Saint Jean Pied du Port

 

I am in Saint Jean Pied du Port (SJPDP), killing time until I depart tomorrow morning. I’ll use this time to post some more thoughts and observations.

This is a very quaint gateway town for the Camino Frances. 

Last night I flew from Paris to Bayonne. I met my first pilgrims on the flight -  Marlon and Sally from Grand Rapids MI.  I spent the night in a hotel in Bayonne. I found a cafe for dinner: moules frite [mussels and fries] plus a glass of Rioja for $15. The dollar is strong.

Easy walk to the train station in the morning. No problem operating the machine to buy a ticket to Saint Jean Pied du Port. Lots of pilgrims waiting for the train with their backpacks. Good chatter on the train.

I noticed Paul. I could tell it was not his first Camino. 75ish ruddy faced, white haired, Irishman. Worn cotton tee shirt, short pants, no hat with a buff worn around one wrist. Small backpack. He answered a lot of our questions, shared wisdom and encouraged us: “you can do this”. He believed it best to walk the Camino alone and meet people along the way. It is harder to get in to or outside a group. Though, he pointed out that even people walking together will split up periodically.

Walked with a procession of others from the train to the pilgrim office in SJPDP to get a credential. There was instant camaraderie. We are all on this journey together. All my anxiety melted away.

I decided to get walking sticks. I never wanted to be one of those people walking with ski poles. However, I read that it is easier on your body. I found a good outdoors shop which had literally everything a pilgrim could want. 

You could show up in SJPDP with the clothes on your back and get completely outfitted with a backpack, the perfect clothes, etc. 

I found the local supermarket. I LOVE foreign supermarkets. This one was ginormous. Stocked with lots of yummy stuff with weird labels. I tried to get help finding cough drops. Hard to explain and pantomime. I searched and found them on my own.

For lunch I found another sidewalk cafe. I had better luck with the plat du jour: veal stew served with very hot french fries. 

I checked into the Hotel Ramuntxo: good location in the old part of town. It has a bathtub. I took a hot soak; it will probably be my last bath for a while. My only complaint is the toilet paper. It feels like it was custom made for a bus station in Cairo.

I reserved an albergue pilgrim hostel at the next stop tomorrow night. $25 for a bed and dinner. I’ll try to stay in the traditional places along the way. I worry that With all the snorting I won’t get a good nights sleep. We’ll see. 

Hotel Ramuntxo: good location in the quaint old part of town; bathtub to soak my feet; toilet paper that feels like it was custom made for a bus station in Cairo

This afternoon I ealked around town. I felt like I was going to run into someone I know from home.

This is Basque country. A lot of the signs in town are in Basque. The restaurants serve Basque food. Otherwise it feels very French.

I always imagined myself on the Camino sitting at a table with lots of people having dinner and drinking wine. After my walk, on the way back to the hotel, I ran into Jayne (from Oklahoma) and her son Justin. They were looking for a place to eat dinner with some people they just met. She invited me to join them. I did. We had a nice dinner at a cafe on the street. I had some red wine. Kim and Judy from Newfoundland joined us. By some strange coincidence we realized we are all staying at the same hotel. I got the experience I had envisioned. Good start to this thing.

I’ll set out early tomorrow on my journey. Not sure when I’ll post again. Thank you for joining me.

the bear