We start again in Eauze. A cat at the restaurant where we had dinner
The "Bethanie," the gite where we stayed in Eauze
Breakfast room at the Bethanie
Frederic and Vincent have breakfast
Slight rain on the first day
A fierce cocker spaniel guards the entry
Manciet
Giant truck racing the next weekend
A very pretentious gate
Lunch in Nogaro of grilled duck and pommes frites
The bullring at Nogaro
An old house and an old car
Dan writes, Frederic naps
A real "fixer-upper" outside Nogaro
Fierce but personalized dogs guard this house
The VW camper van belonging to a Belgian couple who were traveling with their small dog.
A very large worm
An old outdoor laundry outside Aire sur l'Adour
Lunch in Aire sur l'Adour
Foie gras, duck, and local ham for lunch
On the way out of Aire sur l'Adour
Still a long way from Santiago de Compostela
A funky tree
Cooking dinner communally in the gite in Miramont-Sensacq. Frederic gets a lesson on making omelettes.
Guy from Quebec and Dan talk over aperitifs
Dinner with Katrine, Micha from Bern, Frederic and Dan
Christiane (L) and others from the Findhorn dance troupe
The chapel at Sensacq
Morning in Miramont-Sensacq
Can't see the Pyrenees from town today
The gite at Miramont-Sensacq run by Bernard
On the route to Compostela
Lots of flowers
Duck on alert
A break at a cafe
The pilgrims' tree
This is the way
A rest in the shade
A hazy view of the Pyrenees from the river valley
Funky sculptures
At the gite in Uzan
The local breed of cattle, the Blondes of Aquitaine, rather than the Blondes of Sweden
Drying laundry on the way
Fronton for jai alai
A storybook house
A very large clay pot
A hot day
The sign for good bread in Arthez de Bearn
The various routes to Compostela
Pyrenees on the horizon
The appropriate guard animal for any house
On the way to Maslacq
Hotel Maugouber in Maslacq where we ate
Roxanne the dog dominates the town
Frederic and Roxanne
The church in Maslacq - set in middle of cemetery
The gite in Maslacq
On the road to Navarrenx
Signs in Bearnese dialect
Boys will be boys; Dan with fig leaf
A break for lunch; a table and chairs set in the middle of nowhere!
Vincent joins us for lunch
Pyrenees are in better sight
Navarrenx is the world center of salmon fishing
Fronton in use in Navarrenx
The bakery is closed. :-(
Frederic waiting for dinner at the Bar du Centre
Ballooning in Navarrenx
Dan, Roland, Frederic, Masa and his nephew
The town's fortified walls at dawn
Going through the gates
The river with the salmon in it
The city wall
Guarded by a cannon
A way marker
We try a shortcut, get lost, and find this tree stand/tree house
On the trail again
The Pyrenees in the distance
A self-serve pate stand - wild boar, pigeon, rabbit, duck, etc.
Herding cows using a bicycle
A musical gite, whatever that is....
Aroue in the distance
More Basque now
We stumble into Uhart Mixe after a long, hot day
The gite room we shared with Danielle, the "Pelerin Escargot"
The church at Uhart-Mixe
The fronton
Frederic takes a break
An outdoor sleeping area for hot weather
Piperade for dinner prepared by Antoinette
My portion
Brebi cheese with dark cherry preserves for dessert
Patxaran (a plum liqueur) for digestif
The gite for slow walkers
Danielle, Arnaud (the patron), Marie-Odile, Frederic and Pascal
Antoinette stamps our credentials while Arnaud, Marie-Odile and Pascal watch
Danielle, Marie-Odile, Pascal, Bernard and Fredi (from Strasbourg)
The menu
A notable pilgrim
Sheep on the hillside in the morning
Truly a gite for slow walkers
Bed, shower, laundry, dinner (with unlimited wine), and breakfast (including fresh-squeezed OJ) for 26 Euros each. Wow!
Basque walking sticks for sale
The Pyrenees are close now
Interesting Basque iconography
A Spanish cross marks the way
Hay bales on hillside
Rabbit hutch
Ostabat in the distance
Cats in Ostabat
Frederic comes cruising in looking for coffee
This house dates to 1749 - Jacques Daguerre built it....
Our matching 10kg packs
Dan with 7-days' growth of beard
Frederic with 7 days' growth of beard
A Basque beer logo
Basque houses have red shutters
Interesting pilgrim dioramas built into the masonry wall
In France, even the pain is artisanal
Basque motif on the manhole cover
An old building that was part of a hospital complex: open to pilgrims only for rest
More and more Basque
The Cross of Galzetaburu
You can get refreshments close by
A town that is genetically-modified organism free
The town hall
A place for Brebi cheese from sheep's milk
A mid-day snooze
The way to Spain
Why Canadians?
Miniature horses
Miniature goats - much bleating
Dan comes through the Porte de St-Jacques in St-Jean Pied-de-Port
The main drag in St-Jean Pied-de-Port
The the pilgrim's center, the information comes in many languages
The clock tower built into the town walls
The central staircase in the Gite de l'Etoile
We meet again the couple who are walking with their Dalmatian
Artisanal food
Artisanal pork products
A river runs through it.... This is close to where Hemingway fished for trout in the1920's
Pan-fried trout for a first course as part of a 13.50 Euro menu - very fresh and good
More interesting Basque building signs from long ago
After much thunder and lightning and rain in the early morning, we get up at 6, have a hurried breakfast and hit the road to Roncesvalles
On the Route Napoleon
Sheep on the mountain side
A view back toward St-Jean Pied-de-Port
Frederic comes around the bend
Dan
The tap at Orisson
The gite at Orisson
Time for a cup of cafe creme
On the road again midst the sheep
More sheep
A cairn
A view into the valley
Wild horses on the horizon
A Basque shepherd with beret and dog herds the flock
A Basque cross
A shepherds' stone shelter
The well of Roland, the knight errant who served with Charlemagne and died near here, resulting in the famous medieval poem, the "Chanson de Roland"
We cross a cattle grating into Spain
In Navarre
A lot of different ways to go
A stand of skinny oak trees
More oaks
The first view of the great abbey at Roncesvalles
The abbey at Roncesvalles - under much renovation and construction
An entry into the abbey
The pilgrim's hostel
Romanesque chapel
Stone with inscriptions
Construction of new pilgrimage center
Only 790km more to Santiago de Compostela
Back in St-Jean Pied-de-Port, the details around the main door to the central church
The town hall in St-Jean Pied-de-Port
The end result of my efforts to grow a beard over 8 days
Dinner with Roland and Elizabeth; with Eberhard and Uschi (from Stuttgart)
Masa and his nephew
Eberhard brings out his harmonica - to Uschi's consternation
A good place to eat - we dined here twice
The river at dusk
The next morning
The old Roman bridge, still in use
Fancy duds, medieval style
Along the town's fortified wall
Note arrow/gun slits
Odd placement of chimney top by a door to someone else's house.
Down the steps from the wall
Large trout in the river under the main bridge
On the way back by Bayonnne
Dan takes a snooze
Frederic takes a snooze
The one-car train from St-Jean Pied-de-Port to Bayonne
Bayonne
A little girl flirts with us on the TGV back to Paris
