St Jean to Roncevaux

Let me see how to tell you about the climb today with out swearing or adult crying. There was both. All from me of course. How about if I can actually get you to experience it. Ok, go to the gym and get on a treadmill. Crank to the highest setting, sling 25 lbs on your back and start to walk for, oh let’s start out slow–3 hours. Any adult tears yet? No, how about 7 hours. Here is a visual:

And here are better ones:

It was a cloudy and rainy at the top

But like anything in life, the clouds pass, the sun come out and you realize that you had to go through all that pain to get to where you are. 

We were rewarded with an amazing hostel. If any one has seen the movie “The Way”. This is where there are 140 beds in one room. Same room used in medieval times. 

There was a lovely mass at 6 – yes in Spanish- followed by all of us pilgrims sitting at large tables eating a meal together. Tonight, we dined with people from Japan, France, and Canada. 

Lights out at 1o and for me, no more tears, just pure exhaustion and gratitude.