Saint Jean to Espinal

Upon arriving in Saint Jean Pied de Port (SJPDP), I raced to the Pilgrim Centre to pick up my accreditation document that would give me access to Albergues along the way. I was not expecting to see the long queue down Rue de La Citadelle but c’est la vie.

Document in hand and hotel check-in complete, I headed to find an open bar, only to be beaten to the only place I could find (a Basque restaurant) by a bus load of tourists. But I didn’t let that stop me. I walked around that place, waving in windows until finally I caught the attention of the proprietor and mimed ‘a glass of beer’! Thankfully, he took pity on me and had me seated with said beer in hand in about 10 seconds flat.

Soon after, a couple of Aussie women were seated at the table next to me and we had quite the night of sparkling conversation accompanied by a little Sangria. A fine and hilarious start to my Camino and I hope I manage to catch up with these girls along the way.

Sleep was elusive that night, mostly due to fear of what I was to face the next morning – an 8km climb straight up a mountain to my first stop, Orisson.

Walking down Rue de la Citadelle next morning, pack laden and Pain aux Raisin in hand, I had no idea how to find my way in the pre-dawn glow. I saw a backpack clad silhouette in the distance and put my faith in his/her ability to know the way!

The only way was up, right? And up and up…. Accompanied by gentle bird calls and the crunch of my footsteps, I soon found myself in the countryside and in the very best of places to view the impending sunrise.

I stood with an Irish cyclist to watch the sun appear from behind the mountains and it augured well for the many adventures ahead of me.

I was quite chuffed with myself at the 5km mark. It was challenging, that’s for sure. But the next 3km provided many, many photo opportunities (aka rest stops). My, oh my that road was steep and I’ve never been happier to finally walk a little down hill and see the Orisson Refuge appear around the bend!

I was so happy to be settled in and grabbing a coffee by 11.00. And the view from the deck was incredible – at least until the white out!

After a night of conversation with other perigrinos which began the process of finding my Camino tribe, we awoke to the news that there was a snow storm on the mountain so most of us took a taxi to Roncesvalles. Those who took the chance told us later that it was a harrowing experience to do the hike through the storm and that it was a complete white out all the way.

The ride down the mountain was terrifying enough! And it reinforced my decision not to hike it. They closed the trail at 11.00 am.

It was snowing when we arrived in Roncesvalles, but after a coffee and a quick look around, my new amiga, Silvie, and I set off for Espinal.

The snow continued for the first part of our hike to Espinal but this soon morphed into the drizzle that would define our walk for the next few days.

A quick catch up with pilgrims at the only bar/restaurant in town, followed by yet another at dinner and there ended by second day on the Camino de Santiago. The vino tinto went down nicely. Not so much the pilgrim meal!