It’s finally time to get started!

Wednesday, August 31st & Thursday, September 1st

At last I’ve started this epic adventure!

I travelled down to London on Wednesday afternoon, and after taking in a concert at the Albert Hall, was up early yesterday morning to get the 7 o’clock Eurostar to Paris. Although we were 20 minutes late into Paris I had plenty of time before my next train down to Bayonne. And that‘s where the fun really started…!

The local train from Bayonne to St Jean Pied de Port, my final destination, was due to leave in an hour. However I quickly learnt that the train had been cancelled and all passengers were told to wait for a replacement bus. All well and good until it became clear that there were more stranded passengers than there was room on the bus! Finally a second bus arrived, and after taking a long detour around the local countryside looking for any stray passengers who might have wandered off, we finally arrived at St Jean Pied de Port an hour late.

The station is a little outside the town, so I walked back into the centre to locate my accommodation. I successfully found the pub I had been booked into, only to be told it was full. There was a guy at the bar having a beer, and it eventually transpired that he was waiting for me as he had a guesthouse up on the hills and arrangements had been made for me to stay there. So the next thing I know I‘m being whisked up the hill in a very posh Audi Estate car. The guesthouse was a converted farmhouse with first class accommodation, and my new host‘s wife was American so communication was thankfully very easy. After a quick change I was chauffeured back down into town for dinner, back up the hill at the end of the evening, and then after breakfast this morning a last trip back down into town where I could, finally, start my hike!

`My alternative accommodation — Maison Chulubitenia`

Friday, September 2nd

After finding the Pilgrim Office to collect my official Pilgrim Card (Credencial del Peregrino) I got the hike underway. I’m glad that I did my high-altitude training in Switzerland because for the first four hours it was uphill all the way. Fantastic scenery and I met a lot of people doing the same walk. I spent some time with a group from Yorkshire, two guys from Ireland, and administered first-aid to a lady who had a blister on her heel. We climbed to a dizzy height of 1400 metres before the downhill section into Roncesvalles. There are photos from the day in the gallery below.

Thankfully accommodation tonight is not fully booked and I have a bed and a meal! The weather today has been muggy with high humidity and a little sunshine but thankfully no sign of the thunderstorms and rain which were forecast. Tomorrow’s outlook is for less humidity and a pleasant 21°C. Looking forward to it.