I awoke at 4:00 thinking I remembered where I might have put my rock and pewter heart. Although my sleep was interrupted by this obsessive thought, it quickly turned to another - the realization that I needed a trip to the bathroom. But there was that door and the man sleeping beyond it. And it was dark and I didn't take my flashlight out of my backpack. Thankfully my stirrings awoke Fred and he did have the foresight to pull his flashlight out of his bag so away I went.
My alarm went off at 6:30 to make sure we would be down for breakfast at the appointed time. But it was dead silent, no one was stirring. And that door was still there. At 10 minutes before seven, we decided we could wait no longer. Got cleaned up and bags packed and downstairs by 7:30 so we thought we were doing well. When we walked into the dining room, our formidable but entertaining hostess, pointed at the clock displayed in a prominent place on the wall and said "Seven".
We shared our meager breakfast of bread with butter and coffee with a couple from Quebec. The wife lady provided us with some humor as she had bought some pants for the trip but hadn't tried them on and they were way too big for her. She said if we found some pants along the trail, they would likely be hers. When we met up with her again on the trail, she had bought a belt.
We had to have our suitcases to the Camino office at 8:00 in the morning for pick-up which we managed easily since we were right next door. While there Jean was very impressed with the holster I had purchased for my camera and brought all the other staff members out to look at it. I must admit, I am really pleased with how it is working. With the four anchor points, in additional to securely and making my camera easily accessible, it also provides some additional support for my backpack. The only issue was the connectors sometime slid off, a problem I remedied with a little duct tape. Already a valuable item to bring with.
By 9:00 after a quick stop for a baguette and a couple of croissants we were ready to head out for the challenging 5 mile climb up the Pyrenees to Orisson. Ran into a pilgrim who had run the Paris marathon so was also only making this day's journey to Orisson.
I can't even describe how beautiful the scenery was as we made our ascent. Beautiful mountains and valleys with large grassy areas and white houses scattered about. Grazing sheep and cows. Small daisies and tiny purple flowers and of course dandelions were in bloom. Stopped several times to take pictures, a sneaky way to catch our breath. The views were just simply amazing!
About halfway up there was a respite where we had a cup of coffee and ate our by this time crushed croissants. A very nice break from the relentless climb. While there, Fred discovered a chain ring that someone had lost. Recognizing only a crazy person would go back to try to find it, I added it to my finger as a omen of good luck on our journey, especially since I lost my rock and heart.
We arrived at our auberge at 11:30, impressed with ourselves that we made the first day's journey in even less time than expected. A beer with our baguette on a deck overlooking the valley while we waited for the 12:00 check-in hit the spot.
Our room has a double bed and two singles so we will be sharing space with two others. We had just finished showering and washing clothes when we were introduced to our roommates - a man and woman (not a couple) from Denmark who were traveling together. Their names were Inga and Steen.
We had quite some time before dinner so decided it would be a good time to journal and blog. Finishing that project, we joined the other pilgrims on the deck. At this point we learned the names of the Quebec couple that we had shared breakfast with - Jean Robert and Ayala. We really connected with this delightful couple and had several laughs over our preparation for the Camino and the differences between how men and women approach such things. I felt better about trying two boots for this epic journey, Ayala had tried four!! We both chose the same back-up shoes, a pair of Ecco sandals. I actually saw several people with Ecco sandals so they must be a Camino worthy shoe.
Although we could have purchased some snacks, we had misplanned our money, forgetting to consider that we needed to pay cash to forward our suitcases to Santiago. So after we paid for our auberge for the night, it didn't leave us with much. There is purportedly an ATM 4 km past Roncesvalles so we will have to stock up then. Luckily many of the auberges in Roncesvalles take credit cards. Otherwise, we will become beggars on the street!
Dinner was very tasty with a potage of some sort (I think bean) and chicken stewed in mushroom sauce, noodles, and an apple pastry for dessert. After dinner was complete our hospitaleros (hosts) had each of us stand up and say where we were from and why we were walking The Camino. People were from all over - many from US and Germany but also from Italy, Taiwan, Denmark, Canada and South Korea.
Today was supposed to be the most physically challenging of the journey so we are feeling confident about tomorrow. Looking forward to what the day brings.
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