April 13 - Day 0 - St Jean Pied de Port

Day 0 - St Jean Pied de Port

What a great town to spend a day! After a great sleep I went to the cafe/bar next door for a “Croque Monsieur”. Qu'est ce que c'est Croque Monsieur? Basically a grilled cheese sandwich with ham. And more cheese on the outside. Delicious!! Plus deux cafe au lait. Lovely way to start the day.

After we packed up and checked out we explored the town. Stopped at the pilgrims office (got our first credencial stamp and some advice about routes. Explored the Citadelle (old garrison of the city). Shopped a bit (Carrefour - like Superstore). Had a picnic lunch with snacks from Carrefour. Then, just because, sangria and a chocolate crepe. After we checked in at our albergue for the night (Beilari), we did our final shopping - walking sticks. Then we visited the Bishop’s Prison Museum. Interesting. Not only plenty of Camino and St Jean history, there was a large exhibition of photos from the American Depression era. Not expected!

And we were reunited with our group of 6 from Edmonton (2 had spent time in Bilbao first). So nice to see Penny and Andrew again😃

Our albergue is a special one. (Albergue is a name for Camino hostels). This one is a bit more expensive but includes dinner and breakfast. And something more - we now have a Camino family! We got to know each other (and ourselves) through sharing our journey and a meal. Fabulous!!

Today’s lesson - sometimes life arranges itself for the better (train strike gives extra time in quaint and beautiful town).

Expenses:

Breakfast 9.60 Euro

Groceries 5.00 E

Sangria and crepes 9.50 E

Albergue 33 E

New Camino family- priceless!