THE FINAL ASSAULT

Not the best weather for crossing the Pyrenees...

...but off we set anyway.

Once over the top, it's a long, steep walk down...

...through a beautiful beech forest.

The church at Roncesvalles 

Just to prove we made it, here we are WALKING to dinner in Valcarlos

 

OVER THE MOUNTAINS

THE FINAL ASSULT - FRIDAY 13 MAY IS THE DAY WE CHOSE TO CROSS THE PYRENEES. FOR REASONS TOO COMPLICATED TO EXPLAIN HERE, THE PLANNED 15 KMS STRAIGHT UP BECAME OVER 20 KMS STRAIGHT UP.

St Jean Pied de Port - just before our dinner where we filled up with red wine to help us up the Pyrenees

Friday 13. We'd all overlooked the date...

...and this is what we saw ahead of us.

Watch this space for more exciting pilgrim adventures...

THINKING ABOUT FRIDAY

Three guys practicing to be back seat drivers.

Always time to smell the roses - well, the wild spring flowers, anyway. They're everywhere.

THE BIG THINK
Well, we've been walking a bit and eating and drinking a lot.
So now it's time to THINK - about the big one: Friday's climb from St Jean Pied de Port up the Pyrenees to the Spanish border at Roncesvalles.
So here we are thinking.
PS A few glasses of wine at lunchtime always help the thinking process.

HALF THE JOB IS DONE

We're over half way to Roncesvalles, with three more days to go. 
This is what we've been getting up to. Warning! It's mainly been eating and drinking.

Here we've arrived at somewhere where we're staying the night - but it's a name that's obviously Basque and much too hard for me to spell. But let's have a drink anyway.

Medieval cathedral and pollarded trees

Picnic in Pimbo

VE DAY IN MEZIN

Sunday 8 May - the 71st anniversary of victory in Europe, and, as usual, a quirky, colourful, rural French celebration marked the day.

Here we are with Marianne, symbol of France, on the monument aux morts in Mézin

But, once this morning diversion was over, it was back to the hard yakka, and the serious business of walking began again - in earnest.

Ca y est - outside the Cathedral in Eauze

The main square in Eauze

In the forest, heading towards Aire sur Adour 

WALKING TO THE PYRENEES - DAY 1

THIS IS WHERE IT ALL STARTED - JUST OUTSIDE 

LA PETITE GALERIE IN MEZIN

Official marker in Mézin directing pilgrims to Compostela 

Outside St Jean-Baptiste in Mézin

Heading out of town down rue du Paridis towards the Porte Anglaise
(the village gate where the English were expelled in the middle ages)

Arriving in Fources

Fources from the air (we arrived in foot)

The end of Day 1 of our walk - waiting for dinner at a duck farm near Montreal

AUSSIE PILGRIMS GETTING READY

D-DAY MINUS 1

BREAKFAST AT LA PETITE GALERIE

Yvonne, Graham, Yolande, Etienne, Lester and Liza

Preparing for their pilgrimage that started in Australia - Eating, drinking and shopping. The hard part starts tomorrow, 7 May: THE ACTUAL WALKING BIT.

Team Photo on a medieval bridge in Nerac

Outside Henry IV's Chateau

Lynne trying to steal a lady's earring

They've escaped from shopping duty

Waiting for (another) drink

We set off after lunch today to walk from Mézin to Fources. The forecast is fine with a top of 24 degrees celsius. 

Watch this space for photos of tired pilgrims.