The first part of the journey has started and my route takes me from Sydney to Dubai with a three-hour stopover, and then Dubai to Paris. This was the first time I’ve been on an Airbus A380 and I was a bit worried that my backpack would be too large to fit in the overhead lockers, but as the picture will show, an Osprey Stratos 34 does fit in the overhead locker.
One of the things that pilgrims traditionally take with them on Camino is a stone, and this stone is normally taken from home. The idea is that you leave the stone at an iron cross called the Cruz de Ferro along the route of the Camino Francés.
So the hotel I managed to book online in Paris turned out to be really nice in a very handy location, near the station where I’ll catch the TGV tomorrow. I intended this stop in Paris to be a kind of transition between home and the Camino and also to get over the jet lag.
Tonight I’ll be in Saint Jean Pied de Port, the start point of my Camino, finally, after 18 months of planning. I’m taking the opportunity to repack my backpack in the hotel in Paris because when I flew from Sydney, I had a number of fragile and liquid items packed into mailing tubes.
One more day to go and I’m now on my way to my start point, Saint Jean Pied de Port. The first stage of the journey was by TGV bullet train from Paris, which I have to say was really comfortable.
Although for some reason, they only announce the platform that the train is leaving from 20 minutes before it departs so there tends to be a mad rush for seats, but luckily I had a seat booked.
Camino minus 1 - Looking Around St Jean Pied de Port
It’s 3 a.m. and I’m lying in bed in Saint Jean, not able to sleep. Outside, the rain is pouring down and I can hear it pattering on the roof. I wonder if the rain will still be this strong when I start to walk, but I’m not too worried because I have really good waterproof clothing.
I’d estimate this morning that about 300 people left Saint Jean on the walk over the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles. Because I split the journey in two, I was effectively able to start halfway where I’d left off the day before, which put me ahead of the other walkers, which was really awesome.
I’m just on the downhill section from the Ibaneta Pass down to Roncesvalles. People did say this is hard on the knees,….it is. I’m taking the easier route around to the right, which is a slightly gentler route but a bit longer.
I awoke this morning at 6:45 a.m. in complete silence, I thought it must still be the middle of the night. When I looked at my watch and saw it was already 6:45 a.m. I was really surprised. I must have slept well…
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