Category: Camino Francés

I got here early, so I had to wait a couple of cervezas before I could check in. Booked the cheapest hotel I could find, since I want to stay that extra day to give the body some time to heal. And albergues make you check out around 9am and you cannot check in before 4pm. Checking in using a machine! That’s a first! First wash of my cloth, and even tough I hate to admit it, Arne – the Right wing Ex Marine, who loves GoDaddy because Bob Parsons was a marine – was right. Get rid of everything …

…and not the people around you. Today could have been a short day. After a small breakfast we walked around 9km to Zubiri. A beautiful little town. We had lunch and Everything inside of me said, get a bed and stay. But when Nancy, the Spanish girl I was still walking with, said – at least I believe she did, we were mainly communicating by gesturing or google translate – there are mainly little towns along the way, let’s see how far we get, I once again ignored my inner voice. And on we went. We actually passed one restaurant …

What a killer start into my Camino. First I had a headache from the wine Floris, a fellow pilgrim from the Netherlands, and I drank that night. With 45 minutes delay, and two ibuprofen later I started my first day. Did not have breakfast and all stores were closed, but supposedly there was a foodtruck on the way. The hike started out very steep right away. After two hours I felt for the first time that breakfast might not have been such a bad idea. So I had a cereal bar that I brought from home. After that it just …

Left at 7:44am this morning to Bayonne and on to SJPdP. Met 3 American and a Dutch pilgrim. Now having lunch. So exited, but still a bit scared for tomorrow’s crossing of the Pyrenees.

I am so out of shape… Paris is such a beautiful city, so I spent over 6 hours running around. Second half even without the backpack, now I feel every muscle in my body… Now I thought a good night sleep could help, but I guess I picked the wrong Hotel for that. At 10pm the glass containers were emptied which sounded like they were emptying them inside my room. But even after I can here every conversation out on the street and from the Sound of it cars driving through my room. Oh well, good thing I did bring …

6am it is still dark, cold and it’s raining. Waiting for the Thalys to Paris. I am getting a bit nervous now. I am pretty out of shape after that long break because of the back issues. But also looking forward to this long walk to find myself and reset and recharge body and mind. Police is checking everyone coming in from another country for their vaccination or test status. But I am finally in Paris now, and starting the day with a good French breakfast.

Finally, after lockdowns, and health issues, the day of departure is here. Tomorrow at 6:44am my train will depart for Paris, and the day after on to Saint-Jean-Pied de Port! Cannot wait to finally get on the road, and hopefully teach myself to sleep again, and charge those batteries for things to come. I only hope that Delta will not cause another disruption, even for us fully vaccinated pilgrims. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Due to the stupid virus go crazy once again, and in fear of another lock down with closed borders, I had to make a decision. With Spain’s declaration of a state of emergency, enabling the regions to possibly enter a lockdown of their own, I decided to not travel the Camino Frances just now. This could easily mean a lockdown of Spain’s borders or a ban of travel between the autonomous communities. Instead, I will stay in Germany and walk the Via Colonensis, a part of the Camino De Santiago starting in Cologne and leading to Schengen in Luxembourg. The …

16km hike 380m ascend, slowly getting back into shape… Though I admit, I was pretty beat when I got home.

Alright, this was only 15km, but it’s a start. Actually felt better than I thought it would, after that forced timeout….