Day 31: Ostabat to St. Jean Pied De Port!! 21 Kilometers

So awoke early to prepare for our day.  Breakfast wasn't hitting on much except for serving Pound Cake! Hilarious. Not a long day of walking but we hoped to get there early enough to explore St. Jean. Got a good jump on the day and kept our pace brisk.  It was tough as Joan has developed a cold but was pushing through it. The fog was pretty thick and provided us these rainbow like images as the sun rose. Didn't stop until we got to a town four kilometers short of our destination where we had our first proper coffee in two days. And it was a good one, too. We finally arrived at SJPP at 11:30. We were surprised to find a throng of people but most of them were tourists. They seemed to disappear early in the afternoon. The first order of business was to get our Tampon on our Creanciale (stamp on our credential). We then wandered town for quite a while scoping things out and procuring a few things for tomorrow's climb over the Pyrenees. We actually arrived in time to catch the end of Mass at the cathedral. After eating a little for lunch, we sat and rested while we waited for our Gite to open.  We finally checked in and this place is exceptional.  Paid a bit more than we have been in the Gites but we really needed a good stay before going on. After cleaning up and doing laundry we rested until late afternoon when we then took off to see a little history. Walked to the Citadel at the top of town and the views were really neat.  We found a couple more food stuffs for our day tomorrow (a Monday, bad day for stores) and then found a place serving an early supper. Calling it a night early so we can both (Joan especially) be well rested for tomorrow.  

Hard to believe we have "connected the dots" on our Caminos/Chemin from LePuy all the way to the Spanish coast.  That's some 1700 kilometers or over 1000 miles.  We'll try to wrap our heads around this when it's over but in the meantime...onward and upward!!

Gite Azkorria - What a superb place! Everything here is top notch. Great location. Owner is excellent (very helpful and gave us a discount too!). Highly recommend.

Day 30: Aroue to Ostabat 23 Kilometers

Bid a fond adieu to our hostess Evelyn, then her husband Guy gave us a ride back to resume our path where we left off in Aroue.  He gave us his business card and told us if we had any problems the rest of the way we should call him and he would help us. Love those people. He gave me some walnuts from a tree in his backyard. We felt like we were moving at a snails pace today but we clicked off some kilometers while the air was cool. Stayed on the path rather than take the popular shortcut and went to a wonderful spot on top of a mountain. The vista was amazing. Enjoyed our picnic and had a long rest.  Afterward, we continued our slow pace until we arrived in Ostabat where we rested until we could check into our Gite which was only a short jaunt away (yes, we were still early...again). This Gite is one of the popular spots where everyone wants to be so it's very crowded. We had been trying to avoid that but we are thankful for our accomodations. The evening meal was traditional and sufficient.  Things were a bit loud with 30 people in a small room. It included some basque folk singing with the owner who loves to perform.  It was interesting but a bit long.  On to St Jean Pied de Port tomorrow!

Gite Gaineko Xteia - A purpose-built facility. Relatively clean except for a sewage smell outside on the deck. Meal was fair. Too many people. 

Day 29: Navarranx to Aroue 18 kilometers (and more)

Awoke with hopes that today would bring good fortune our way. We were not disappointed. A quick coffee and goodbye at our Gite and we were off to explore Navarranx, a walled city. Since we had two options for our travel today, really long or really short, we opted to go short (18 kilometers) which gave us a chance to leave later. A proper coffee and some patisserie goodies were a good start. We then continued our walking tour of the town from the day before. This place was really cool with some underground tunnels which we chose to traverse until we met some bats which made us retreat (haha). We collected some food from a couple different places including one with "produits du terrior" (products of the territory). A super chill morning and we set off.  We stopped once briefly about midway at a so-called "shelter" and had a snack and short rest. Continued until we almost got to Aroue when we found an acceptable pique-nique spot. Finally found Aroue shortly thereafter. This is where things got interesting. Yesterday, we had decided to eschew the earmarked Gite where we heard many Pelerin were going and tried to book a small place. When the tourist office called they were told it was "complete" although the owner said we could stay at his house! We were told to get someone to call him when we arrived at town at the communal Gite and he would come pick us up. Our friend Sophie was there and she called for us. After a bit of a wait, Evelyn showed up. She then drove us a bit of a distance.  We didn't know where we were going but ended up some 20 kilometers away in the quaint village of Laas. They have a wonderful home directly across from a beautiful church.  After we arrived we washed and went for a walk to explore the village. Here we found the Domaine De Laas which contains an old Chateau and these amazing gardens that front the River D'Oloron. This place was very beautiful and picturesque along the winding river. After a rest our hosts served us a tremendous dinner of vegetable and duck soup, "Poulet de Basque" an amazing chicken dish with rice and a delicious tart with custard.  Although Guy and Evelyn speak less English than we speak French, we had a great time conversing with them and learning about each other and our families.  Our adventure has really taken us way off the beaten path and we have had a very good day!

Gite La Tortue (?) Guy Phillipe, and his wife Evelyn are reason enough to recommend his Gite 

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.  

Day 26: Aire-Sur-L'Adour to Arzacq-Arraziguet 32 Kilometers

Zoom! Today's forecast included some rain.  We looked at the hourly conditions and we saw a window where we thought we could get some kilometers in before rain really set in. Wasn't a whole lot to see in this stretch so it made for simply a travel day.  Said goodbye to our recent travel mates and we were off by 7:30.  At 10:30 we came to Miramont-Sensacq.  That was 18 kilometers.  A pretty fair pace.  A reastful snack and coffee and we were back on the road.  Kept a decent pace until we came upon a farmer who was relocating a cow and her calf.  Talked with him while we "helped" him herd the cattle.  After we had gotten to kilometer 28 on our day we finally encountered a bit of rain.  Only lasted 1.5 to 2 kilometers and it wasn't very heavy. Pulled in to our destination town at 1:30.  Not bad. 6 hours, 32 kilometers with a stop and some rain.  Treated ourselves to a cafe noisette and then hit the Officine de Tourisme where we checked the weather forecast and booked tomorrow's destination Gite.  Looks like a rain slog day so we are planning a relatively short walk.  Found our Gite and took care of chores. Spent a bit of time resting and planning ahead.  Ate dinner with many at the Gite and also the Frenchmen, Jack and William, who we have been crossing paths with since the Cele Valley. 

Gite Centre d'Accueil. Nice clean and good dinner. Large facility with decent resources. 

Day 25: Arblade-La-Haut to Aire-Sur-L'Adour 25 Kilometers

A good night's sleep. Can't always say that on the way.  Breakfast of champions as we had yogurt and granola for the second day in a row. Yes! An early start gave way to some quickly wet feet.  A busy road led us to walk a mowed path. Arg! Tried to take an alternate path but didn't really save much time. The Pyrenees were even more visible today. Had a long morning break before heading to Barcelonne (not Barcelona) which was the neighbor town to where we are staying tonight.  Got to town just before the Carrefour Market was closing so we were able to restock our food stores.  After getting to our destination town we were far too early to check in (again) so we got our first proper coffee in two days.  Had our daily picnic and then a bit of a wait when we finally checked in at the Gite and took care of daily chores.  Took a city tour and then came back and planned for the next day.  Planning lately has been hard because we like to cover ground but at the same time we like to stop and smell the roses, so to speak.  Factor in where the resources are and it can be difficult.  The whole " booking ahead" is probably the one thing on the Chemin that is not necessarily to our liking but we understand that we are staying at places that prepare meals that need to know for their planning. Another lovely community dinner with our hosts Alejandro and Isabella, former Pilgrims from Spain. I (Ed) found it amusing to converse with Isabella as she knows a little English and I know very little French but we communicated well in Spanish! 

La Maison des Pelerins - An older place in the city.  Albergue feel.  "Hospitaleros" that are super helpful.