5/16/2019
Day one and off we go. Left St Jean at 6am this morning . It’s been four years since I was last here and two years since we as a group discussed walking it again together. It’s hard believe that that time has come

Except for the sound of our boots resonating off the Roman cobbled street, it was deathly still and quiet and we walked out onto the bridge to start

 6am and we are walking out of the deserted street, down through the Bastile Gates and onto the medieval bridge over the river Nive, the start of the Camino Frances.
It was a chilly, brisk start to the day. And after about half an hour, as the sun started to peak over the horizon, the view was amazing.
 I felt motivated to blast up the mountain,but reality set in and in no time I was sucking for oxygen
I forgot how steep this route was. This was the Napoleon trail, it came to fruition when the ancient pilgrims had to climb this route to escape the criminals in the Valley below.

 We stopped in Orozon for a coffee after 8 km, but this is a super steep gradient.
I was obviously fitter last time. Never the less, we pushed on and got to the summit after 7 hours of climbing, I was knackered

Wild horses and the scenery as we climbed higher

Coming back down the back side was a whole new deal, it’s so steep that I started to wish for an uphill again.
We arrived n Rancevalles and found the albergue where we were staying, but there was a pub between the trail and hostel. Oh dear
 Ran into marylou, turns out she is a friend of my friends john And Yvonne from Darwin
Small world.
It was a long and draining day, but glad to get here because because it know tomorrow is easier.
The Alburgues here is the collegiate church,  a monetary dating back to medieval times and in my opinion, the best hostel on the Camino
We had dinner tonight next to the cathedral, and made a whole  bunch of new friends, it feels good to be back on the Camino.  Predicted rain tomorrow...????

The Augustine Monastery of Ransevalles founded a n 1130