Today was our first real walking day on the Camino. Watching the weather we expected cool temperatures and maybe rain. Turns out it was just windy and humid. It was a great day and mostly we walked on small country roads no wider than 15 feet. The path followed the river and it seemed we went up hill a whole lot.
They say over 33,000 start their Camino in St Jean Pied de Port each year. We recorded our Camino with a stop at the Pilgrims office.
We know the first two days of the Camino are a real test as we had to start through the Valcarlos valley and up into the Prenenes. There is a lot of history on the Camino including starting at the Pilgrims Church to light a candle.
And then through the arch which leads across the Pilgrims bridge built in 1720!
First stop at this bakery. We went here yesterday also. The best croissants!
The path is interesting as sometimes we worried if we were going in the right direction. The red and white markers on many poles and posts showed us the way. After years of pilgrims going through it was thoughtful for people to mark the path.
We came across many happy animals. Made me think that the next time we are stuck in traffic near Costco we can know that 6000 miles away these cows will be sitting in this pasture and they couldn’t care less.
We took an alternate path to Valcarlos which took us off the main road to a much safer small road which followed the river. The pilgrims office recommended the other main road route and we quickly found out why. We had massive assents and descents our way but we were safer.
You wouldn’t believe the descent we made to this bridge and then the assent up to the town.
Finally dinner and now sleep.