After a day of planes, trains and one bus, we finally made it to St Jean Pied de Port. We had a brief three hour lay over in a downtown Paris train stain, where we decided to forego the typical tourist magnets in favor of food. (Yes, I am a foodie so prepare yourself for lots of food pictures on this trip!) We had a delicious crossiant and espresso followed by quiche Lorraine and a freaking amazing pistachio maccaroon.

We also had a brief layover in Bayonne, France at the bus station. Here we began seeing other Camino hikers with their signature backpacks with the scallop shell. We met a couple from Texas and Rosemarie and Marie from Seattle, workout buddies who trained on Mt. Rainer. 

As we weaved along the mountain roads into St Jean Pied de Port we were greeted by fields of sheep and cattle. We were delighted to witness a sheep dog race in pace with our bus as it rounded up a herd of sheep. We then caught our first look at the Pyrenees mountains. Wow, they are beautiful, magnificent and huge! A bit of worry starts to creep in that these Florida legs are going to be in for a hurting.

When we arrive in St Jean, we head to a map to figure out how to get to our albergue (Spanish hostel).  We met a fellow pilgrim from Holland named Vincent at the map and worked together to find our way. 

When Laura and I arrived at the albergue where we had reservations for a room and dinner, we savored the delicious smell wafting outside the door. However, we were quickly disappointed. Through some kind of error when I wrote about our expected delay due to Irma, our first night reservation had been  canceled and they were now full. We were exhausted from traveling over 24 hours, hungry and ready to rest. We tried to remain positive as we went next door to the pilgrims office to get assistance and recommendation for another albergue. The office worker gave us a recommendation, stamped our pilgrims passport and sent us on our way.

We arrived at the new albergue to quite a surprise. In the entrance, were Rosemarie, Marie and Vincient. Out of all the albergues in town, we had managed to catch up with all the pilgrims we had befriended. The owner of the albergue was so interesting. His name was Eric and he stated that he is the only albergue in town owned by a previous pilgrim. He was so very passionate about ¨The Way¨, as he called it. He waxed poetic about how it is a life changing adventure, how it will teach us to let go of control, how we will really get to know ourselves. He gave us many tips, such as to listen to our bodies and to drink, drink and drink (water, that is). Eric told us about how he was a white collar worker in Paris with lots of money and that his journey on The Way changed him and now he lives with little money, running an albergue and he is the happiest he has ever been. It was a very touching introduction to our journey and it felt as though it was a message meant for us, especially the letting go of control part, as we had quickly learned our best laid plans are subject to change. From Irma to canceled hostels, we are getting a crash course in learning to let go of expectations and live in the moment.

We then found our room, met our bunk mates for the night (a couple from San Fransciso), found some dinner and took a quick stroll around town. As we looked up, there hovering about us, illuminated and shining, was an image of Mary on the church tower. It was a beautiful ending to our arrival.

There has been a tiny kink in our best laid plans – Hurricane Irma. Laura and I were scheduled to depart for our Camino adventure this upcoming Monday. However, the airline canceled our flight due to the inclement weather. We are now scheduled to depart on Wednesday, arriving in Paris early Thursday morning. Unfortunately, this means we will not have the opportunity to explore Paris those first couple of days as we had planned.  C’est la vie. Instead, we will take a train directly to St Jean Pied de Port to begin our hike. Though I am a bit disappointed I will not have the chance to roam the streets of Paris, devour crossiants and delve into mountains of cheese, I am incredibly grateful we had the flexibility built into our schedule so that we can still start our Camino on schedule. So, as we wait on Irma to make her big debut here in Florida, I will be making my last minute preparations, sending up my prayers for the safety of my fellow Floridians and hoping for a speedy recovery to all those affected!