to Larrasoana, 27 km

    October 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Mostly photos again tonight.

    A good day’s walking, mostly ‘tranquille’ but with a tricky steep 4km descent into Zubiri on loose rocks, which my right knee is not happy about. 🥺

    Excellent Albergue Saint Nicolas- United Nations of pilgrims at dinner tonight - Italian, Austrian, American, South Korean, Spanish and, of course, me and The French.

    Tomorrow, a short walk to Pamplona. 😎    Read more

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