Hello All,
Arrived here on Wednesday afternoon and have
fallen in love with this town. Its in the middle of the Pyrenees and is the
beginning of one of the most famous and popular pilgrimage routes to Santiago
de Compostela. Even nowadays there are 300 pilgrims coming through the town each
day. The next stage of the Camino is also the highest and toughest so many
people are here building up their energy for the climb.
The Pyrenees are beautiful, they are softer than
the Alps – similar to the Lake District compared with the Peak District. Am
camped in the municipal campsite which is inside the medieval walls, on the
river and about 1 minutes walk to the church, ( If you have a chance check the
town out on Google images, I’m just down from the famous bridge)
Its lovely
and peaceful, the only sounds are the bells- either the Church or the sheep.
Church bells stop at 10pm and start at 7am- very civilised! And all this for
the princely sum of 10e incl electricity.
As I am staying here for a few days I have taken
the opportunity to volunteer at one of the pilgrim hostels – was recommended
one that is being run by a lovely French lady called Brigitte who speaks
excellent English- she is running it on her own so is grateful for the help.
Not onerous, apart from the early start, I have my breakfast and supper with
the pilgrims and help with the cleaning in the morning which only takes a
couple of hours – the mealtimes are great fun- lots of laughter and camaraderie
– all in French of course but I can understand the gist of what is being said
and Brigitte translates for me. She is leaving on Monday, which fits in with my
plans, so will help her till then. All the hostels are run by volunteers – to
be a hospitallier you have to have walked the Camino so I feel fortunate to be
able to be involved.
So, I am very content here, went to see a game of
Pelota last night –the Basque game similar to squash but 3 on a team with scoop
shaped baskets on their hands- they can really get those balls moving; some great
walking along the river, and the local wine and cheeses are gorgeous- so whats
not to be happy about? Well, to make it even better it is sunny
today-first time for 5days so clean knickers tonight!!
And with that thought- bye for now.
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