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Day 3 - June 2nd - Saint Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles
6 am wake up call - It is very quiet, many are packing slowly and quietly as not to bother the ones trying to get a few extra minutes of sleep, We get up slowly, We have hard toast and strong instant coffee for breakfast which is the norm for the municipales. Unfortunately there is no fruit or anything warm to eat. We head out slowly down the hill from the albergue with lots of energy. We stop of and buy some bread for snack and lunch along the days walk over the Pyrenees. It became hilly right away but the temperature is cold, it is wonderful outside with the clouds covering us from the sun for a few hours. At about 10am the sun starts to come out more so once we reach a treeless area near the summit. We stop for lunch near the top by the statue of the Virgin Mary. We make sandwiches with the ham pate and Gabby cuts slices of cheese with her credit card. We have a few apricots and an apple and continue our walk. We are now nearing the place where I threw the airplane pillow of the side of the mountain last year after just about everything I had got wet. Why did I throw it over? Because it was excess weight and space was tight in the panniers. At this time I take 3 pain pills and about 30 minutes later most of my knee pain goes away, Gabby was also having knee pain but she went on. Must of the flat areas to walk were dry because of the strong sun today, I am thankful for the dry weather instead of the rain from the year before.
Gabby walking into Orrison, France
We now have come to the point were there are just 3.1 kilometers to go (PHOTO) We can go on a path that the locals call "suabe" or easy or to the left, which we were told not to go if it had been raining. I thought that it was a little intimidating since there was a red "Bombiers" range rover SUV at the top of the descent in case someone had an incident. Gabby and I go left which is the stepper descent and our knees soon feel the descent, it was so steep that we have to take tiny steps to stay balanced and in control. Gabby and I have our first incident, she tells me that she is hungry so I offered her bread, but as I was taking the bread and sardines out I make the comment that as soon as we eat there would be a McDonald's around the next corner. Gabby got upset with me and walked off, she must have thought that I meant my remark as hold your hunger till we get to Roncesvalles.
She left me behind for the last 30 minutes of the days walk, Gabby reached the monastery first and got in line to get the pilgrims stamp and pay for the night stay, but she did not talk to me until she needed the additional €5 to pay for the night which is €10. She was in a bad mood, hungry and dehydrated. I told her we needed to shower and get something to eat at the restaurant. We got our beds and had a chance to shower, I ended up showering in the 3rd floor because there was a line of about 8 waiting to get cleaned up, so I walked upstairs and snucked into the showers before they started assigning beds in the floor.
I told Gabby that as soon as she was ready we could go eat and pick up our bikes. She told me that she needed time to unwind. So because there was time, I went down to claim the bikes. The host at Roncesvalles had collected €10 to store the bikes for us, but when I went t pick up the bikes they had not shown up yet, but as we were leaving the storage to call Bicigrinos the bike truck showed up with our bikes, so I get a refund without question from the albergue hostess. I stayed behind and put the bikes together and within 15 minutes I slowly walked both bikes down the steps and left them locked up. I went to get Gabby and told her the bikes were ready and that we needed to ride them to test them and make adjustments. She was still in a bad mood and told me that she needed more time to get ready. So I went downstairs and waited about 15 minutes for Gabby. She told me that she was really hungry and needed water, so I told her that we could eat before riding the bikes.
The first restaurant we went to had already closed, so we went to eat at the hotel restaurant and ordered a dozen variety croquetas and shared one pilgrims meal which came with water and a little wine. Gabby's body language was just terrible, in a way sulking. She got mad a the waitress because we did not get the water quick enough. Our dinner consisted of squash soup, some pork cutlets and patatas, then for desert some flan which Gabby did not like, she tells me that she does not like flan because my mom would make her eat too much when she was little. After dinner we head back to the albergue because she is still tired ( at the restaurant we talked about the earlier incident on the trail)
I told her that the pilgrims mass was upcoming at 8 pm and she said she wanted to go so she showed up to mass with a Korean girl she had just met, in the maen time I had to take the bikes to storage, after that I met Gabby at the mass . I took a few pics and ended up massaging my calves in the back of the church, but knew that my knee pain would soon be over since we were to start with our bikes in the morning. After Mass , Gabby now in a better mood she started talking a bit more as we headed back to the albergue for the night.
She left me behind for the last 30 minutes of the days walk, Gabby reached the monastery first and got in line to get the pilgrims stamp and pay for the night stay, but she did not talk to me until she needed the additional €5 to pay for the night which is €10. She was in a bad mood, hungry and dehydrated. I told her we needed to shower and get something to eat at the restaurant. We got our beds and had a chance to shower, I ended up showering in the 3rd floor because there was a line of about 8 waiting to get cleaned up, so I walked upstairs and snucked into the showers before they started assigning beds in the floor.
I told Gabby that as soon as she was ready we could go eat and pick up our bikes. She told me that she needed time to unwind. So because there was time, I went down to claim the bikes. The host at Roncesvalles had collected €10 to store the bikes for us, but when I went t pick up the bikes they had not shown up yet, but as we were leaving the storage to call Bicigrinos the bike truck showed up with our bikes, so I get a refund without question from the albergue hostess. I stayed behind and put the bikes together and within 15 minutes I slowly walked both bikes down the steps and left them locked up. I went to get Gabby and told her the bikes were ready and that we needed to ride them to test them and make adjustments. She was still in a bad mood and told me that she needed more time to get ready. So I went downstairs and waited about 15 minutes for Gabby. She told me that she was really hungry and needed water, so I told her that we could eat before riding the bikes.
The first restaurant we went to had already closed, so we went to eat at the hotel restaurant and ordered a dozen variety croquetas and shared one pilgrims meal which came with water and a little wine. Gabby's body language was just terrible, in a way sulking. She got mad a the waitress because we did not get the water quick enough. Our dinner consisted of squash soup, some pork cutlets and patatas, then for desert some flan which Gabby did not like, she tells me that she does not like flan because my mom would make her eat too much when she was little. After dinner we head back to the albergue because she is still tired ( at the restaurant we talked about the earlier incident on the trail)
I told her that the pilgrims mass was upcoming at 8 pm and she said she wanted to go so she showed up to mass with a Korean girl she had just met, in the maen time I had to take the bikes to storage, after that I met Gabby at the mass . I took a few pics and ended up massaging my calves in the back of the church, but knew that my knee pain would soon be over since we were to start with our bikes in the morning. After Mass , Gabby now in a better mood she started talking a bit more as we headed back to the albergue for the night.