I have arrived in St. Jean Pied de Port!!

Well it was planes, trains and buses, but I arrived late yesterday afternoon. I flew to Paris on Tuesday and spent the afternoon walking all around the city seeing the sights. I stayed at the Victoria Palace Hotel, which was a lovely, modern hotel near the train station. It was definitely within walking distance of all the attractions as well as being close to shopping and restaurants.

Yesterday around 10am, I settled in for the 4 hour train ride to Bayonne. Then I was due to change trains and have the final hour ride to St. Jean Pied de Port (the starting point of the Camino and hereafter referred

to as SJPP). However, as I arrived and was checking the train info, I overheard one of the station attendants telling a group of hikers that there was no train and they had a bus going instead. I had read about this hiccup in another person’s book, so I knew this was a possibility. Quickly I ran up to show the attendant my ticket, and she pointed to the bus. There was a big group already in line, but I made it on the bus! It was the last one going for the day, so some would have to either get a taxi or wait in Bayonne till the morning. The bus was filled with pilgrims just like me talking about what brought them there, how many Caminos they had hiked, and whether they were there with friends, their spouse or friends. All different languages were being spoken - French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Chinese, etc. There were people of all ages and fitness levels. To be honest, there was even a very elderly couple that some were worried might have significant issues.

Once in SJPP I got settled at the Airbnb and set out to see the town. It is a beautiful, festive town full of more pilgrims and very welcoming locals. I personally have always been more attracted to small villages, beautiful scenery, breathtaking churches and an opportunity to appreciate and take things in. Some people thrive on big, exciting cities with lots of things to do all the time and go, go, go. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing all the amazing sights in cities across the world, but for me personally it doesn’t feel like I connect there. I don’t want to stay for long. One of the most beautiful and amazing sights I’ve seen in my life is the Snow Geese migration in Nebraska. Every human is silent as they listen to thousands of geese waking in the dark of the early morning hours. Then as the sun rises all the geese take off in a breathtaking display to spend their day out in the fields feeding. At dusk they return in the same way until it is time for them to continue on. But I digress . . . .

So my planning for delays, of which there were none, leaves me an extra day before I start hiking. If I wasn’t pre-reserved at certain places each night, I could have headed out yesterday. I even overheard some guys talking about hiking at night to avoid the crowds. Today I will register at the Camino office and receive my passport. This is the document I will have stamped at every restaurant and lodging facility along the way to verify my time walking the Camino. I will also get a shell - the symbol by which all you encounter know you are a pilgrim.

Quick photos of me right after I got off the bus and the town of SJPP.

I apologize in advance if the formatting of this post is weird since I haven’t done one from my phone before!