The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - Saint Augustine  Day One of the trip changed many plans, the incredibly difficult day we had from St. Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles made us change our plans. Instead of going on El Camino del Norte we decided to do El Camino Frances, which is a more direct route, if we had gone up north to Bilbao from Pamplona we would have needed a couple of extra days to go north then perhaps two additional to come back south on the Camino Primitivo.
Below is the Pre Trip Journal - Plans have changed from the info below I will update in time. Jessica and I will go for almost 3 weeks on our own unique pilgrimage. From Saint Jean Pied de Port, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain to finish the pilgrimage and then on to Finistere on the western most point in Spain. Finistere was once believed to be the end of the World. Finis (end or finish) tere (Earth) or as we may call it , Land's End. We will start in SJPP the traditional start to " El Camino Frances" and ride our bike through the foothills of the Pyrenees across the border into Spain. It will be an uphill climb from 200 feet above sea level to Roncesvalles which is about 1500 feet above sea level. From Roncesvalles we will ride to Pamplona. Here we will go north towards Bilbao for a harder and more adventurous trip on the 'Camino del Norte' Jessica and I both thought this would be best as we would on this part of the trip travel through the 'Picos de Europa' which is the mountain range that runs through Northern Spain. We will also have the Bay of Biscay to the North and will see the sea on and off for several days to our right. As we travel across the 'Camino del Norte' towards Oviedo where the 'Camino Primitivo' heads southwest and will lead us to Santiago de Compostela to end the Journey where Saint James' body was buried, which is where we will receive our 'Compostela'. We will then make one final run to Finistere on our bikes. At the end of the journey we will catch the RENFE to Madrid for a couple of days of exploring, with a stop over hopefully to the Museo del Prado. Then on to Barcelona, perhaps we will have a day or two to enjoy the city and some Paella. What do we hope to accomplish? Only time will tell what it will do for me. |