Distance: 27.0km (27.0km).
Weather: Fog, heavy rain and wind.
I was standing anxiously outside the albergue in St Jean Pied de Port on the first day on the Camino de Santiago, or more specific Camino Frances. There are as known several routes to Santiago, but the French way is the most famous of them. For a long time I had read and heard about this walk, and in the end I had finally decided to do it myself. I had been granted leave from work, taken a plane to Bordeaux and then a train to St Jean Pied de Port nestled in the mighty mountains of the Pyrenees. In the morning, I was walking nervously back and forth in the street, with just a small crack in the dark clouds that was lying above me. After all, I had never before done a walk as long as this, with just about 800km to go. Then I pulled my backpack tighter around my shoulders and set forth. Thus starting on the first adventure of many.
In the morning in Saint Jean Pied de Port, the start of my Camino.
I was not alone, around me there were other pilgrims beginning their Camino at the same time as I, but I did not know any one of them. Despite the footsteps of the pilgrims, it was relatively quiet in the streets. Already through the town, I was scouting for the scallops and the yellow arrows, the waymarks showing where the way goes. Out of St Jean Pied de Port, I took one final look back, there was still the option to turn back, in front of me was the mountain pass over the Pyrenees.
Greygreen meadows beneath the dark clouds after Saint Jean Pied de Port.
I started early, so it was dark in the beginning. It slowly got brighter while I was walking, but it never became completely bright. I had a tiny hope that the weather should lift and that the journey across the mountains would bring me some views, but it was not meant to be. The view I got, came on the way up to Orisson, the first pilgrim's albergue you arrive at. A short eight-kilometre walk after you start. From there, I could look out over the verdant rolling hills and mountains in this part of the mountain range. It was a dramatic view from the albergue itself, with the sunlight that shone with its last rays through the sombre clouds.
Pyrenean landscape, rolling green hills and mountains. View back towards Saint Jean Pied de Port.
After Orisson, everything of view and light disappeared. Over the mountain there was dense fog with heavy rain and wind. I was extremely happy that I brought with me my rain gear based on Norwegian conditions; I passed several pilgrims clutching their fragile ponchos, several of them already torn up by the fierce wind. It was cold and gusty, but I enjoyed it, even though I really would have liked to see the stunning landscape that I knew was hidden from me.
Dramatic view over the Pyrenees from Orisson.
The sea of fog made sure that I did not got to see the statue of the Virgen d'Orisson, instead an enclosed cross appeared out of the clouds. In between, small glimpses of the landscape below me appearing, small farms clinging to the hills below. To find my way was still not a problem, despite the bad weather, you also pass by a large sign pointing towards Roncesvalles.
At the albergue in Orisson, the last possibility for food and accommodation before the mountain pass towards Spain and Roncesvalles. View of the Pyrenees.
I stopped for lunch in a small makeshift cabin, sheltered from the rain and wind, tightly packed together with a number of other pilgrims. The lunch consisted of a baguette that I had bought from a small bakery in St Jean Pied de Port in the morning. Outside, I could just about make out the figures that went past in the fog. The border between France and Spain was crossed after having walked through a ghostly forest; at least it felt that way. Heavy and gloomy in the weather.
Small glimpses in the sea of fog towards the landscape and farms below.
The highest point on the trail between St Jean Pied de Port and Roncesvalles are Col de Lepoeder at about 1450m, before the pass there were another shelter one could use. A slightly larger cabin, a cabane, this time, empty and spartan interior. No view from the top, just the same old grey world as otherwise. Then I began the descent to Roncesvalles, a quiet journey down through a forest.
Cross in the mist below Pic de Leizar Atheka.
The pilgrim albergue in Roncesvalles is modern and are situated inside the old walls of the monastery. There are four pilgrims for each cubicle, I share my together with Emma from Sweden, Christel from Germany and Signe from Denmark. Before I took a shower and relaxed for the evening, I walked up to the Capilla de San Salvador. You could get there on an alternative route from Lepoeder, but I had chosen to follow the main path. The chapel is small and not open, but the trip up and down was nice, even in the grey weather.
A small shepherd's hut works nice as a shelter from the bad weather over the mountain.
In the bar afterwards, I met Torsten, from Köln in Germany. I know that we saw each other the evening before in St Jean Pied de Port. Emma, Christel, Signe and I had agreed to eat dinner together in the restaurant next to the bar; I invited Torsten along as well. The dinner is my first encounter with menu del peregrino, a simple three-course meal with wine for a bargain price. There was a large gathering of pilgrims around the table with a nice atmosphere.
The Camino through Bois d'Arlote.
Before we returned to the albergue for the night, we attended the pilgrims mass in the church, where the priest prays for the pilgrims that has begun or is about to begin on their pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. I am not a religious person, but it still felt right in a way to participate. The first day on the Camino did not became a magnificent walk over the mountain, but still a cool walk in a foggy weather.
Capilla de San Salvador, a small chapel shrouded by the mist.
Larrasoana ->
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