It was an uneventful evening in St. Jean, though unsurprisingly
I found myself frustrated by a number of things that I can only describe with
one word: French. The service as the
restaurant was terrible; I waited a half-hour just to get the bill. The grocery store closed at 8. There would be
no hotel staff to let us out at 7 in the morning (even the desk person admitted
they do not like to work in France) so we would have to let ourselves out and
leave the keys in a certain place, etc.
I love St. Jean, but everything seems to be unnecessarily difficult. I
find myself wondering if this is some kind of cosmic conspiracy that only
occurs when I cross the French Border.
As usual for the night before a big trip, I did not sleep
well last night. The idea was to get to
bed by 10, since I needed to be up at 6 for us to be walking by 7. Well, that didn’t happen. I tried to go to bed at 11, but it’s barely
dark at that time. Plus my room had a
nightlight over the bed that would not turn off, so I moved to the other side
of the bed. So it was some time past
midnight when I finally nodded off.
I was worried that I
would have trouble getting the group together for an on-time departure, but
everyone was pretty much on time, so I gave a few instructions about the walking
and Liz, my RA read some scripture, while Drake my Assistant Director prayed for
the group and our Camino. We were on the
Camino on time, and we could not have asked for better hiking weather. The temperature peaked at about 65 with lots
of sun, and just enough of a breeze to keep from getting too hot. I was particularly grateful for this, as the
last time I walked this stage of the Camino, I was 40 degrees, raining, and I
was nearly hypothermic.
As you might imagine, after the first hour of walking, the
group was pretty well strung out over God’s half-acre. Drake, Ben, and I ended up in the front, with
the other adult, Tom, in the rearguard with a couple of the slower
students. Nonetheless, we made good time
– St. Jean to Roncesvalles, 16 miles, in 6 hours flat, with a climb from 200
feet to 5,000 and a descent to 3,000 included.
We secured our beds in the albergue, and went to the bar to have a bit
of lunch. The rest of the group
straggled in over the course of a couple of hours.
As far as I know, there were no mishaps, save for when I
took a spill coming down the descent for the Col de Leopoeder to Roncesvalles,
which is a 25% grade. I stepped on a wet
spot and slipped, skinning my knee and tumbling over. Other than the skinned knee there seem to be
no adverse effects, so I am thankful. I
also noticed I had a lot more trouble on the uphills than I thought I would. Drake thinks this is the result of a week of
riotous living in Madrid, getting over a sinus infection, and having a pack
that seems heavier than expected. I
surmise that being only two weeks away from being 37 may play a factor, and I
am rapidly coming to realize that while it’s a long time until I’m an old man,
I’m no longer young, and that’s a bit of a weird thought.
Tonight we will go to Pilgrim Mass, and have a Pilgrim
dinner, and then, to bed. Tomorrow is 13.5
miles though still with lots of terrain.
I’m grateful we made it through the first day, though I don’t expect to
sleep well tonight either.
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