Day 28: Arthez-De-Bearn to Navarranx 32 Kilometers

Beautiful morning as we left Arthez.  Pyrenees were in full view and getting bigger as we walk towards. Kept a moderate pace and made two stops this morning.  First we stopped at at town with a small epicerie that served some coffee.  Not great but a short rest. Marched on until we reached an Abbye that was unfortunately under renovation.  A small cafe nearby was our second resting spot where we stopped and ate our picnic, enjoyed a spot of coffee and watched a multitude of Pelerin start to show up.  The path appears to be getting more populated.  We marched on and reached our destination village of Navarranx. It's a walled bastide city that is very well preserved.  We spent some time wandering and finding the tourism office.  Got to our Gite and found it to be basically a construction site.  The owners are new and renovating this old building.  And unfortunately, this has turned out to be a not so pleasant place to stay.  Our room is very nice with a great shower and comfy beds but the dinner was meager and average at best albeit served with a decent salad.  We dined in the back warehouse that was very cold with a bat flying around. For four weeks we have always done our own laundry but this was the first time that a Gite offered laundry as included so we decided to take them up on the offer.  But after the dinner ended at close to 10:00 we found our laundry washed but not dried. We also found our bedroom very cold. They also owned an almost constantly barking dog that was highly annoying. We chose this place upon someone's recommendation but we are not impressed. We have had many great places so far so can't really complain too much. As a pilgrim, I am thankful for shelter and sustenance but this was disappointing. On to tomorrow.  

Gite Giraffe - good potential but far away from being a place to recommend 

Day 27: Arzacq-Arraziguet to Arthez-De-Bearn 30 Kilometers

Last night, the forecast for today was rain and lots of it.  We don't like slogging through the rain so we had booked accommodations for about 16 kilometers away.  When we woke up today, the forecast had changed considerably.  Light rain early and tapering off.  We didn't want to waste a day so we decided to cancel our reservation and get something farther down the path.  Joan had a notation for a nice Chambre in Arthez-De-Bearn so we got the young lady at our Gite to call ahead and book us a spot and cancel our other place.  So after getting some fruit at the Carrefour and having proper coffee and some killer pastries (I had my favorite Jesuit!, Joan had a chocolate filled twisty pastry) we got started around 9:00.  Light rain accompanied us for a little bit but not bad.  Our camera got a bit damp so we missed a few pics this morning. We got to the town where we were originally going to stay around noon.  A bit farther we came upon a Pilgrims oasis that someone had created with picnic benches and flowers and such.  Unfortunately, the overnight rains had made it too damp to enjoy so we trekked on. Soon after we found a pique-nique area filled with other Pelerin who had stay in our previous village and had left early this morning.  A bit of a rest and we headed off for the final leg.  Got to town around 3:00.  Stopped at a store where we got a few things and started towards our place for the night, while walking down the street, a woman starts yelling at us .  It was Sophie from France who had been our path weeks ago.  We enjoyed a little reunion time and some laughs before we went on.  Our place here is quite nice and a very helpful host. He has already booked our accommodations for tomorrow night, another earmarked Gite.  Enjoyed some rest and amazing views from our bedroom window.  The Pyrenees are in full view! Our dinner was a lovely event.  Claude made our "repas" a wonderful and delicious presentation.  

Chambre D'hôtes La Maison en Paille - Quiet and relaxing at a very quaint house. Claude prepares a  superb dinner.