I´m Here!

Hola Everyone!

I arrived in St. Jean on July 2nd as planned with very little difficulty. It was touch and go for a bit as my plane was running late for Toronto and I had a tight connection in London, but all went well. I met some other pilgrims on the way - Manuel, Kat, and Liz. We travelled to St. Jean together on a tiny little train that went through the hills leading up to the Pyrennes. I spent 2 lovely days in St. Jean, a medieval town nestled in the valleys of the Pyrennes. My Hopitaliares were wonderful and I met many fellow pilgrims.

On July 4th I was ´baptized´ if I can use that word into the Camino. I walked up 750 metres to my first place at Orisson. It was raining and the hill fog was so thick sometimes that I couldn´t even see what was coming toward me. Anyway, I saw tonnes of snails and slugs (that is the road kill around there) along the way and adopted them as my mascots as I was climbing the hills - slow and steady. I reached Orisson midday and enjoyed a restful afternoon. I had the pleasure of walking a bit with Sean from Ireland and Luke from Australia. However, they were much faster than I was and I encouraged them to continue on. We met up again at the bar at Orisson Aubergue and had a beer together before they went off to Roncesvalles. It was a lovely evening with dinner together with the other pilgrims and then off to bed for the last 750 metres.

Today, I finished climbing the Pyrennes and Had the pleasure of walking with Roger, a Frenchman, most of the day. I exercised my French speaking skills as he did not speak English very well. We again walked through the soup of hill fog and a bit of rain. It was a tough go in some of the areas today. A bit of gentler climb for parts then some pretty steep ´hills´. I started walking at 7:30am after a petit dejeuner of coffee and bread with jam, and I crossed over into Spain around 10:45. I reached the 1500 metre mark (about 4,500 feet) around noon. I was sore, tired and hungry. I dove into my backpack for some food and then had a tiny siesta before heading down 500 metres and finishing the last 4.2km of my 20km day. I reached Roncesvalles around 2:30 and waited for the Pilgrims Office to open to get a bed for the night.

Right now I am ´patiently´ waiting for dinner at 8:00pm after pilgrims mass and then I will head to my bed (top bunk :O) in a dormitory style sleeping area in an old church that has been changed into an albergue for pilgrims. There are 120 beds and I will be sure to have my earplugs in tonight!

Anyway, I am hoping all is well with everyone. I will be walking about 27km tomorrow which will be much flatter than the last two days:). I will try to get some pictures on here soon. It may take some figuring out. Take care all!

Thanks for all the comments

Tammy