me having a cafe in Orisson

Day 1 – Saint Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles

The Walking Begins

I decided to go for an early start this morning. I was up by 5:45AM, which is well before sunrise. Some people were already gone, but most were still asleep. I got a coffee from the kitchen ‘to go’ (in my own mug) and started walking with that. A guy from San Francisco (named Bi) asked if he could join me. He had been up since 2AM due to jet lag.

We walked up, up, up to Orisson.

It was dark until about half way up to Orisson, when first light began. So pretty! There is a small cafe at Orisson. Oh coffee, glorious coffee. From there I got chatting with John from California, and we ended up continuing together the rest of the way to Roncesvalles. The weather could not have cooperated more. It was supposed to rain, but instead we just got overcast, cool weather (my perfect weather). We dodged sheep, horses and cows all the way. Eric was right, it is a beautiful land, but God did not cry on us today!

I took a long afternoon and explored a little, though it is a teeny tiny town, so it didn’t take long. I chatted with some folks from Germany, Scotland, and Finland.

I opted for the pilgrim meal tonight. On my way there, I met a father/daughter pair from Ireland, so we sat together for dinner. They were tables of 4, and low and behold the final woman who was seated at our table was Ruth, who I met last night! Wonderful dinner and now I’m off to bed.