Day 2 Orisson - Roncevalles 21km

We didn't actually stay in Orisson because there was no room and the
tents were too sodden to be viable. But we WERE on French TV! They
were fillming the nutty and not so nutty pilgrims who were trying to
get across the Pyrennees in bad weather.
We ended up staying in a gite in St Jean le Vieux owned by Jean
Jacque's wife. We were having dinner when she put the telly on and
there we were on the news! In truth, it may have been the equivalent
of Look North - Look Aquitaine maybe. This prompted a discussion of
the fact that we are still in the Aquitaine region. The department is
the Pyrenees Atlantiques and the 'appelation' is le Pays Basque.
Confusing or what?

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4.50pm Burguete Tea Shoppe
Here we are in Spain! We couldn't walk over the mountain route. The snow was still too bad so Carole dropped us off at Valcarlos to walk to Roncevalles by the road route although a lot of the Pilgrims Way went off road through amazingly beautiful woodland. We climbed all day and hit the snow line. It was VERY cold. We had the luxury of sending the rucksacks by Bourricot (transport). So we enjoyed the walk much more and we don' feel completely exhausted.
We arrived in Roncevalles by 1pm and signed in to get our credencials stamped. We decided to pass on the large refuge with 150 beds and 4 showers in favour of pushing on to Burguete in order to get more kms under our belt and hopeful of findind warmer accomodation where we could dry off. We are staying in the Hostal Burguete whose claim to fame is the fact that Hemingway stayed in it for a while.

Day 1 St Jean - Orisson

Il fait froid ..... Brrr

Day 1 St Jean - Orisson

Rain Mist and Dripping clothes

Refuge Kasernak St Jean

Pam with Jacques

Washers up at Refuge Kasernak

Day 1 St Jean Pied de Port - Orisson

Strangely, I slept really well in the refuge - much better than the
previous night in the Novotel at Birmingham Airport.
We had a fabulous communal meal cooked by Jacque's wife - vegetable
soup, local boudin (black pudding) served with potato purée and apple
sauce, brebis cheese and prunes in red wine with vanilla sauce.
Jenny might have slept well but the rest of us struggled.
We headed off to Orisson in the pouring rain quickly turning to sleet
as we climbed higher. The fantastic views were obscured by thick mist.
We were booked in to a tent. Not surprisingly it was not feasible,
they offered us beds in the laundry, no heating, shared double bed
toilet across a road. We said no so we were whisked off back down the
mountain to a four bedded room with a log fire and great facilities.
They will pick us up tomorrow and take us back to walk over to
Roncavalles. Mo
Jean Jacques, the patron of Orisson, regaled us with stories of deaths
on the mountain. People ignoring advice or worse getting sloshed and
setting off in gung ho fashion. He says today may be the worst and
tomorrow it might start to improve. If it does he is going to guide us
and the other pilgrims staying at Orisson over the mountain. On verra!

4th April St Jean Pied de Port

Oh dear it's absolutely freezing here. Cold and wet and the pass over
the Pyrenees is closed due to snow! Apparently pilgrims had to be
helicoptered off the mountain this morning if they were fool enough to try and get through.

To add insult to injury Mo and I have prematurely gotten rid of a lot of warm clothes because we were fed up with carrying them. And it was so hot last week it was difficicult to imagine it would ever get cold again. Oh for the cosy Paramo trousers that we discarded four weeks ago. We have had to go to the only very expensive outdoor shop and buy more stuff! I could weep when I think of the stuff I have left at home that I really need now.

Richard and Pam arriving in Bayonne to join us for a week

I met up with Richard and Pam in Birmingham and we fllew to Biarritz very early on Tuesday morning. As soon as we stepped off the plane Richard commented that we should have gone to Scarborough! Very grey, overcast, chilly wind and not enough clothes! Richard and Pam have come very well equipped cos they checked the weather forecast and assumed we would have the sense to do the same! But no! Having carried fleeces and thermals needlessly around France for weeks we recklessly jettisoned them throwing caution to the wind.

Plans for the next few days are unclear. As it stands, we are going to attempt to do the climb up to Orisson tomorrow where the patron Jean Jacques will advise us whether we can go on, should come back or whether we can take a different but less scenic route.

We are staying in Refuge Kaserna, which is a newly renovated and very comfortable place donated to the parish for pilgrims by a lady who died a couple of years ago and whose photo is on the wall in the dining room. It is managed very well by Jacques and Monique who are volunteer wardens.

We are in a dormitory of 10 - Austrian, Danish and Swiss fellow pilgrims - all very jolly!