Day 12: Izco to Tiebas

Marion

We had such an enjoyable stay at Izco,Val will tell all about it. This morning we again started off in cool weather which makes walking comfortable and easy. By 11.00am the sun had burnt away all the clouds and it became quite hot. Shortly after starting today we walked through a wooded forest and then through a small village that came to a dead end as there was a pond where we should have been walking, there was no way of us getting around it so we had to retrace our steps back through the village and take a detour across the road onto a sunken path beside the river. We soon joined up with our orginal path. We walked through and between a lot of wheat fields and then through a forest path with trees ever so high the lower branches creating an archway for us to walk through. It had rained during the night and droplets of water were still dripping down from the branches and one could smell the earth. It was wonderful, I could have carried on walking that way the whole day!!

We then carried walking on a very narrow path up and down (mostly up) some places ever so slippery, in the steep slippery sections one had to go ever so slow. Sometimes when you put your stick down their was no ground you just had fresh air that was how close we were to the edge. You could see the road far below us and also the new canal that has been built close to the road. The canal stretches for miles. Lunch time we found a platform of cement under a chestnut tree outside a deserted village so decided to stop and have our lunch. Well!! we had hardly sat down and we were covered in tiny insects. We all jumped up so quickly - luckily we had not taken out any food yet. The insects had falled out of the tree, we quickly moved out of the way of the tree and settled on the grass to enjoy our lunch and have a rest.

After lunch we were back on narrow sometimes slippery path mostly climbing up, we walked through a village that the guide book described as an arty village. It did have a lot of arty fixtures round but unfortunately no facalities and all the houses seemed to be locked up so we carried on up and up and then a short way down to Tiebas were we stayed the night. A tough day but ever so enjoyable.

It is quite amazing, whatever village we come to we hardly ever see any locals in the streets during the day. Cannot undertand where they are. Sometimes you see a few old men, very smartly dressed sitting on a bench in the street. It seems the children go to school away from the villages and only come home at 5.00pm.

Val - Minister of Nutrition

A tougher walk today, lots of climbing on stoney paths but beautiful views from high up. Then we come down steeply only to have to go up again to the village. As we walk to the Albergue we pass a bar and the owner is just arriving so I ask when he opens and he says 4pm. They advertise that they serve a Pilgrim menu...once again there is no supermarket, absolutely nothing. Today however, Marion and I had a delicious boiled egg with salt and bread...we managed to buy two eggs from the lady's supermarcado cupboard and Marion managed to cook them before the electricity blew so we ate them on the steps in a small village enroute today. The Alburgue is tiny, 3 bunks and two men are already there so there is just room for us. The kitchen and bunks are all in the one room. There is a shower cubicle with room to change in private and one toilet. Later we discover there is another room with mattresses on the floor where a gorup of young cyclists are bedding down for the night. There is no set charge for the accommodation - you just make a donation. We all have a lie down and then the German gets up to leave. The young Spanish guy George, is staying over. He says he is a Chef and will cook for us...there is no food in this place so we can only imagine that he was hoping we had brought some with us and he would be fed in return for cooking!

At 5.30pm we head for the bar. The lady here is Brazilian and is so friendly and kind to us. We have a glass of wine and coffee and ask what time we can eat. She says around 7.30pm which is fine. She shows us the pilgrim menu and then offers Paella...yes please! Marion and I will share it as Syl is a vegetarian. Neither Spain nor France cater well for vegetarians and Syl inevitably ends up with a salad and fills up on potato tortilla or biscuits, cakes and chocolate poor thing. Two hours later Marion and I have polished off quite a few glasses of vino tinto and are starving. The Paella arrives and is easily enough for 4 - it is superb, with calamari, clams and prawns. Perfect rice and obviously a lovely stock has been used. George is at the bar and doesn't have any money for food so we invite him to join us and share our Paella. The meal comes with another bottle of wine! This lovely meal and our wine and coffees cost just E13 each. The meal also comes

with fresh fruit which we save for breakfast the next day. During the night there is a terrible storm overhead and a huge amount of rain. In the morning we had our melon for breakfast and Myprodyl for the hang-over...Marion reminds me that she and I together (and we think with Gorge) ..pretended to be the bulls in the "running of the bulls"!!

Sil

We weren´t planning on staying at Tiebas. I had copied the diary of a pilgrim who walked the route last year and she said that the albergue in Tiebas was dirty and uncared for. However, we were on track for a stay at Eunate so decided to walk further than Monreal and head for Tiebas.

Sometimes the camino lulls you into a sense of false camino bliss. ¨I love these kind of paths´I said to M and Val as we walked along wide gravel paths through fields and farms from Izco . No sooner had I said that, when the path became a forest path, then a double track on stones and clay, then this disintergrated into a single rocky path no wider than one boot. We started climbing up the side of the mountain and down the other, through a stony gulley, then up and down rocky gullies all the way from Monreal to Tiebas. It looked the Sierra Nevada with steep, pitted sheep tracks hugging the side of the mountain, taking you halfway up the hill and dropping you down, down down on the other side. There is a village on a hill across the valley and we keep thinking that it might be our refuge for the night but we keep skirting it, hiding from it, then it appears again.

Eventually we see Tiebas - also on a hill but on our side of the valley. As we approached Tiebas we could see the ruined castle of Teobaldo 1 of Navarra. If we´d had more energy we might have explored it but we were too hot, too dehydrated, too weary to do more than follow the flechas amrailla to the hostel which was way over at the other end of the village. Once again, this room forms part of the Community Centre and besides our small room with just 4 bunk beds, it also has a large room with matresses on the floor for groups. A German pilgrim who we had come across earlier was lying on one of the beds and Jorge from Barcelona was eating at the table. The shower room was swamped with water but I found a mop and pail and mopped the floor in the shower, toilet and entrance hall and it looked spick and span. I found flowers in the garden outside and put them in a plastic cup on the table. The little room suddenly looked very welcoming! Considering that there is no hospitalero and that payment is donativo - into a metal box on the wall- one can´t complain about the accommodation. We had a lovely meal at the local bar and I gave a South African pin badge to a young boy who was prepared to reply to me English when I spoke to him. Tiebas is a clean, attractive village and we found the locals helpful and friendly. Val and Marion livened the place up on the way home - giggling and playing matadors! I'm not sure who was the bull!

Day 8: Jaca to Santa Cilia

Marion
Another beautiful day, clear sky, no sign of rain at all. We started off by taking a taxi to the Monastary of San Juan de La Pena, it was such a worthwhile stop. Its amazing to see how the Monastery was built into the rock mountain. The workmanship was incredibile, and it all was so interesting. After spending approximately one hour walking through the monastary we then started walking the 7.5k´s back down to the road. At first did not understand as we started climbingfor 1k, and then the descent began, a very steep path of earth, stones and rocks. One had to be very carefull and go down quite slowly. I so enjoyed it but must admit I would not like to do it in very wet wether. At times we came across wild lavendar growing alongside of us, lots of pretty wild flowers and very colourful butterflies. At the bottom we found a cafe bar and had something to drink at Santa Cruz which was very welcome and then continued on our way up and down a another path of rocks and boulders. It was very hot and no shade. I am sure we were walking in the path that the water would come tumbling down. One could actually see where the little waterfalls would be in the wet weather or when the snow melted. I love walking off the road as in the silence I am able to listen to the sounds of nature and lose myself within myself. Have to say at the end of walking today I was quite tired but contented.

Val Minister of Nutrition
We are chucked out at 0900am so we decide to get up early and finish off on the blog. We are now up to date with our blog...still a shame that we post almost a week in one go as we know friends and family like to get an update every few days....we are getting a taxi to the Monastery this morning so Syl goes off to scout for the taxi rank and atm whilst Marion and I get our fix of ´cafe´in a bar....I also have a roll with ham and proscuitto which is served warm...delicious. The taxi rank is full of cars which are not taxis...and we along with another woman accost every one who parks and gets out of the car..."taxi" NO comes the reply...the Spanish woman actually opens their doors and is almost in when the owner of the car has to manhandle her and say No not taxi!!
We got to a hotel and the kind lady calls us a taxi and we then wait at the taxi rank....we bundle in with all of our stuff and are soon speeding up a very narrow winding road to the Monastery. It is well worth the visit and the late start we have today. It doesn´t open until 1000am and we spend at least an hour. We immediately set off on the path to our next stop. I resist singing "I´m off to Sunny Spain¨and pretend that I have never been to Benidorm! But I feel like singing because it is so beautiful. For the past 5 days we have seen a lone bird of prey - it is as if he is following us...perhaps guiding us. Our next stop should have been Arres but we will not make it as we are so late and cannot book and as such ensure our accommodation. We walk into Santa Cilia and there are two young boys playing football. .. Syl says Albergue? and they immediately walk for us to follow. We go down a side road where the entire road is running between the buildings is dug up...another village undergoing reconstruction. Other than that, there is absolutely nothing! We have walked through villages where there is a row of say 4 houses, of which only one is habitable, the ones surrounding it are ruins. They have no shops, absolutely nothing but almost always a water fountain and incredibly - recyling bins..probably more for us pilgrims than the residents. Our accommodation tonight is superb in many ways, it is bright and cheerful, the 3 storey ¨townhouse¨has colour washed walls and paintings (murals) a map and modern Male and Female Pilgrims to denote the abultions, although most often these are communal. The place is spotless and quite a few of our fellow pilgrims have all gathered here tonight and a great atmosphere exists. There is a washing machine! Marions says, "and what is this?" " a dishwasher?" I say, but it is a tumble dryer....we have not been able to wash our fleece´s as they are difficult to dry and if the weather turns we only have one, and need them in the mornings and sometimes to sleep in. They are competing with the smelly cheese now! Downstairs is a fully fitted kitchen, huge communal table and lovely open plan lounge. The next floor is a male and female dorm and lovely showers and toilets...there is liquid soap AND paper towels AND TOILET PAPER! Some places do not supply toilet paper because we pinch it. The first time I discovered this, was a bit of a shock...where the toilet rolls should have been, was a piece of cardboard with a message...I did´nt need my phrase book to know that it said something like "we no longer provide toilet paper because you nasty little Pilgrims pinch it".....In the next door cubicle is a groan and expletive - it doesn´t matter what the language, it is obvious he also forgot to check before sitting down.
On the 3rd floor is a huge room - almost like a classroom with free Internet and we manage to post a few photographs onto our blog. The use of the internet, washing machine, including powder and the tumble dryer in addition to all the other facilities is just 10 euro. The only problem now is where can we get food. Marion and I go looking around the village, and it is full of allotments with such wonderful produce including fruit trees and fruit bushes. As we pass down a narrow path we can just see over a wall with vegetables at our height - oh it is so tempting to pinch and onion and lettuce but we resist. We report back that the place is deserted. Eventually we learn that we have to walk around the corner and press the door bell and wait about 15 minutes and they will open - there is apparently a bar and food shop. A few of us go to the door and sure enough about 10 minutes later a lady appears and we set into the bar..a tiny dingy room and we are told to wait here until she is ready for us to come into the shop. The tiny bar has a shelf on the wall with grimey bottles, most without labels and I don´t ask for wine fearful that I might be given the contents of one of these bottles and so we wait for over 15 minutes for Senora to invite us into her shop behind the bar. "only two at a time!" But she allows us three in together. It is a lovely Alladins Cave- we snatch up fresh lettuce, toms, onions, peppers and garlic. A carton of milk for tomorrow with sachets of hot chocolate, apples, oranges and bananas. She doesn´t have any bread but we still have some in my backpack also some cheese. Then she says "Jamon, Chorizo?.. Chorizo I say...a huge one is taken from the fridge and she gives us a generous piece. I will lightly fry this to release the juices and add to our salad. There is a row of wine bottles, covered in dust and cobwebs...¨vino¨I say...si tinto?...si Senora..she opens another little fridge and hands me a perfectly chilled red wine. We all go back to our kitchen and start cooking...Marion and I produce our corkscrew and wine goblets and the German man, says in English ¨you do not need a man¨...then he calls everyone into the kitchen to see our goblets...they are drinking out of plastic bathroom cups. Our bread was so hard now I couldn´t cut it too well, the yellow hard cheese was desperately trying to evolve into a Stilton but tasted fine and we finished off with a piece of Lindt chocolate which had travelled for 2 days in my backpack.


Sil
We have three options today.

(1) This was the plan from home. Get a taxi to San Juan and ask him to wait for one hour then take us down to St Cilia - which means an 8km walk to Arres, our next intended stopover.

(2) Get the taxi to San Juan and walk the 7.5km back to St Cilia and 8km to Arres. That'll make it 15km walking day.

(3) Get a bus at 8h10 to St Cilia and walk up to San Juan de la Pena and back again. This will make it a very long walk so we discard this idea.

Plan 1 means we walk 8kms today - or plan 2 and we walk about 15kms?
"I don´t mind to walk" says Val. "I don´t mind walking" says Marion. So, I ask the driver to take us to San Juan and we will walk back. It costs us 25€ - 35€ if he had waited. We pay 3€ (pilgrim price) to see the monastery and leave our packs behind the ticket booth. After visiting this stunning place we collect our sticks and packs. "It is not a dificult path" says the young lady in the ticket booth. "Only 7.5km". It IS a difficult path! It is rocky, narrow, VERY, Very steep and although we spent the first km going up, the rest is all down, down, down - impossible ledge paths with no hope of recovery if you wobble or stumble. At one stage it looked as though the path had disappeared into an abyss but there it was when we peered over the edge, snaking its way sideways down only to disappear again into another gully.
I was exhausted by the time we got to the bottom and even after stopping at Santa Cruz for a cold drink, I started to feel light headed and wobbly as we walked to Santa Cilia.
"I think I need to lie down" I told M and Val at one stage. We found a tiny patch of shade and I lay down with my legs up on a tree and my head on my backpack. I had goosebumps even though it was 35oC in the shade. I think I had a touch of sunstroke. When we got to Santa Cilia I headed straight for the albergue. After a shower, something to eat and a drink I felt as though I could have gone on another 5km or 8km but by then our washing was in the machine and we were very comfortable in the albergue.
A pilgrim gets very excited when she sees my shorts. She is an ex-pat South African living in Belgium. We talk about Cape Town, Johannesburg, the 1908o's and the new South Africa. She and her husband are cycling from their home to Santiago. It's a really Groot Trek!
Val´s heels are sore and her achilles are tight so I give her another foot massage. This turned out to be one of the best albergues we´ve stayed in with a very kind hospitalera, small rooms, free internet, free washing machine and tumble drier and a wonderful atmosphere. I have a bed near the window and can hear sheep baaing in the fields. I also hear thunder during the night and worry about what the paths will be like if it rains. But, I´m too tired to care tonight and drift off to sleep. It´s been a long, hard day.

Day 7: Confranc to Jaca

Marion
Another gorgeous day to wake up to, clear blue sky. We awoke early had breakfast and were on the road by 7.30am. I was so happy as we were back on the mountainside. Alongside of us we had the river Aragón which we crossed a few times. The first 2k´s we followed a wooded riverside path and then the next 3k´s was tree lined rocky path sometimes earth and scree and then onto very large gravel, or you could say rock. On the side of us were scree slopes which looked quite scary as one could imagine that sometimes the scree comes tumbling down. On the other side of us was often a steep drop to the river Aragón. We then walked onto a flatter area of low wooded hills and fields with stone walls. We had sunshine the whole day and beautiful blue sky. It was very hot by midday and my arms got quite sunburnt, unfortunately put on sun block a bit late, know better for tomorrow. On the way to Jaca I had pinned my socks onto my backpack to dry and somewhere on the way I must have lost one so now I am minus a sock, which leaves me with one pair of socks, until I can find a place to buy another pair. Syl has kindly offered to lend me a pair of hers if I need them. When we reached Jaca we could not get into our accomodation as they only opened at 4.00pm and it was just before 3.00 so we left our backpacks at the door and went off in search of a resturant for a meal. We had a delicious salad and then went back to book in. We are so lucky to have free interent where we are staying and have been able to catch up on our writing for the blog.

Sil - A rocky road to Jaca
When we walked along the road today we realised that we hadn´t seen the main part of the town of Confranc Estacion. Sometimes you arrive at your destination, shower, wash clothes, find a place to eat or shop for food and once you have seen the main attraction (this time it was the beautiful station) you don´t have much energy for further sightseeing. Today rocked! We rocked! The paths were rocks! We rocked and rolled on narrow rocky paths at the base of scree slopes on large gravel stones, crossing shored up landslides and scree beds. We kept climbing up and then going down to cross the road and walk on the other side. Then back again we go, down to the road and climb up the opposite hill. At one stage we had to duck to walk under the overpass of the main road above us, circle around the concrete supports and climb up the other side.
On one long winding rocky path we heard cowbells and kept trying to look through the hedges to see them. And then, around the corner came a shepherd and his enormous flock of sheep and goats, many of the larger animals with cowbells around their necks. We stood aside to let them pass (it was a bum to bum traffic jam!) and it seemed as though the flock was never ending. Another shepherd and his dog brought up the rear and he said that there were over 300 animals in the flock.
After exiting the countryside we entered Castillo de Jaca on a very steep village road down to the main village and highway below. Most fortified towns were built on high ground and this one was no exception. Going down, down, down we marvelled at the locals who have to walk up and down this winding, steeply graded road every day. We stopped in a lovely shady public park for biscuits and cheese and filled up our water bottles before continuing. The signs have changed from the blue and yellow of the Amis St Jacques to a combination of those and yellow arrows. It is amazing at how much you depend on those splashes of yellow. At one stage we were walking with a Frenchman from Bordeaux and missed the arrow pointing down a steep flight of wooden stairs to the road below. We retraced our steps and went down, down, down once again to join another rocky road.
There is a steep climb up to the outskirts of Jaca and then a fairly long walk into the town and to the albergue following yellow arrows and brass shells in the pavement. The albergue is very modern with cubicles and beds instead of bunks. The showers are good and the kitchen well equipped. It was closed when we arrived so we left our packs in the foyer and returned to a lovely street restaurant we´d passed on the way. We were all dying for salad so gorged on delicious fresh salads before visiting the Farmacia to buy some extra padding for our feet

Val - Minister of Nutrition Today was a lovely walk and I had to sing:

"I am walking to Pamplona

All the way to Spain

I am walking to Pamplona

In wind and sun and rain

When I get to my albergue

I will be just fine

If I have nice hot shower

and a little glass of wine".

On the way to Jaca I had pinned my socks onto my backpack to dry and somewhere on the way I must have lost one so now I am minus a sock, which leaves me with one pair of socks, until I can find a place to buy another pair. Syl has kindly offered to lend me a pair of hers if I need them. There is nothing worse than catching a glimpse of yourself in a shop window...it is not a pretty sight...however, I am sure that they modelled the wonder bra on a woman carrying a back pack...it pushes you in, up and out. Unfortunately, the stirnum strap then pushes you down and makes the smallest look well endowed but hanging low. I also look for Real Estate Offices in the hope of finding an innovative way of displaying properties but as with other countries I have not found any to be better than our own. English still has the best shop fronts. We arrive in Jaca, it is gorgeous the sun is shining, it is buzzing...pavement cafes and shops...but the shops other than the food ones, do not interest me because I cannot carry (until I get to Pamplona!).The restaurants open until around 4.30pm and then only open again at 9pm...our accommodation has a 10pm curfew so we will not be able to eat tonight. The service is good, but quite rightly relaxed and we would never get a meal served and eaten by 10pm. And so we decide to have a late lunch. Whilst I would like to eat my way through a 4 course meal, we are desperate for fresh vegetables and greens. Marion and I share a huge salad Ensalada Especial Verno for 12euros. It has a small leaved green salad as its base, similar to watercress but I cannot remember the name...we do not get it in SA. The salad has melon balls, ham, tomatoes and feta and is absolutely delicious. A vino tinto accompanies this.Well two actually. We then go and settle into our accommodation and shower, wash the flipping clothes which you know will not dry and have to be pinned on your back again. Then we get free internet access, two computers. We have to make up for 7 days of posting, 8 if you count that we start on Day minus 1....so if you started reading on Day 1, scroll back down because you have missed some! We type away until 9pm then discuss the plans for tomorrow - it is now 9.25pm and then Marion and I decide to sneak out for a glass of wine. We are told that the place closes up for the night at 10pm and so you must be back. We go into the village and find a lovely wine bar...barrels outside for tables, great wine list and wine cellar inside, tapas and lots of food to buy. We do not have time to study the wine list so quickly order two glasses of Chardonnay. Beautiful wine glasses and just the right temperature. We sit under the evening sky

watching all the locals looking happy with their children playing in the streets. Service again is very relaxed and we only get our wine at 9.40pm. We enjoy it and then realise that we still have to walk back so we call for the bill. I am struggling to find the correct word for bill and Marion simply signs to the waiter and he understands. He comes with the bill (1.60 e per glass) and I only have a 20euro note so we have to wait for change. As he moves away he stops at two tables to take their order but he is discussing the wines (quite rightly) with his customers and Marion begins to count down the time...9.52, 9.53....we are desperate, as he finishes with the last customer we run inside - not time for translation and I just hope he understands some English or the desperate look of two 50 somethings who have to be in bed

by 10pm...."Excuse me, excuse me...please the bill...we are staying at the Refugio and have a 10pm curfew"...he smiles wonderfully, and hastily gets us the change...as we are walking out I see Chirizo made from deer and wild boar...only 3.40 euros for a huge pack, I pick it up but Marion looks desperate...9.57....we are wearing crocs and quickly move into a speed walking motion and we make it inside just as the lady is zipping up her bag and walking to the door. Phew! Then to bed........

Day2: Asson to Arudy

Marion
We had a bit of a lie in this morning - just as well as Val & I were a bit tired as we had not slept that well. Syl had slept on a mattress on the floor, Val & I had slept on canvas stretchers and the cold had come through the stretchers so we had been rather cold the whole night. Never mind all part of the fun!
We had breakfast upstairs with Marie and Sebastien at 8.00am and were on the road by 8.30. We walked through quite a bit of forest easy paths on our feet, a lot of up and down hill and cow dung all over. All the trees and grass and ferns are so green, we must have seen every shade of green their is.
The day was overcast with a bit of sun coming out every now and again, no rain, not to hot and not to cold, just perfect walking weather.
We stopped for a picnic lunch of fruit and cheese at St. Colone - quite delicious.
We have enjoyed walking with Marie & Sebastain today. Our accomodation at Arudy is very comfortable, Syl, Val and myself in one section and Mary and Sebastain in another. We are staying in the priest´s house. We will all eat together this evening with the Priest.

Val - Minister of Nutrition......
We have breakfast upstairs with Marie and Sebastain - fruit and yoghurt - try to be good because most of what we get during the day or evening can be very heavy. But for lunch today we have fruit and brie - huge piece of brie for2.30 euro. By lunchtime, having been in the backpack for 2 hours it is just he perfect consisentcy. I think it will just be a matter of time before we start on the bread and pate and perhaps a glass of vino. On our way...oops...I´ve lost my stick - I must have left it in the cheese shop. We arrive at Arudy to crowds of people celebrating the 3rd day of their festival, we are told they have been drinking since 0900am and it shows. But lots of entertainment for the kids with a fair.
We get to our accommodation, wash our clothes and have some time lying on the bed with our legs elevated - heaven. No signal again on the cell phone so I relax with the ipod and Andrea Borcelli just about blocks out the noise outside.
After showering we decide to look around the festival, Sebastien comes bearing wine - he found it! Or so he says with a grin. The restaurants are closed so we can either snack in the streets or the Priest has left us food. We get a glass of wine from the outside bar, quite a mission because I ask for it in Spanish and then get quite irritated that he cannot understand me.
Mary comes bearing 2 huge bags of hot Churros - long thin hot doughnuts smothered in sugar - as we eat an elderly French woman sings to us(?!!). We ride on the local train around the village then we come across the dodgem cars...Sebastien and Marie go in one and Marion and I in the other..I am driver. Wonderful, you get to hit the car as many times as you like with no repairs...Marion and I get hit really hard and our bottoms are bruised the next day. We all go back to the Priest´s house and find bread, cheese and chirizo, and the ingredients for a Spanish Omelette - Sebastian cooks again! The Priest says he will be home around 8pm. Looking around the kitchen it is clear that the Priest appreciates good food and loves cooking. He has every appliance you can think of but don´t get the impression this is a gourmet kitchen, it is no more than a nook without even a space to put a coffee cup.
Around 8.20pm the Priest arrives home and introduces himself as simply Pierre. He is just 60 years old, a handsome man and well dressed. He immediately brings out glasses and a bottle, with a smile he points to the bottle and says "the Spirit of Christ" and pours us each a glass. It is strong but sweet and quite delicious. Then he announces that we have soup to start. A really good courgette soup - we ask him about the ingredients, because it is really good and there is a special taste we cannot quite work out. He lists the ingredients and then finally gets up to show us his Braun blender and announces that the special ingredient is cheese. I am disappointed as I know it will be a local cheese that I will not be able to get. Then from the fridge he shows us the French equivalent of a box of ´Happy Cow´triangles!
This is followed by Sebastians Spanish Omelette which he has turned out perfectly...it is browned on the outside but firm and moist inside...excellent served with salad and bread. More wine...Pierre tells Sebastian that we must try his local cheese...we must say it is good! It is indeed and he then shows us a whole one which he is maturing.
Pierre´s cat has had kittens but two died because the mother was unable to feed them. He has three left and has to supplement their feed with milk given from a bottle. Marie and I get the chance to feed them, it is so special. The evening was wonderful and despite the language barrier we all seemed to communicate. What a generous man to let us into his home, into his kitchen and share the evening with us.

Sil
Today we got ´tampons´(stamps in our pilgrim credentials) from Bruges and St Colome where we stopped for coffee and lunch. We arrived in Arudy to find the streets full of fun-fair merry-go-rounds and stalls. Marie found the house where we could get the key for the Accueil Paroissial au Presbyterre - home of the Parish Rectory and Father Pierre Sallenave - a wonderful priest who Sebastian later described as his kind of priest - one who lives with the people. This pilgrim refuge is donativo but when asked, he said that 5€ is the norm for the bed and also for the use of the kitchen and foods. We decided to give him 15€ each as well as a little yellow beaded arrow.
We are not living the pilgrim life exactly. We get up late and go to bed even later than we do at home! Tonight we didnñt get to bed until 10:35pm - unheard of for this peregrina. The noise of the fair didn´t really disturb us too much we were just too tired to hear it after the first 10 minutes!

To contact Fr Pierre for accommodation you can email him at: pierrs@orange.fr