Woke up at 6:00 and was ready to go by the time the refugio alarm went off. Purchased a ticket for Roncesvalles (bus comes at 10:00).
Rode the bus to Roncevalles with Martinas from Portugal. He has walked the camino several times, however this is the first time he plans on walking from Roncevallas to Santiago, unless it rains more than 2 day in a row, he is retired now so he has the time.
Shared a taxi from Roncevallas to St. Jean Pied de Port with a Lynn and Hugo from New Hampshire, USA. This is also their 2nd time doing the camino.
Going through the mountains was breath taking, not only the scenery but also the taxi driver drove very fast up and down and around the hair pin curves. He was French and talked most of the time with his hands. Almost thought my journey would end before it began going over the cliff of a mountain. In spite of a few anxious moments, the ride was very entertaining and fun. The driver took us to the pilgrams´office where I got my passport stamped. Was planning on going as far as Orisson today, however they said the refugio was full and it was too late to make it to the next place so I am staying at a refugio here in St. Jean Pied de Port, France. It is a beautiful village and I am kinda glad that I now have time to explore it.
Bought a wooden walking stick and stopped for lunch/supper. Had the pilgrams´meal which, for 14 € includes a large bowl of veg soup, 2 lamb chops, french fries, a salad, a basket of bread, a 1/4 litre of wine, a huge slice of some kind of awesome almond custard pastry and a cup of cafe for dessert. The cafe was actually espresso and served in a cup that looked like it belonged to a child´s tea set. Pretty powerful stuff, my head was buzzing after the first sip. I guess they think Pilgrims are hungry. Certainly couldn´t finish everything and I can see why pilgrims usually only have one meal a day. (Probably not the kind of treatment pilgrims received a thousand years ago).
After five hours of walking up and down the steep hills of this beautiful village, it didn´t take much for Lynn & Hugo to convince me to go back to the pilgrams´ office and book a spot in Orisson for tomorrow (the steep hills were very challenging). As I was walking down the street I heard someone call my name. It kind of startled me because I didn´t know anyone besides Lynn & Hugo. I knew it wasn´t them because I had just left them behind me at a cafe. It was Gaston from Brazil standing in line to sign up for a credential.
A credential is a pilgram´s pass port that you get stamped at each place you stay. You can´t stay in a refugio/albergue unless you have one. You also need it when you reach Santiago in order to get a certificate saying you walked at least the last 100 miles.
Anyway, it was really good to see Gaston. He greeted me like we were long lost friends. Even though we met only briefly the day before and could not understand a word each other said. There was a couple standing in line (from Chicago) that spoke both Portuguese and English and translated our conversation. He is also going to reserve a spot in Orisson.
I have taken over 45 pictures today. Everything is so beautiful. I want to capture it all even though pictures really do not capture everything. Martinas told me this morning that he doesn´t bring a camera anymore because he claims you can´t really live in the moment if you are trying to capture it for the future (not sure I agree with him).
In the evening, sat in the garden and chatted with Lynn & Hugo (couple from New Hampshire). Interesting people. They are couch surfers (http://www.couchsurfers.com/).
So good to hear from you! Keep trekking!
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