I know these are out of order but it has taken some time to work out how to get them here from my tablet. I'll update the missing days as I can.
Got myself to the right station and then tried buy a ticket to Bayonne from the vending machine but it didn't recognise my travel card. I should have paid attention to that as I can't buy a recharge on the phone or an internet booster as it doesn't recognise it or my credit card. Very frustrating and leaving me feeling quite vulnerable (yes I can hear all of you less technically interested people sneering) as I had planned to use Google a lot. Anyway, I wondered around until I found a ticket seller who spoke enough English to help, got my ticket and found I was an hour early but not stressing. When they called my train to board I had to walk past an 18 carriage train first and then our train was 10 carriages. Clearly train travel is big in Europe.
Arriving at Bayonne. I walked across to the old part of town and took Photos and looked at the impressively fortified looking church. Although not tall and elegant, it looked very much part of the community with buildings butted right onto it. It was so hot though cooler in the old town where the buildings were three stories high and close together creating breezeways. Then back to the station where I find once again I can't buy automatic tickets and embarrass myself by trying to buy my ticket with pounds instead of euros. I could not understand what the poor woman was saying until I stopped listening for the words and suddenly I understood the whole sentence. I was so excited by that I was grinning broadly and she clearly thought I was crazy although she was very polite. The train to St Jean Pied de Port was almost all pilgrims. I could have just followed the crocodile. The scenery was quite pretty on the way mostly following a river.
On arrival I once again followed the wave of pilgrims to the Accueil. I was able to get my passport or credencial to have shaped along the way as my proof that I have done the journey I claim. They also gave each of us a map and written instructions for the next day and recommended somewhere for us to stay. The Refugio was already full so I had to go a pension. They told us we were the biggest day of the year. 250 people had come in that day already and 230 the day before. That's more than they had in summer in the peak time. I guess we were all trying to miss the rush! I booked in to the private Refugio which cost €12 plus €10 for dinner. Dinner was gazpacho, beef stew with baked potatoes and green beans on the side and desert all accompanied by sangria and red wine. This was my first menu del Peregrino.
Arriving at Bayonne. I walked across to the old part of town and took Photos and looked at the impressively fortified looking church. Although not tall and elegant, it looked very much part of the community with buildings butted right onto it. It was so hot though cooler in the old town where the buildings were three stories high and close together creating breezeways. Then back to the station where I find once again I can't buy automatic tickets and embarrass myself by trying to buy my ticket with pounds instead of euros. I could not understand what the poor woman was saying until I stopped listening for the words and suddenly I understood the whole sentence. I was so excited by that I was grinning broadly and she clearly thought I was crazy although she was very polite. The train to St Jean Pied de Port was almost all pilgrims. I could have just followed the crocodile. The scenery was quite pretty on the way mostly following a river.
On arrival I once again followed the wave of pilgrims to the Accueil. I was able to get my passport or credencial to have shaped along the way as my proof that I have done the journey I claim. They also gave each of us a map and written instructions for the next day and recommended somewhere for us to stay. The Refugio was already full so I had to go a pension. They told us we were the biggest day of the year. 250 people had come in that day already and 230 the day before. That's more than they had in summer in the peak time. I guess we were all trying to miss the rush! I booked in to the private Refugio which cost €12 plus €10 for dinner. Dinner was gazpacho, beef stew with baked potatoes and green beans on the side and desert all accompanied by sangria and red wine. This was my first menu del Peregrino.
The pension is a four story 16th century building~ beautiful but terrible plumbing and we were strictly forbidden from going barefoot in case we got splinters in our feet. The village was gorgeous. While wondering around I saw a plaque dedicated to the memory of a lieutenant who died a martyr for the Resistance, but his date of death was 1959 or something similar. I couldn't work it out until I realised he was a Basque separatist and was probably in ETA! Later I would realise how much this is still an issue but it never affected any pilgrims that I am aware of.
At dinner I met two women from Melbourne and earlier I had met two other Australian pilgrims, mother and son. She was born in Korea and he was born in Paris. I bet their story is fascinating but I never learn it. I meet the group I would walk with the next day (more about them later) adn Marion, the Irish strider, and Karin, a young German women whose English was great courtesy of a long stay in NZ. They would show up again later too. Of course there were many more from all over the world and I was fascinated. I attended Mass with other pilgrims but was disappointed by the rote way it was conducted. Still the blessing for the pilgrims was nice.
I slept on the top bunk with a French man in his 60's on the bottom and a French couple, Francois et Claudette, on a double bed. Getting organised was tricky- I knew the theory but not the practice. I realised I had left my towel behind and had to buy another. I was exhausted by 10.00 (lights out) but couldn't sleep as I was too exhausted and too keyed up about starting the next day.
Buen Camino to me!
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