Day 4 - Pamplona to Puente La Reina (Camino Frances)

If you walk into a big urban city, you have to walk out of it.

Probably one of the biggest pet peeves on the Camino we had was walking alongside the roads outside of the larger cities.  Most of the time, our paths were wide and protected from traffic, but other times, all we had was the white line and some gravel between us and oncoming vehicles.

Once back to the countryside, the terrain would change three to five times, if not more, before we would find our end destination for the day.  On this morning, we encounter more large rocks and loose gravel.  Chato was constantly dumping it out of his oversized boots.

Today, we had a much different horizon to aim for - El Alto del Perdón.

My research, before the Camino told me that we should expect high winds at the peak.  In my mind, we had already surpassed and survived the Pyrenees, so it couldn't be THAT bad, right?  In fact, we didn't have any wind at all.  We did have lots of fog and low lying clouds that kept us from the views below (and behind us of Pamplona).  We knew the road ahead, to get to the "Mount of Forgiveness" would be a challenge when we saw it in the distance.

7.5 miles later, at the top we enjoyed the beautiful sculpture that quotes: "Donde se cruza el camino del viento con el de las estrellas"

"Where the path of the wind crosses with that of the stars.”

Thankful for simple, packable snacks, we carried on.

We had come to learn that a long walk deserved a Spanish coke.  What's so good about that, you say?  Glass bottle pour, extremely large ice, and a slice of lemon, every single time.

 

Our albergue Jakue was a welcome site.  We were able to do laundry, get a snack and hit that Spanish siesta before our pilgrim dinner.

 

Day's end stats:

Start:6:15 am @ Hotel Tres Reyes; Pamplona

Km: 23.8

Miles: 14.8

End: 1:35 pm @ albergue Jakue 

Video: LINK

REST DAY #1: PAMPLONA

Pamplona is full of history, food, and beautiful people.  It was easy to take an extra day here to rest.  Our bodies were adapting to the 12-15 mile walks, but walking around Pamplona was a breeze.

I found a new bracelet to add to my Basque one that I picked up in St. Jean Pied de Port.  I purchased a few more to easily toss into my backpack and carry home.

Pamplona is full of literary genius, Ernest Hemingway, who first arrived in Spain as a reporter.  So impressed by all he saw, he returned and stayed in the region, which he used as a backdrop for his writing.  Bullfights, fishing, and food all pay honor to Hemingway in Pamplona.  He can be seen all over town.

We spent the day being tourists.  The streets twist and wind.  They are colorful and loud.  We enjoyed finding Camino shells all over town.

We knew we would miss the festival of San Fermin.  Signs all over town reminded us.  In the weeks ahead, it would resound throughout Spain and along the Camino as we walked west.  Mornings would bring us into small cafes for breakfast and all the patrons would be gathered around the tv to see the running of the bulls.  Did you know there is not ONE "Running of the Bulls" but one event every day for an entire week!?  So, if you don't get injured the first time, try, try, again!  Oh my.

Next stop: DAY FOUR - Puente La Reina

 

Day 3 - Zubiri to Pamplona (Camino Frances)

Starting to get the routine, we began to realize that our days needed an earlier start to get us to where we wanted to be.  With our crew of camigas, Ana, Donna, and Kathy, we all recovered from the previous day's rain and were ready to jump forward into Pamplona.  Sadly, we didn't know it when this picture was taken, but it would be the last time all of us would be together.  That's the camino.  You never know what is in front of you.  Some camigos choose to walk at different paces.  Some have unexpected injuries and need to take a break or even leave the camino.  Some camigos come and go and you bump into them over time throughout your own camino.  The camino is just like life; our paths will cross again, we hope.  

Out of Zubiri, we encountered the beginning of the urban area ahead of us.  Lots of electrical lines and factories stole our peaceful forest views.  We walked along lots of paved roads, to the side of traffic (at times) and lots of choices between slopes and stairs.

Now,  let's talk about those slopes.  The photos are difficult to demonstrate that the paths and their paved slate stones were 30° to 45° declined angles.  After the rains from the day before, everything was damp and mossy.  Somewhere along this one...

...it didn't matter how conscious I was or how slow I attempted to stay on top of my footing - I slipped and landed right down on my tail feathers.  The sweetest man behind me immediately offered his assistance.  Everyone helps one another here.  (see the video below for a visual.)

I regained my composure and we met back up with Ana; more slopes and stairs ahead, we were eager to find Pamplona.

The temperatures were the hottest we had experienced since arriving and the sun wasn't helping.  As we made our way through the suburbs outside of Pamplona, the street signs and crosswalks were driving us nuts trying to find our little yellow arrows.  At one point, we were willing to give up and get a taxi.  Finally, we found the ancient fortress wall of Pamplona, built to protect the city in the early 1500s.  Cool fact: the walls around Pamplona are 5 kilometers around.  Uncool fact: we couldn't find the entrance to save ourselves. 

On the verge of throwing myself on the grass and taking a recovery nap, ask and the Camino will provide.  There before us was the ancient drawbridge and the portal to the city.

What was quiet on the outside, erupted into a mid-day party on the inside of a Saturday afternoon in Pamplona.

We were overwhelmed by this city, especially after being out on the trails for the last three days.  We found our hotel (a splurge for two nights to include a day to spend wandering the streets of Pamplona).  After settling in and taking advantage of the Spanish siesta, we found Ana and hit the town for PINTXOS (tapas).

Sunday would be a rest day in this beautiful city.

So much more to come.

Day's end stats:

Start:7:20 am @ Albergue Suseia; Zubiri

Km: 24.3

Miles: 15

End: 2:10 pm @ Hotel Tres Reyes

Video: LINK

 

Day 2 - Roncesvalles to Zubiri

  After getting our morning routine worked out, especially when surrounded by 180 other pilgrims rolling out of bunks, we headed to breakfast and enjoyed it with plenty of new friends.  

We started our trek, only pausing to take the infamous sign picture, advising us to take note: 790 kilometers ahead!!  As we soon came to understand, Camino signage, especially those outside of the last 100 km, rarely represent a true measurement of the trails.  Years ago, in an attempt to properly record the Camino Francés to Santiago, the measures were taken from town church to town church, following the classic Camino Francés.

Not long after trekking off, we bumped into our camiga, Ana (Texas), who we had met briefly along the Pyrenees.  Her beautiful spirit was a glorious addition to our cloudy skies.

The Camino Francés twists and turns through various towns and cities after leaving Roncesvalles; you never walk too far before landing in a small café for a first breakfast (yes, sometimes there are more than one).  Our very first town was Burguete, very well known to be a hiding place of Ernest Hemingway when he would head off to the solace of a fishing pond in the mid 1920s.

We continued onwards, but storm clouds were looming.

We met up with Donna and Kathy (Illinois), that had crossed our path in the Pyrenees, too.  We were all so eager to talk and pass the time together that...

...the weather snuck up on us and we had to pit stop to get our our rain gear around 10:30 am.

We still didn't seem to get that this was anything more than a good drizzle, being silly and taking pictures.

 Well, needless to say, we were drenched from head to toe, but we didn't stop.

By the time we made it to the next town of Erro and it's Bar Juan, we had to wring ourselves out and face the squish of our shoes for another 3km, at least.

Our arrival into Zubiri, still graced us with raindrops, but our albergue, Hostel Suseia, was a welcome site for so many reasons.  Sara, our host, greeted us with lemonade and newspaper to shove into our wet shoes.  She got us checked in promptly so we could shower and find dry clothes.  She took our laundry from us and returned it, washed and dried.  We were instructed to relax, Spanish siesta style, and dinner would be ready at 7pm.  Oh my, one seven course meal later, our new camigo family was stuffed to the gills and as happy as could be.

With an amazingly crazy wet day behind us, we were thankful for our new SELLOS and curious to see what would come next.

Day's end stats:

Start: 7:30 am @ Albergue Roncesvalles

Km: 21.7

Miles: 13.5

End: 3:20 pm @ Hostel Suseia

Video: LINK

St. Jean Pied de Port

 

We departed from Paris bright and early on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.  We took a train from Gare Montparnasse south to Bayonne, France.  On this day, we were supposed to transfer to another train that would get us to our starting point for our Camino, but due to French strikes throughout the country, our train was cancelled and we were quickly rerouted to a bus.  There wasn't much difference in travel time, but the route was amazing, curvy, but stunning so I was thankful for the experience.

 Typically, most people traveling to St. Jean Pied de Port's small town destination are there to become pilgrims, walkers of the Camino Frances, one of many routes to arrive, by foot (or bike, or horseback, or wheelchair) at Santiago de Compostela, nearly 500 miles or 800 kilometers away.

St. Jean Pied de Port stands at the base of the Roncevaux Pass across the Pyrenees. Pied-de-Port means 'foot of the pass' in Pyrenean French ** 

It didn't matter how many videos I watched to prepare for this arrival; it is very hard to frame it or photograph it, but SJPdP is plopped directly on the base of Pyrenees and therefore its streets are 45° angles.  Even walking through town, anyone knew they were already preparing for the first day on their Camino.

Even though we arrived to rain, we quickly managed to hike up from the station to find our "home" for the next two nights: Gite Makila.  We were absolutely blessed with a backdrop of the Pyrenees from our room, but very glad that we made the decision to acclimate to our surroundings for more than one evening so we recover from jetlag and explore the town.  

The next morning, on June 7th, we were treated to breakfast at our gite alongside 12 other pilgrims that were gearing up for their first day across the Pyrenees.  We met our first camiga, Simone, from Canada, who like us, decided to spend the day in SJPdP before beginning her Camino.

  

The three of us spent the day roaming the town, visiting the Citadel, tasting the foods, and enjoying all the new faces arriving in town.  But before we could do any of that our first order of business was to get our Pilgrim passports that would provide us a way to collect SELLOS or stamps throughout our journey.  Our passports would be used as proof that we walked our Camino upon our arrival in Santiago de Compostela at the end.

 That first SELLO, our symbolic shells, and a map were our proudest moments, knowing that this was real and we were doing it!

Finally, on Thursday, June 8th, Chato, Simone and I, alongside ten other prospective pilgrims from our gite, would pick up our packs, look for the arrows to point us in the right direction, and follow the cobblestone path out of town and up onto the mountains.

Start time: 6:50 am

There's no words to describe how fast you start ascending into the Pyrenees.  The road is paved and the difficulty is immediate.  But oh the rewards...

About 5 kilometers/3 miles in, the spectacular surroundings show off the town of St. Jean, from where we had just left.  There are no benches to recover or take a break, so sometimes leaning was the best option.

15km/9.3 miles and 4 hours of uphill walking, with one break for a snack at Orisson, finally found us off of paved road and on a variety of gravel and dirt paths.

 

Without fanfare, all of a sudden, we fumbled across the border.  No signage, no check-in station or stamp in our "real" passports, we left France behind and entered Spain.  The only note we could say we noticed was a change in our cell phone service.  Simone, with two new camigas, Jo (NC via Venezuela) and Celeste (Chicago) crossed first.  

We were thrilled to reach this first milestone of our Camino, but we still had miles ahead of us.  With Roncesvalles finally in sight, we met new camigos, Craig and Jamie (Tennessee) and finished the last part of the hike descending steep forest paths, dodging tree roots and branches, a slipping along mossy rocks.

Exhausted, but pretty proud of all that we saw, we arrived at Roncesvalles and our albergue for the night, a pilgrim hostal that has aided those walking the Pyrenees for a thousand years.

Day's end stats:

Start: 6:50 am @ Gite Makila; St. Jean Pied de Port

Km: 24.3

Miles: 15

End: 6:15 pm @ Albergue Roncesvalles

Video: LINK