Through Our Looking Glass

Today’s distances: 7.8 kmTotal distance: 7.8 kmElevation gain: 628 metresWeather: Mixed sun/cloud and cool – perfect hiking weatherHighlight: Pyrenees I would enthusiastically echo recommendations given by others about Beilari being a good place to stay in St. Jean! Joseph (host) and Matthew (cook) are excellent at what they do, helping to make it an enjoyable evening of camaraderie, laughter, and good food. Eighteen of us gathered around the kitchen table before dinner getting to know each other. All but four…

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😀👣💥 After one night in Bayonne, I travelled by train to the sweet, picture-perfect, village of St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, exhausted after the 43-hour journey but happy to be back here. The whole Camino Françes is ahead of me and for that I am grateful. When Dave and I were approaching Santiago on our first Camino in the Autumn of 2015, I slowed my pace because I didn’t want it to end. Now I am back at the beginning again. So happy!…

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This is unbelieveable! We are pinching ourselves because we will be sleeping tonight on the flanks of the Pyrenees Mountains in Orisson. Orisson is in France, but tomorow we will finish crossing the Pyrenees and arrive in Spain. We wonder what the border crossing will be like. Will there be a “Check-point Charlie” of some sort and will we have to produce our Canadian passports? We arrived at the Refuge Orisson, got cleaned up, and relaxed for most of the…

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Are we ever happy to be here and have one full day to relax and explore Saint Jean Pied de Port before starting our really long walk (one step at a time). This is such a pretty little French (Basque) town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. It truly is picture perfect, including the weather. The name of the town literally means “Saint John at the foot of the pass.” The pilgrimage routes from Paris, Vézelay and Le…

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