Day 1 Camino de Santiago The French Way St Jean Pied de Port to Borda

IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY NOT THE DESTINATION!

Our first Alberque.

9 km walk - elevation change 600 m. How hard could that be? We knew it would be a tough day but not as tough as it turned out to be. Ms Roz was not well but was feeling better. Now that is relative it turns out. I suggested maybe we forward our bags but guess what? There is someone more stubborn than I. Maybe it was the irrationality of starvation as she hadn't eaten much in several days but I acquiesced. So like good little innocent Pilgrims we set off. Can you see how steep that road is? That was just the beginning. 

Our first shell of the Camino. The scallop shell was a symbol of the Pilgrimage completed as they were picked up in Finisterre, the end of the world, but like everything it became a commodity. Practicality shows that the scallop shell was used for collecting water to drink or to receive a portion of donated food along the route. You will now find them strapped to the backpacks of Pilgrims. Yes we have ours.

We started to climb. Roz was working hard. She started off pretty good. 

The views are impossible to describe. I kept taking photos and everytime we would get higher it got better and better. Roz's comment to me was, "I told Karolina in Prague that Cindy takes a lot of photos. Now I say Cindy please take a lot of photos."

So many isolated farm houses.

Just a little lawn mowing in the early morning.

There are cows and sheep everywhere. The sound of cow bells carries over the hills.

I wonder how lonely and isolated these places are in the winter. This route is closed during the winter as there is so much snow.

A bit of a breathier as the road isnt too steep here.

It was about here that i really started to worry about Roz. She was dragging her poles and moving slowly. She kept saying go ahead i will catch up but there was no way i was getting way ahead of her. Now we were leaving the pavement  and heading up steeper  rougher terrain. Roz will tell you most of this day was a blur.
That is St Jean down there in the distance from where we started.

We finally arrived at Orrisson only one hour behind when we thought we would arrive. I discovered Orangina in Paris. My new favourite drink. Kind of like orange Cappy in Bulgaria. The kind waiter managed to get some soup for Roz. At least she was eating something. Then she got a cramp in her hand and then in the quad of her leg. She stood up and tried to stretch it then eventually sat down pale as anything and said she might pass out. I told her if she passed out she would be sent to the hospital. She sat up straighter and said I won't pass out.

We eventually made it to Borda. Our first night in the Pyrenees. Surprisingly after a shower and some food Roz said she was feeling better.

Borda turned out to be an absolutely wonderful little albergue.   A young man from St Jean worked making the famous ham in the area. He decided to buy an old farmhouse and stable and convert it into and albergue. He has 4 rooms of 4 beds in the upstairs of a converted barn. Downstairs was laundry facilities(he did your laundry for a price) and a place to leave our packs, poles and shoes. You were given a bin to bring up to your bed what you needed. This was bedbug prevention. In another building were his quarters, a couples room, and bar and dining room. Dinner was served at 7. Before dinner we all introduced ourselves, and told where we were from and something about why we were doing the Camino. After a delicious  dinner, he gave us our breakfast and arranged for our bags to be shipped to our next destination. I had the pleasure of sharing a room with Carlos, Minto and Perry. Carlos from Belgium, introduced himself right away and said if he snored to yell his name. I said the same but the reality was we had big thick curtains around us and I had earplugs.

The sunset was amazing.