Day 26 - June 2nd: Bonjour!

Roncesvalle to Juxue: 29.57 miles / total 654

We are officially in France!

Ted’s arrival provided an incredible spark of energy to both Christina and I. Seems Jax felt it too as he seemed to be showing off along the final route to Roncesvalles, chasing goats, cattle and whatever else moved. Thankfully with the cattle it wasn’t a repeat of a week ago and he listened to “stay” at the top of my lungs as he eyed another cattle round up.

Christina found us a nice spot for the night in the little mountain village right before Roncesvalles. At my worst a week ago, I was 92km behind plan but each day we have whittled it down and it now stands at 48km. We do this by just going a few k further and in this case, we went 5k further than the hotel to a church and Christina picked us up there. We stayed in an old travellers inn where pilgrims have stayed for centuries. Aged wood floor boards worn and polished with heavy timber in the ceilings all felt like we were ourselves traveling centuries ago. We had a menu del dia that was forgettable except for the fact that we were ravenous, ate every bite and enjoyed the company more than the dining on this night.

I snapped awake at 4:30am to the cracking then thundering sounds of a serious storm outside my 2 open windows. Lightning in the mountains, especially the Pyrenees and then needing to cross the pass was not what I had expected. I didn’t sleep a wink after that, listening intently to every thunderclap that followed the bolt to see how close we were. Very close. I met Ted downstairs at 7:30am for breakfast and to discuss options: take the day off or give it a shot. Both Ted and I were unanimous, we go for it and put Tina on standby for an immediate extraction if necessary. The other issue was the trail which was flooded and muddy. We elected to go the shorter route by road and also to leave Jax behind because of how tight the mountain roads are and with the storm, taking care of ourselves would be work enough.

Christina dropped us off back at the church we had stopped at the night before and with the rain started on our way, adjusting quickly to the temperature at altitude. First surprise for us, we were almost at the top of the pass we had climbed yesterday where I thought we might have another 3 miles, we were there in 1k. And then luck, not one bolt of lightning proving all the forecasts wrong. While it rained on us the entire day, we never had to run for cover from lightning.

At 15km, we passed the sign that we entered France.

Downhill from there we followed Rio Luzaide that separated the two countries and over millions of years formed this gorge that opened from the peaks we had just crested. Finally, we reached St. Jean Pied de Port, the official beginning of the French Way Camino. This historic town has served as a gateway for pilgrims heading into Spain since the Middle Ages. The old town was bustling with fresh faces ready to set out on their Camino adventure. None of them registered that we had entered finishing ours.

From here we set out North and East toward Oloron St. Marie, the end of the Via Tolosana where we will backtrack all the way to Arles. For today, we stopped in Juxue which will leave us 48km for tomorrow.

Now that we are in France, the towns have changed as well as the architecture as most homes are in cream color with burgundy shutters. This is also the Basque Country, which covers both Spain and France, and on both sides of the border we see signs in French, Spanish, and then Basque underneath. The Basque people are one of the oldest ethnic groups in Europe and speak Euskara, a language unrelated to any other. The town we are staying in is only a few houses so we will again eat in the hotel restaurant and hope for better results than last night. One thing is for certain, with Ted at the table with us, and Jax underneath because France allows dogs in restaurants, we will have a full family dinner.

Thanks for following along.

Cheers,

David