Day 41: Stage 35: Saint Jean Pied de Port!!

21 km, sun with cloud, 25°

Hey, Haven’t We Been Here Before?

As you can probably tell from the header, we have arrived in Saint Jean Pied de Port! A nice leisurely stroll brought us in during the noon hour.

People were up early this morning. As has been explained to me, the French like to get up early then have the long goodbye before, during and after breakfast. It’s really quite interesting to watch. The two Canadians were not up quite as early, but had a nice breakfast before saying our goodbyes and we were on the road before many others.

It was a nice group of people, most of whom were French who nicely included us in their conversation. Translating apps on phones are pretty wonderful. During the past many weeks I have perhaps met less than half as many walkers as were at dinner last night. I found it a little overwhelming, although I was completely expecting it. My last three walks have involved very small walking communities, and the past day has been interesting.

The weather today was kind of an interesting mix. We had a little bit of everything, including about three minutes of unmeasurable rain. Not even worth stopping to put a pack cover on.

Then it was time for the new foals to show themselves. We saw three in rather short order and of course I have video to send to my grandchildren.😊

The walking was again quite lovely today. Beautiful scenery, small villages, and often quiet roads. Opportunities for quiet reflection, recalling special moments along this unique way.

After our break we of course walked on to SJPDP. When you come in from the French routes, there’s a fairly steep little kick up just before town. I always wondered why they did that? The little climb does provide nice views of the new part of the city.

When we arrived at the North gate to this old mediaeval city we met an Irish family who kindly took our picture for us in exchange for information about Vancouver. Paul, you can expect a call next spring from their son who has just completed his tourism studies and is anxious to meet you.😊

It’s a pretty little town, and it was surprisingly quiet when we came in. It’s now a few hours later and several trains full of pilgrims have arrived. The streets are now humming as are the bars!

A few photos for our many friends who have been here and probably wish they were here right now.

We celebrated by having lunch at a crêperie, which was right on the river.

AM said that her selection was too rich, but mine was excellent! So good!

I must say that Annemarie has become stronger as the walk has progressed. You can see the distances that she has walked, often over quite challenging terrain. She has told me, and others, that this is her last distance walk, and she finished her many walks very well!❤️

We are all cleaned up now and our laundry is done. This is actually the first time we’ve ever stayed here. The first time in 2013 we took the train here, had a quick lunch and then walking up to Valcarlos. Last time we were here in 2016 we walked in from the Le Puy Chemin, had lunch and then caught the train down to Bayonne. It’s nice to have a little time to take it all in!

So what’s next? We had originally planned to walk to Pamplona, subject to the weather being good. The weather will not be very good this weekend with rain coming in later tomorrow. We have looked at a number of options including Geoff walking solo up and over the Napoleon route tomorrow and then meeting Annemarie in Bayonne tomorrow night. That would have been super fun! However, after some careful consideration and discussion, we have decided that the Camino from here is for other people to experience and there will be just too much rain coming in. Why should I experience that again? As the saying goes, “been there, done that”!

Our plan tomorrow is to catch the noon train down to Bayonne, a place that we have enjoyed twice during this walking portion of our lives. We will stay there tomorrow night and early Sunday morning we will catch the train to Bordeaux and transit straight to the airport. We have an afternoon flight that will take us to Lisbon where we will spend three nights eating as many pasteis de nata as possible, and I will personally be looking for the salted cod dishes! Yum to both!!😋 It will be our third time in Lisbon, a city that we have come to know quite well and enjoy immensely.

Unless Air Canada messes up our flights again, we expect to be home via Montreal this next Wednesday night.

As usual when we travel, I expect to post on this blog from time to time.

That’s it for today. Time to go find somewhere for dinner on a busy Friday night.

Bon Chemin from two very satisfied Pèlerins.

Geoff🥳🎉🍻