Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Hasta luego Espana, Bonjour la France Wed 4 sept

We've arrived at St Jean Pied de Port, after a bus ride filled with pilgrims like us, driven by a fellow who seemed to really like swerving around the hairpin turns that took us over the Pyrenees into France.  There were two handholds in front of each seat and I didn't understand what they were for until we hit the first turn.

St Jean is a medieval town of population 500 that sees 500 new pilgrims arrive each day.  Most spend a single night and start their hike the next morning.  

We're staying at the Gite Ultreia, a really beautfiul albergue in the heart of town, with a great mix of nationalities staying with us: six from Iceland, two from France and, in our dorm room, three Brits riding bikes to Santiago, two Aussies, Geoff and Kerry and us Canucks.  Coincidentally, the owner Bernard, was celebrating his 60th birthday yesterday, and so was Kerry -- birth twins!  At 8 pm, Bernard invited all present to join he and Kerry in a champagne toast to celebrate the dual birthdays.   

Some pix of this pretty town below.


Our hostel, Gite Ultreia,  in a 400 year old building:

View from our window:


Aussie's Geoff and Kerry (happy 60th Kerry):

Us this morning just before we changed into our hiking shoes and strapped on our packs.  We are so excited!


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4 comments:

  1. KiksSeptember 5, 2013 at 10:02 PM

    The day has finally come to start walking! Good luck and lots of love from stormy Vancouver!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LarryMcIntyreSeptember 9, 2013 at 7:29 AM

    Hi K,
    Yes, each day we are pinching ourselves. Such a great experience!

    Love to you, Tyler and Penny,

    Dad and Mom

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJuly 13, 2014 at 2:52 AM

    Hi Larry and Jan:
    The Camino now seems like a lifetime ago! It was great to re-read your notes from SJPP where we first all met, and shared a night at Bernard's amazing place.
    For the record, not all of us were aged between 60-62; I was 54 at the time, and turned 55 a few weeks later. I would have said 'celebrated', but I spent my birthday in bed in a small town on the mesetta, suffering through one of the worst bouts of food poisoning I've had in recent memory. Ah, the joys of travel!
    Cheers from Australia, Geoff

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LarryMcIntyreJuly 16, 2014 at 7:38 AM

      Hi Geoff,
      Great hearing from you. I thought you looked mighty young, so I've removed the sentence which makes it sound like you're an old timer like us!

      Your comment was very timely -- it arrived on the morning we gave our first ever talk/slide show on the Camino, at a friend's church. In preparing for the talk, it was great fun going through the pix and memories.

      We are doing the Camino Portugues this Sept, starting in Lisbon. Had originally planned to do the Coast To Coast walk across England, but you pretty much need to book all accommodation ahead -- not our cup of tea -- so we opted for another Camino.

      If you ever get to the Vancouver area, we can show you some fine hikes.

      All the best, Larry and Jan

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