September 10, 2010Larceveau - Saint Jean Pied de Port 19kmL'Esprit du CheminToday was one of the most beautiful days on the walk. Soft rolling hills slowly turned into bigger climbs, with the wall of the Pyrenees right in front of us. Saint Jean Pied de Port is another fantastic medieval town. It is suddenly a much more international place. At dinner in the Gite we ...
September 9, 2010Uhart-mixe - Larceveau 10kmHotel Espellet, LarceveauWe are only 19 km away from Saint John Pied de Port and definitely well into le Pays Basque. The hills are getting bigger and I keep expecting to see Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews coming over a ridge with a bunch of children in tow. It looks a lot like Austria or Switzerland here except all the ...
September 8, 2010Navarrenx- Uhart-Mixe 32kmGite Escargot, Uhart-MixeNavarrenx is reputed to have been the first town in France to be fortified with Italian style ramparts, in the 16th century. These are still largely extant, and you can walk around the town on the top of the wall. The town is charming, although you are followed everywhere by the same broadcast music, an initiative of the mayor. ...
September 7, 2010La Sauvelade-Navarrenx 12kmLe Relais du Jacquet, NavarrenxOh now I know why the countryside looks so green and lush. This morning we had massive thunder and lightning storms which were accompanied by a huge amount of water. I assumed it would be short lived, but the rain continued for our entire walk and then stopped immediately upon our arrival. It was the kind of ...
Pomps-Abbay de Sauvelade 27kmGite-Cafe-EpicerieThe group we are traveling with right now is full of fun. I met up with them again this morning. They bought me coffee and in exchange all they asked for was the opportunity to stay in our Gite Canadienne (our house) for at least a month.Today I walked the first 10 km with Gord and now he is continuing for another ...
Aire du l'Adour - D'Arzacq. 34km(Gord's not mine)Gord and I are in D'Arzacq at the Gite communal- our first dormitory experience for this year. There are only six beds in our room and thankfully they are not bunk beds. Everyone traveling along the route right now is really nice, but they are all well into middle age and I am anticipating a loud night full ...
Nogoro-L'Aire sur L'Adour 24kmGite Hospitalet Saint Jacques, -L'Aire sur L'AdourToday we set out anticipating just doing a small day, but I was feeling stronger so we continued on. The chemin up to this point has been very pretty, but for the next three days we will be going through larger industrial farming areas with much less shade. The temperature is great however, and it only ...
Manceit to Just past Nogaro Today: 12 km L'Arbladoise, pre de NogaroSchool has started again in France and I don't have the stomach cramps and jitters I usually have at this time of year. Of course I made up for it with all my pre-trip nerves. So to all the people out there who are back to school today or soon: good luck and I ...
Eauze-Manciet Today 11km Total:129.5/550kmHotel du Sport Chez Monique, MancetI am thrilled that I walked today. Nothing too ambitious- but it feels good to be touching feet to earth again. We can see the Pyrenees well now and it feels like we are moving into the Basque region. There is more of a Spanish feel in the whole Gasgon area. Manciet even has a very small ...
Larressingle - Eauze 28kmHotel Trina, EauzeAnother rest day for me while Gord, "made up some good distance," san moi. We are starting to think in French now. I was doing my stretches and realized I was counting in French. It is really an excellent opportunity to learn and practice the language. It has been fun talking to the other pelicans (pelerines), and they have all ...