Step 8: Where Old Roads End, New Ones Begin
Day 41, Sunday 4th of June, 27km walked
Our achieved Path for the day, 27km walked
Our achieved Path for the day, 27km walked
Our achieved Path for the day, 18km walked
Our achieved Path for the day, 25km walked
Our achieved Path for the day, 17km walked
Our achieved Path for the day, 24km walked
We were back on the Way come 6am. Yesterday, Irene had not been feeling so well, and today she was still somewhat under the weather. We walked till 7am where we then stopped in the Village of Audignon to have an early breakfast. Irene made porridge and we ate it with fruit, chocolate, and maple syrup mixed into it, before washing up and continued upon the road. We walked for another hour before arriving in the village of Horsarrieu. We had a toilet break before continuing on. We needed to get to the Intermarché Super in the village of Hagetmau before it closed for the day at 12:30pm. After walking another 50 minutes, we arrived in the village of Hagetmau and rested for close to 15 minutes at the Cathédrale there. Enoch wanted to check out the boulangerie but when we had a look, only to find that most things had already sold out for the day. Irene brought a small round pastry, called Gâteau Vebasken which she shared with us. It was very nice. As we rested at the church, Anaël arrived to rest there aswell. It wasn't long before we continued on. It was planned that we would walk to the McDonald's which was next to the Intermarché Super. The supermarket closes for the day at 12:30pm, and we arrived at the McDonald's around 10:45am. That morning, when we were having breakfast, I contacted home to have another allotment of money be sent through, however being it a Sunday back home, the money did not arrive till Monday. So when we arrived at the McDonald's, I borrowed some cash off of Rose and Osgar so that I could buy supplies from the Supermarket. We didn't leave the McDonald's till 1pm, taking a route through farm fields back to the route of The Way. We stopped in the Village of Audignon to eat lunch and rested in the shade of the London Plan trees by the church. I love the smell of London Plans. It takes me back, across the Atlantic and over land to the shores of the Great Lakes up by Canada. There must be a few up those ways for me to associate the smell to those parts. I had spent time up there in 2014 during autumn. Memories...
Come 5pm, we moved on, knowing that we had to get a few more kms into our day, as we had only done 21 thus far. So we continued on. Our path took us down a steep decline to a plain which held crops and tree plantations, before going wounding up the other side. The road was steep and we very quickly grew hot in the sun. Looking north east from once we had come, a great dark cloud lay. It had tendrils of mist like cloud out stretched towards the sun, and was by the point of our summiting of the opposite side of the valley, touching the round disk of burning light. We wished for it to smother the sun completely as it was too warm.
We soon arrived in the village of Argelos, where we took our packs off and lent them at the base of a London Plan tree and Irene sat to rest, while the rest of us walked to the church. We seeked out the tap there, and used it to replenish our water. On my way back to Irene, I spied growing by the side of the road, the same wild strawberries which grew south of Bazas. I picked a few and packed them away in my journal, to flatten them and preserve the seeds.
We continued on for another two kilometres before pitching 400 meters away from the village of Beyries, at a cross roads by a cross which held the crucified Jesus.
Day 42, Monday the 5th of June, 27km walked
I awoke early than 5, more around 4:20, and I lay in my tent, mind heavy with thoughts, trying not to fall back to sleep as time was too short for any more decent sleep that morning. We packed up by 6am. Osgar had slept his night in the small bus stop shelter so as to keep the need of packing up when morning came round. Mist lay as a blanket about the fields, and a heavy dew had fallen. Everything was damp in feeling, not helped in part with the condensation inside our tents. Though through the dampness, the air was warm which helped us to embrace the new day.
Packing up on the morning of the 5th
We made our way into the village of Beyries where Anaël was staying in the Donativo. We sat with him and John Louis over coffee and baked crusts with fermented butter and marmalade. When 7am came round we hit the road.
Our breakfast with Anaël
We walked for close to an hour before arriving in the village of Sault-de-Navailles around 8am. We stopped there at the supermarket. The others went in to buy bits and bobs before continuing on. We passed a high point on a hill top that looked out north east for many many kilometres of French countryside. A small orchard had been planted on the side of the road there for pilgrims. The fruit however was unripe at this time of the year. We stopped to read the small sign about the orchard, and as we were doing so we received sad news from back in NZ which left us kiwis in a solemn mood for the rest of the day.
We arrived in the village of Orthez around 11:30am. This village was our half way point of the whole pilgrimage. We stopped by the castle Tour Moncade to rest. I had dropped behind the group, and so when I arrived at the castle, I found them all sitting down on the grass by the front door of the closed castle. I said that I would meet them at the church, as I wanted to eat lunch, and so set off once again, walking down to the Office de Tourisme and got my pilgrim pass stamped before crossing the river to where I thought the villages church was. I could see from afar that there was a pilgrim sitting infront of the church as I approached. A youngish pilgrim from Holland and his name was Olaf. He had been in the village for a few week and was going to be there till this coming Friday, as his parents were coming down to visit him. We talked for a little bit. He had a tent aswell and was camping. I asked him how heavy did he think his backpack was, and he said around 20kg. He also stated that about 300 pilgrims left from Vézelay last month. As we talked I realized that there was another church in the town of Orthez, for I could see its spire above the roofs of the buildings across the river from where I sat. So I bidded Olaf farewell and walked back across the river to find the others in the church. They were wondering where I had gone. We sat out side and ate lunch. Then we went across the square from the church to a cafe and Rose shouted our group coffee and tea.
Drinking coffee in Orthez
Come 3pm, we left to the office de tourisme for the others to get their pilgrim passes stamped before leaving the town.
Our troop leaving town
We walked for another 11km before pitching in a park in the village of L'Hôpital-d'Orion. The history of the place is held within the name. There was a pilgrims' hospital there in the 10th century, of which only the church now remains. From the top of the hill which we had just walked down, there would be a gange of thugs that would rob pilgrims back in the day, and so the small church opened a hospital to treat the robbed pilgrims (no doubt funded by the thugs which robbed the pilgrims to begin with... tongue in cheek).
Anaël stayed at a Gîte 1,200 meters up the road from where we had pitched out tents for the evening. We chose to wake the next morning at 6am instead of the usual 5am.
Day 43, Tuesday 6th of June, 18km walked
Posing with The Pilgrim in the park where we had camped
In the morning at 7am Anaël arrived before we set off as a group. We walked for 8.3km up and down hills, through forests and mud, across streams and followed roads before stopping for breakfast around 10ish in the Village of Andrein. Irene got her stove out and began to prepare porridge while some of us began to cut fruit up to place into it. We ate and talked for about an hour before continuing. I left the others while they still packed their things up. After walking 25 minutes, I took a wrong turn and continued up a road, passing two donkeys which I stopped to talk to. I continued on before coming to a cross roads and I looked at my maps to find that I had gone the wrong way. So to get back to the route, I walked through two fields that consisted of an overgrown field with brambles and stinging nettles, a rather deep dry ditch, and making a path through shoulder high bracken with brambles and nettles growing through it before walking through a field that had young corn growing in it. The detour slowed me down a considerable amount, and when I did finally get back on track, Rose, Irene, and Anaël had already gone on for some way, while Enoch and Osgar had stopped to pick plums that grew abundantly along the path. We three continued on for another 1.3km before climbing a long steep stairway up to the church of Église Saint-André in Sauveterre-de-Béarn.
175 steps up into the village of Sauveterre-de-Béarn
We found the other three in the church. I placed my pack down before going around the corner up the street to the Office de Tourisme with my pilgrim pass to have it Stamped. I then waited by the church with the backpacks while the others got their stamps before we continued on to the supermarket then down to the river to eat lunch. We had a dip in the river and had cups of tea made on Irene's fire. We ate brioche with raspberry jam and whipped cream before continuing on. We walked for 4.8km before pitching our tents at 5:30pm.
I gave Anaël my two battery packs along with two wires and a wall charger for him to take and charge as he was going to stay in Saint-Palais for the evening, 10km away.
We said goodbye and made a plan to catch up again in the morning around 9am and eat breakfast and coffee in the town square of Saint-Palais.
That evening we did not all eat together over one meal, but instead made our own using Irene's stove. Irene had instant noodles, while Rose had an instant pasta. Osgar and I cooked up some pasta with cheese, muscles, and tomatoe sauce. After dinner we began to watch Shrek 4, however did not get very far due to connection problems, and so we watched Cheaper by the Dozen instead.
Day 44, Wednesday 7th of June, 25km walked
Packing up that morning
I left them as they were still packing up, to walk alone. In the distance as the sun began to bloody the sky, mountains could be seen. Tall jagged teeth which rose into the sky along the horizon. Some peaks had snow, while most were black and cold. The valley inwhich I was walking in was full of the dawn chores, accompanied by such wonderful smells. Grass had been cut the day before in the fields by the paths edge, and so it smelt like hay making. There was some smells of the forest, the bracken, and even hints of coffee from a far off place.
It wasn't long before the road rose and the forest dropped away into rolling hills of harvested hay. After walking for more then 2 hours, I arrived in Saint-Palais. My first stop within the village was a boulangerie. There I sat and ate bread, fresh from the ovens. There was another boulangerie further up the same street, and so I thought that I should go and inspect it, for it may have a Almond pan au Chocola. It was closed. Enoch soon arrived and we found Anaël waiting with my battery packs that he charged over night. Enoch and I really wanted coffee and so we stopped at a Tabac/cafe and ordered coffee with Anaël. As we drank our coffees Rose, Osgar and Irene arrived. They too ordered hot drinks and we all sat and drank coffee for a little while before moving to the town square where we prepared breakfast on Irene's stove.
Coffee that morning
We were using a table of a Tabac/cafe that appeared closed, however soon opened and to keep our table, I brought another coffee. The operator seemed happy enough for us to make breakfast on one of his tables. After having a splendid breakfast of porridge with mango which Irene had brought cut up into it, along with oranges and raisins, we set off to the Office de Tourisme to get our pilgrim passes stamped.
On the map which was taken from the Official website for the Camino, there are two routes leaving the Town of Saint-Palais south. I took one route while the others took the other. After climbing a big hill, I sat and waited on top by a small chapel. There were many pilgrims who had walked the Le Puy route. After waiting for an hour and talked to a few pilgrims, the others arrived. I had worried that they had over taken me but in the end their track which they took was quite slow and steep.
The stamp we received in Ostabat, picture from Osgars pilgrims pass
We made coffee there and tea on Irene's stove, and Irene made coffee for a couple of pilgrims.
Making tea and coffee ontop of the Hill, 5km north of Ostabat
We met a lady there who was quite the talker, and was a very bubbly character. She was walking from Le Puy, and had walked the Camino the year before.
We soon continued onwards and once arriving in Ostabat we stopped for drinks at a bar. We said goodbye to Anaël for the day there, as he was staying at a Gîte there. I didn't buy an alcoholic beverage there, as I wanted to retain my water, and so only drank a lemonade. We got our passes Stamped at the Marie before walking another 5.4km where we camped in a farmers field. We prepared dinner on Irene's stove.
Our campment that night in a farmers field
We didn't set up tents that evening, as it was quite warm and rain didn't seem likely. Irene did put up her tent.
I awoke around 3:30 in the morning, it must have been at the end of a sleep cycle becouse I was sharp in my senses. The sky way fairly clear and the moon was bright in the sky. Stars shorn down and I could clearly see where the others lay. I took a few pictures of the night sky before rolling over and fell back to sleep.
Taken at 3:49am, 8th of June
Day 45, Thursday 8th of June, 17km walked
We awoke at 5am, and packed up and were one the path by 5:20am, leaving Rose and Irene to sleep in. On the outskirts of the Hamlet of Larraldea, 5.2km from Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port, I came across a fellow pilgrim and we got talking as we walked. They were from France, but had spent quite a few years in Dublin and where he had learnt English, thus having an Irish accent while speaking in English. He was also studying political science and was unhappy with what France did to her people during Covid. Interesting chatting to him and once arriving in the village of Saint-Jean-le-Vieux I brought him a coffee. We talked a little more, before continuing on the road. I bidded him farewell as I thought the campsite I was meant to go was on the outskirts of the village of Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port, however after leaving Tom, I had a look on my map to find that the correct campsite was in the middle of the village. So I continued on to find the correct campsite in the village, passing the pilgrims office on the way
Main street in Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port
I found Enoch and Osgar had already pitched their tents by the time I arrived at the camp ground. Enoch had payed for all of us and so now we owed him. After pitching my tent we walked up the street to the pilgrims office where I sat and used the wifi there while Enoch and Osgar went off to the supermarket. After a while, Rose and Anaël appeared and I led them to the campsite. Rose was surprised that Irene hadn't showed up, as she had left Rose and gone ahead and yet Rose had arrived in Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port before her. So I walked back up to the Pilgrims office and waited there for her. As I waited the lid on my milk had come off in my pack and emptied itself into my pack.
After a half hour, Irene walked down the cobbled street and she was so happy to see a member of the team. I left her sitting by my bag while I went to get the other. We then proceeded to weigh our bags at the Pilgrims office and get our passes stamped. Anaël's bag weighed 15kg, Enoch's was 15.2kg, Rose's was 14.5kg. Irene's backpack was 17kg, and my backpack weighed in at 21kg, without the tent. We then all head back to the campsite and dumped our gear before going into the town to buy beers.
Irene shouted us cider, Cheers!
We all needed to do laundry, and so we headed to the supermarket Intermarché. I needed to get stamps as I planned to post away some letters! I had a struggle in buying international stamps, and they didn't understand that I wanted actually stamps instead of a QR code that they print out to prove that I had paid for international shipping!
That evening we cooked a curry on Irene's stove of wonder, with ingredients that everyone had brought. There had been a spice stall around the corner which sold spices, and where we got our curry power for the dinner.
Day 46, Friday 9th of June, 24km walked
We got up at 5am and packed down, before leaving by 6. The road out of Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port was steep and very quickly brought us up the mountain side. We passed two older ladies with light backpacks on the way. We had hopped to get to the Gîte where Anaël had stayed the night, however when we arrived, we found him gone. It wasn't long before pilgrims from below cought up with us. Many many pilgrims. So many pilgrims that it seemed like a busy highway compared to our 45 days of walking through France. On the way up the mountain slopes we were cought up by a Taiwanese pilgrim by the name of Liam. He was studying physics and had gown to dislike the atmosphere in his lab, and so now he was on Camino. When at first he cought up with us he had no real backpack, but a sling bag over his shoulders and carried a sleeping bag in his hand. My first thought was "Hey Sir! Where is your backpack?" If you have seen the movie 'A Knights Tale' you will get my inspiration for such a thought. We walked together and talked for a few hours. To our north clouds began to gather close to 11am, and it began to rain in the valley to our right. Thunder echoed off the mountain peaks about us as thunder flashed in the darkness of the clouds. It wasn't long before we had to put our waterproofs on and cover our bags. Liam had no such thing and he very quickly gained speed and disappeared further up the track as the rain hit us. He would have a wet sleeping bag that night, aswell as cloths. Hopefully he will be able to have them dried at the Abby in Orreaga/Roncesvalles.
As we walked along the track, we passed pilgrims and pilgrims passed our troop. One fellow who passed us was a poker player from Toronto, and we came to call him Mr Toronto, don't ever play a game of Poker with him, for he makes enough to live by and travel. The rain was extremely heavy and there was concern about being hit by the lightening as we traversed the ridges over the Pyrenees.
The rain to our right in the valley before it hit us
It was an hour before the weather receeded and we stopped to make lunch. We had crossed the boarder and now were no longer in France, but in Spain! The day before, the others had brought the needed ingredients to make egg and onion sandwiches. So while Enoch, Osgar and Irene climbed the hill to have a look at the surrounding peaks, Rose and I prepared the sandwiches. As we did so, two Australian pilgrims, Shaine and Ben, passed us, and who also had tents and planned to camp their way across Spain to Santiago. They stopped for a moment and we talked before they continued onwards. We had hopped to find Anaël at the top of the mountain, and indeed he had waited for us, however had moved on when he had heard from the two Australians that we had stopped for lunch. We did not know this till later that evening. Anaël had waited a full hour for us to show up, and he had waited only five minutes up the tack from where we had stopped for lunch. After lunch we continued to a small concrete emergency shelter. There we stopped and Irene began to make coffee and tea. It was quite cold up in those hills (yes, people call them mountains, but I think they are no more than glorified hills) and so hot tea was well received. As pilgrims passed us, we called out to see of they wanted coffee. The first to say yes was a pilgrim in his late twenties called Ryan and was from Canada. The second was a girl called Isabel from Georgia. The third and last was a man by the name of James from Idaho and was walking it in barefoot. They all were extremely thankful for Irene's stove of wonder and coffee in which it produced. The reason on why James was walking the Camino and in barefeet was for a friend back home. Isabel was walking becouse of reasons I was told but can't remember, and the same goes for Ryan.
We soon continued onwards as a group, though James quickly fell far behind due to his lack of footwear. On coming to where the path divided into two different paths 1.8km later, Ryan and Isabel took the easier gradient track to Orreaga/Roncesvalles, while we took the more steeper and quicker path. As we descended, we had to wait for Rose as she relieved herself, and as we did so, the Australian family cought up to us. We had seen them when we stopped at the bar which was situated 7.5km up the path from Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port for breakfast earlier that day. A family of four, two daughters of the ages 7 and 10. They had done well, walking over the Pyrenees in a storm, and by the end of the day, they would have walked 20km. Very very good on them, with their little macpac backpacks and walking poles! We walked with them the rest of the way to Orreaga/Roncesvalles, 3.4km. We arrived at the old abbey around half passed 5 in the evening. The sky was cloudy and it threatened to rain. We pitched out tents in a corner of the abbey by stone walls which held the church aloft. We found Anaël waiting for us by the door of the hostel and went in to get our passes stamped. He asked the hostel if we could use their kitchen which they allowed us to do so and so we cooked and ate within the hostel. The place could house 300 pilgrims a night, and there were at least a hundred that came over the Pyrenees that day and was staying within the walls of the abbey that night. We had asian noodles with Ratatouille and green curry paste which was rather spicy. After which I did the washing up and the others talked to the volunteers of the hostel of which all were Dutch. They would volunteers a maximum of two weeks each stint before going back to Holland. As they talked, I investigate the vending machines in the next room. There were 6 machines in total, and under which I found 5 euros worth of coins, which is a rather alot of money. I could pay off my debts, eat for a day, or even buy myself breakfast in the morning. 5 whole euros! As time passed, I met a fellow pilgrim from Perth, Australia. She was wanting to buy a Coca-Cola, however the machine stole her two euros and gave her nothing in return. So she settled for a coffee from the automatic coffee machine. We struck up a conversation on how France and Spain do not know how to make coffee and that all coffee was pretty bitter. She was a barista back in Australia and so knew a thing or two on how coffee should be made.
The other wanted to go to the bar for drinks as Irene would leave us all the next morning. So I invited the Australian barista, however she needed to go for her dinner at 7pm and so could not join us. We went off to the bar where we sat and talked of the adventures we had had together. This was where we met an Irish lad by the name of Neil who lived in Cork. His reason for doing the Camino was for 'Shits and Giggles' those were his words, not mine. Anaël brought me a Gin and Tonic as we sat and talked, and at one point Neil joined us but did not stay long and rejoined his friends outside, only later to come back in around 9:30pm to rejoin us. He was drinking sangria and the Bartender miss heard him when he ordered and ended up with two extra and having to pay for them, and so gave them to us to drink. Cheers! There was a curfew of 10pm for the pilgrims to make it to bed before the door is locked. So there was a rush by all who was staying there to get back, which included Anaël. While on the other hand, the four of us who were staying in tents stayed talking till late.
Day 47, Saturday 10th of June, 24km walked
We awoke around 7:30am by Anaël. We had to say goodbye to Irene that morning. Her adventures with us had come to an end. She had spent 21 days with us. After eating porridge cooked on her stove of wonder for the last time, we said our final goodbyes. We set off around 10:30am.
Our last picture together with Irene
We passed the Australian family of four and continued for 7km before stopping for lunch. I was finding Spain rather disagreeable. The Pilgrimage was commercialized to take money from Pilgrims. To make money. A tourist trap. It annoyed me greatly. The locals look upon you as something to make money from and not as someone who is making pilgrimage. France was far more agreeable and the people applauded pilgrims and welcomed them with open arms, but here... most would turn you away if you were without money to spend. After lunch we continued onwards. With leaving so late that morning, all the pilgrims from the day before were far ahead, if not already finished walking for the day. We passed only one pilgrim that day, around 2:30pm in the afternoon. Enoch had stayed behind to have a nap where we had lunched. And the last village Rose, Osgar and Anaël had stopped to wait for me and Enoch to catch up. So when I reached the village, I passed them on and continued. This was when I came across James, the Barefoot pilgrim. He was suffering greatly, and in no way I could very much. So I asked if I could accompany him, and take my own shoes off and for a bit we walked together. He had been praying to God only moments before I appeared asking if he could be given a sign to give up and put his shoes on, only then to have me join him and ask if I could walk barefoot. Anaël, Rose and Osgar soon cought up and Osgar took his own shoes off to walk a bit. We eventually left James behind and continued on for another 6.7km before arriving in Zubiri. We hadn't seen Enoch since lunch time, and Osgar had disappeared and I had fallen behind and so walked the 6km alone. So when I arrived in the village, Rose and Anaël were sitting on a bench waiting. The route didn't actually go through the village and so when they waited, Osgar had gone on ahead with out them knowing it. Anaël was staying the night in that village and so Rose and I continued onwards. Just out side of the township, we found two Macpac socks on the track. Macpac being a New Zealand owned company, we knew that they must have fallen from the Australians that were camping somewhere ahead. So Rose picked them up and placed them into her pack just incase we came across the Australians. We walked another 3.3km before stopping at Iglesia de Santa Lucia / Santa Luzia eliza, small chapel. We found Osgar sitting there and as we sat, Enoch came down the dirt path by the church. So there we all were. We stayed the night on the porch of the small church.
Our achieved Path for the day, 24km walked
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