St Jean Pied de Port

We are now on a train to Pamplona. Followed by a bus to St. Jean Pied de Port. I overslept because I put my alarm on silent while I was with Mark. He didn’t like to wake up at 6am if he wasn’t working, lol. Alyssa woke me up 20 minutes before we had to leave. I had my dream breakfast of patata tortilla and cafe con leche on the train. The breakfast of champions! I hope to have this every day. My knee doesn’t hurt today. The restful antidote of a good night’s sleep.

Another café con leche and patata tortilla for lunch at the bus terminal. This one was even better than breakfast. I saw my first Camino shell in Pamplona!

We received our credentials at the Pilgrim office in St. Jean Pied de Port. The Napoleon Pass is closed due to snow. I’m sad about that because I have dreamed of crossing over into Spain from the picturesque pass from France. The Valcarlos route is supposed to be pretty, but not the same. I may have to come back after getting to Santiago de Compostela so I can experience it. I don’t know if I’ll feel the same in another couple of months.

I bought a new backpack, hiking poles, socks, and umbrella, and a pair of leggings. All of these from the pilgrim outfitter store in SJPP. I’m the third pilgrim this season who has had luggage disappear in transit.

Mass was at 7pm tonight. It was conducted entirely in French, not surprisingsince we are in France, lol. There were only 7 of us attending. An Italian woman and moi were the only pilgrims. It was a beautiful old church and at the end we received a pilgrim blessing from the priest.

We are staying at a highly rated hostel called Beilari.