An in between day

 

An odd day today, travelling from Biarritz to my chosen starting point for the Camino Frances, St Jean Pied De Port.  There was no rush, the train I wanted to catch left at 10.42am, so long as I could find my way there and buy a ticket I’d be fine.  If the garage had a cafe then I’d be better than fine.  My ability to function without coffee is limited, so I was pleased to find I was capable of buying a ticket without resorting to English before a cup of coffee and a croissant.  French trains always amaze me.  It was on time, clean, busy but not too crowded and very reasonably priced.  I had a brief stop to change trains in Bayonne - twenty minutes to dash out of the station and have a very quick look before jumping on the next train for the very scenic route to St Jean Pied de Port.  

I had been slightly concerned about travelling on a Sunday in France, the whole not being able to get a meal or do any shopping, but I need not have worried,  St Jean Pied de Port is a busy, busy little town,  All the shops and restaurants were open.  I had been pondering my stupidity at not bringing a cross body bag with me to keep things that I needed close at hand available, so picked up one of those as a reward for having avoided buying any tourist tat!   After lunch I made my way to the Camino office  because there was a bit of a queue and I can’t resit one of those!  

Got my first stamp in the all important credential!  And a lot of information from the lady who took down my details, most of which I forgot as I was so busy trying to remember to go between the cross and the pile of rocks at one point that the rest of the pertinent information evaporated!  I’m sure it will be fine,  As my stamp had today’s date next to it I suppose that means I have started today.  I walked the fifth of a mile from the office to my hostel and recorded that on Strava just for completeness!  I don’t want to walk back to the office in the morning.  

After that I went into tourist mode - walking around the town walls, having a look in the church, strolling by the river and writing some postcards.  I’m glad I got to see this town. It is beautiful.  I am looking forward to tomorrow, although a little part of me worries that it will be too busy, with too many people.  My overriding memory of Kilimanjaro (way back in this blog in 2017) is that there were too many people.  I’m hoping that the greater distance involved here will mean that it doesn’t feel quite so crowded.  If we could have a repeat of today’s weather, 21c and a bit cloudy, that would also be lovely!  For now - it is an early night for me.