BLOG : Our daily adventures,
Week 47 - Pamplona (Spain) to Ordiap (France)
May 28th to June 3rd 2023
- Day 323: May 28th: Pamplona to Akerreta - 16 km
16 km done for a total of 4039 + 16 = 4055 km
- Day 324: May 29th: Akerreta to Viscarret-Guerendiain - 17 km
Today we met Gerard from Bretagne/Dordogne, a hiking lover who answered our questions about walking while pulling a little trailer/charriot instead of carrying a heavy backpack...The best mono-walker out there has been tested by Sylvain Tesson himself and is, according to Gerard, the 5th model produced by a dutch company called "radical design"...we'll keep that in mind for our next years.
We hope to meet him again when we'll pass by Dinan!
We hope to meet him again when we'll pass by Dinan!
And we are back in the Basque Country for our last few kilometers in Spain.
Always a good surprise to find a food truck mid-day to eat a little snack! And yes, nostalgik is how we'll think about Spain that we'll soon leave behind.
As we were sheltering ourselves from the rain under a small roof in Viscarret, a villager pointed at the local "pelote basque" field: "you can sleep there if you want". Perfect! A roof, 4 walls, high ceiling, excellent acoustic...time for me to take out my guitalele and play my heart away :) I love the Basque country!
17 km done for a total of 4055 + 17 = 4072 km
- Day 325: May 30th: Viscarret-Guerendiain to Roncesvalles - 12 km
Today, we met a Marie-Claire, a french pilgrim, who is spending a night in the very same hotel where Hemingway used to go to...apparently the writer fell in love with the basque country and often spend his leisure time, here, in the little village of Burguete.
Our first and only night spent in a pilgrim hostel...this one is an old monastery in Roncesvalles and welcome more than 200 hundred pilgrims per day in high season...doors are closed at 10pm and pilgrims are more or less thrown out at 8am and woken up at 6am... a warm shower is always a luxury but god we love our tent...no snoring neighbors and no brutal alarm clocks...it felt like being in a military "caserne" awakened with "trompettes et clairons"...thank you but no thank you!
12 km done for a total of 4072 + 12 = 4084 km
- Day 326: May 31st: Roncesvalles to Arbosse - 21 km - Good bye Spain and Bonjour la France !
A l'entrée de l'auberge de pélerins de Roncesvalles où j'ai rencontré Alain, journaliste français surnommé le Poète québecois (en référence au drapeau canadien cousu sur sa veste), avec qui l'on a parlé des gens qui parfois gâtent la sauce: les gâtent-sauce donc...Heureusement, il y a toujours un moyen de la rattraper (la sauce) en ajoutant un peu de sel ou de piment!
Crossing the Pyrenees was easier than we expected the highest peak we had to reach was at 1418 m and we had the best weather possible...only 4 km of climbing from Roncesvalles to the summit and 20 km of walking downhill to Saint-Jean-pied-de-port. Sweet! We spent the day encouraging amd cheering up the pilgrims who were experiencing the reverse having to climb the same 20 km: fun!
Crossing from Spain to France...nostalgic already but looking forward to exploring ma douce France! A bientôt les amis!
Belle rencontre aujourd'hui: Françoise, Christine and Stephanie. Conseils de lecture: Tout le bleu du ciel, les aventures de la famille Poussin(s?) en Afrique. Conseils pratiques: la charette de rando Mottez modèle Ultreia sur ebay.
At the end of the day la sauce was delicious!
Casey is trying to convince a cow not to step on our tent.
21 km done for a total of 4084 + 21 = 4105 km
- Day 327: June 1st: Arbosse - Saint Jean Pied de Port - Harrinabarreta - 15 km
Christy and Courtney are both walking under the same brand of umbrella: six moon designs...they are apparently protected both against the UV light and the rain...best feature, you can tie it to your backpack and remain hands free...we'll keep the info in the back of our heads..very practical gear! I wonder if they come in funky colors too?
As we were having lunch in a small restaurant in St-jean-pied-de-port, we met Darren, a british pilgrim and camino addict (He is starting his 17th camino). After a few drinks and a quite funny conversation, we helped him to find a hostel for the night and guided him to his Auberge..He got lost again and couldn't find his auberge after we left town, luckily he had our phone number and found someone who could speak french so we could help him once more to get where he needed to go...
15 km done for a total of 4105 + 15 = 4120 km
- Day 328: June 2nd: Harrinabarreta to Saint-Just-Ibarre - 17 km
Freaky/very unusual discovery...we found a turtle right in the middle of the dirt road we were hiking on...We checked and it was alive..Casey took it to safety on the grass of the nearby field....Nature concrete way of telling us to slow down?
The funky fountain of St-Just-Ibarre
We were lucky to find the only restaurant of the town open...since no one had booked any room or table at this auberge, they were about to close the kitchen...We still managed to order two delicious burgers to go.
The owner explained that covid had caused a lot of damage to the locals businesses and many restaurants/bars were forced to close since there were no pilgrims/hikers passing by in the high season where they used to make most of their profits...and, vicious circle, the GR78 became now less popular because of the lack of restaurants/hostels to stop at...hard times.
The owner explained that covid had caused a lot of damage to the locals businesses and many restaurants/bars were forced to close since there were no pilgrims/hikers passing by in the high season where they used to make most of their profits...and, vicious circle, the GR78 became now less popular because of the lack of restaurants/hostels to stop at...hard times.
The french way of drying corn: modern but less charming than the semi-houses seen in Spain.
Right in the river where Casey had a little bathing session, we found this snake which was peacefully injecting its venom into a small fish it just caught in its mouth....Not the most comforting sight!
17 km done for a total of 4120 + 17 = 4137 km
- Day 329: June 3rd: Saint-Just-Ibarre to Ordiap - 15 km
Hot and sweaty....shower time!!
We reached the hotel/restaurant of the Col d'Osquish a tad too late to order lunch. We could still get dessert: 2 gateaux basques. And the best amber beer of the World seems to be Basque, we had to try.
One of the many restaurants which didn't survive the covid crisis.
In the distance, we could see the snowy peaks of the high Pyrenees.
At last, we reached the restaurant we were aiming at the whole day... We arrived slightly to early, the kitchen opens at 7:30pm. No problem we found a way to occupy ourselves for 30 min..une petite partie de petanque pour l'apero! I lost 10 to 0...la honte!
Delicious "grand gant" at the restaurant Chistera!
The colourful school of Ordiap.
As I was filling my bottles of water at the public fountain of Ordiap...here is what crawled out of the pipe...creepy creature!
On the top of a hill, we set up camp with the sunset on one side and the moon rise on the other...magnificent pink sky.
15 km done for a total of 4137 + 15 = 4152 km