Dublin - St Jean Pied De Port (08/09/14)

Thankfully Genghis Khan ceased his activities and I was able to eat breakfast at the hotel satisfactorily! I had taken the minimum of equipment to keep the weight in my rucksack down, which was going into the aeroplane hold because I was worried about my walking stick not being allowed on as hand luggage. (As it turned out Ryanair allowed pilgrims to take on their walking sticks as hand luggage at Dublin as long as they were not ski-type sticks with sharp ice points, but we found on the way back that Ryanair would not allow sticks as hand luggage to Stansted and I had to bring Ben's stick back with me). I changed into my walking gear and boots and left my normal clothes behind in my car parked at the hotel.

Upon checking in at the airport for the flight to Biarritz, I found the pilgrims walking the Camino easily distinguishable by their walking gear, rucksacks and walking poles and had several conversations including one with two retired gentlemen in their 60's who had already walked the Camino Frances and were now starting the Camino del Norte. I bought an Irish Times to pass the time on the flight and although it cost €2 and I gave a €20 note, the shop assistant tried to give me only €13 change and wasn't happy when I pointed her mistake out and slapped the rest on the counter without apologising!

The flight to Biarritz passed uneventfully and I was surprised at the heat when I stepped onto the tarmac off the aeroplane. What also surprised me was how small Biarritz airport is and how it is the only airport that I have been to where the luggage carousels are in the public area by the main entrance! Waiting cheerfully were Ben and Matt who had arrived earlier from Stansted and who had already been to Biarritz seafront on the bus. Ben shoved a baguette sandwich in my hands which was very welcome!

Matt was dressed like myself in walking gear but I was surprised to see Ben wearing spanking new luminescent blue and orange trainers (his girlfriend had bought them) which he had only worn briefly before the trip, with elasticated toggle fastening instead of proper laces. When I said "you are not wearing those in the Pyrenees are you??" he replied "They will be fine brother". More about this later!


Originally we had planned to get the bus to Bayonne and then the mountain railway to St Jean, but Ryanair (blessings be upon them) had changed my flight times to later in the day and we therefore could not have made the connection with the last train to St Jean at 6pm. I had therefore booked a taxi minibus service with www.expressbourricot.com This turned out to be an excellent idea; for €24 each the minibus arrived punctually and we and a few other pilgrims were driven up to St Jean in 90 mins.




Arriving in St Jean

I was so excited to be in St Jean at the start of my Camino adventure after months of pouring over a map of the town. Finally the Camino was a reality! We made straight for the Pilgrim Office where we had our credencials stamped and completed pilgrim registration forms.


Houses on the River Nive

Matt & Ben in front of Porte Notre-Dame

Once registered, we turned our minds to getting beds in an Albergue. Usually when I go on a trip abroad, I like to have all accommodation booked well in advance, but this time I didn't feel that would be right for a pilgrimage and decided very much against my nature (!!), that I should relax and "go with the flow" and just turn up in a town at the end of each day trusting that we would find beds. So, leaving the Pilgrim Office we walked down the rue de la Citadelle and immediately found Le Chemin Vers L'Etiole private albergue which had a sign which said it had free space.

The Albergue had a loud and garrulous, but friendly owner Eric who booked us in along with a Brazilian called Eduard. Eric offered us a communal supper at 8pm which we booked, although we later found it was about double the price of other meals we had on the Camino. The Albergue was architecturally very interesting; dating from the 1500's it was a large traditional Basque house which had a timber square cantilevered staircase that ran up through the building, apparently based on Arabic architecture. Originally the staircase would have been around an open courtyard but a roof had since been added. Each room had about 20 bunks and I chose one by the old fireplace and with views out the window along the rue de la Citadelle.

Eric Stamping our Credencials

Albergue staircase

View from Bedroom window towards Porte Notre-Dame

We had about an hour and a half until supper and took the opportunity to explore the town. At an altitude of 170m, St Jean has been the ancient capital of the Basque region of Basse-Navarre since the 9th Century. I was very impressed with this medieval walled town with it's 15th Century Porte Notre Dame gate and narrow cobbled streets with ancient houses still inhabited with families and with door lintels bearing Basque symbols such as the cross shaped Lauburu - the Four Faces - an ancient symbol of prosperity.

The three of us wandered into the beautiful 14th Century church of Notre Dame du Bont du Pont (our Lady at the end of the bridge) and sat awhile and prayed together for our trip. Then we walked uphill and visited the grandiloquent Louis XIV Citadelle which spoke clearly of past conflicts with Spain in this border region. The view towards the Pyrenees where we were walking the next day was impressive. We also walked through the 15th Century Porte St Jacques which has UNESCO World Heritage status and was the gate through which pilgrims entered the town from Le Puy, Vezelay and Paris.

Entrance to Eglise Notre-Dame

Inside Eglise Notre-Dame

Matt & Ben at the Citadelle

Porte St. Jacques

Returning to the Albergue we nipped in a shop and bought some stuff for a packed lunch the next day and then enjoyed the communal meal with a variety of pilgrims including a couple from Zimbabwe, a German lady (who had already walked 400km in France and had a sore foot which she asked me to look at!) a French lady who was worried about whether she could walk over the Pyrenees and a young woman from Barcelona who was shocked when I had a second glass of red wine and claimed I wouldn't be able to walk the next day!

By 9:30 we were in bed, though I wondered how much sleep I as likely to have, despite my ear plugs; the man in the bunk above me kept turning violently every 20 mins or so causing tremors in my bed of about 8.5 on the Richter Scale!