Day 1 - St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles

We did it!!  Day 1 complete. It is fair to say I have been panicking about this day for quite a while. Over the Pyrenees with a huge climb and a steep descent it wasn't easy but well worth the effort.

We set off at 6.30am from Villa Esponda and walked to the bakery in the village for a quick croissant and coffee.  By 7am we were on the road out of St Jean to Orisson only 8km away but up over 600m. It was tough but worth the view when we reached the refuge. And suddenly we were eating our first lunch at 9.15am!!

En route to Orisson



At Refuge Orisson




After our early lunch we headed off, still heading up! Fabulous scenery, past sheep cows and horses roaming on the mountains. We had a short stop at the Virgin of Orisson, then our second lunch at the food van just before the Crois Thibault.

 

Virgin of  Orisson



 
We are in Spain!!


And finally we are going downhill! Although turns out that is harder than up!! 

But then we saw the first glimpse of the Monastery in Roncesvalles, our bed for tonight!!


We arrived and showered and headed to the restaurant we were eating in for a beer or 2. We had the Pilgrim's meal where our table included folks from Taiwan, California, France and Brazil. Great fun and very interesting.  One last glass before bed! 


The route for today


The step count! 




Comments

  1. Iona Scanlan9 June 2025 at 14:05

    Well done guys! Smashed it, proud of you all💕

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ali12 June 2025 at 00:56

    Brilliant! Great achievement and love the photos and the views!! 😄😄😄

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Long travel day (T -2)

Image
We have arrived in Bayonne, which is beautiful!! Pictures to follow.   For Mitch and I it was a 3.45am alarm call and then a lift to the airport from Finlay at 4am for a 6am flight to Stanstead. We met Fiona and Martin and took a flight to Biarritz in the afternoon. Martin and I weren't told about the dress code! We spotted the Pyrenees as we landed, they look very high to be crossing them on the first days walk. It was a quick and easy bus journey from the airport to our hotel in Bayonne (Okko Hotel). After a quick shower and a drink in the hotel we headed into Bayonne for dinner, and walked along the river back to the hotel.  So far it feels like a lovely holiday as we keep trying to forget the upcoming walking!!!
Read more

Almost ready... (T -5)

Image
Started to lay out all our things for the trip. Figured out what was missing and then a quick shopping trip. Home to watch The Way. We have seen it before, it was probably part of the inspiration for us to walk it.  Watching it again is more poignant with only 3 days till we fly to France.
Read more

Arriving in St. Jean Pied de Port (T -1)

Image
After a coffee in the Okko Hotel we checked out and headed back along the river to the centre of Bayonne and over the bridge towards the station. A quick breakfast which was suitably French and we reached the station, ready for the last leg of the journey to get to the starting point of the walk!! An hour on an impressively clean and comfortable train and we are finally in St Jean PdP! Our first camino route marker!! The starting point in St Jean PdP Picturesque St Jean PdP Lunch wasn't too shabby!! After lunch we went to the Pilgrim's office to collect our Pilgrim Credential and our first stamp!! It is all very real now!! 😲 And then a final meal before bed! 
Read more