Stage 1 : St Jean to Orisson

We started the morning around 9:30.  For breakfast we picked up some fresh pastries, yummy.  We also stopped at a store for some water and a sack lunch for later.  We started our journey via the scenic route.  Now it sounded like a good idea at the time and the adventure was fun but not as scenic. We climbed up near the citadel, walked along it and then took a wet, muddy and over grown stairway down to the river.

After reaching the river you walk along it and cross over an old roman bridge.  From here you start out of the city.  Very gradual grade along what I'd call a country road.  Quite a few houses and cars, but all this starts to go away as you stroll at a slight incline.  Finally the houses start to spread out and your left with the ringing of the sheep bells and the clicking of your walking sticks.  The path starts to get steep still on the road and then it changes to country path.  Now originally I didn't like walking on the street much but when we hit the path we also added a few pounds of mud to the bottoms of our shoes, making it a bit of a trek.   I was very thankful for my walking sticks because the incline at times felt like steps without the steps part.  

The dirt path turned into switch backs but still quite and incline.  At one point I was excited it looked like we were going to head around the peak, a little flat part would be a great break.  But then I noticed two sets of people above, no luck more switchbacks.  The views are amazing, everything is green with a lot of gentle hills leading to rocky peaks.  Right off the ledge were some huge Griffon Vultures, it was super neat to see them from above.  A dark brown with wing tips of more tan, huge wing span and the grace of gliding.  Luckily they were not above my head, otherwise they would be telling me I wasn't doing so hot and they were patiently waiting for my demise.  

It's very humid out so the pictures don't do it justice.  Just sitting here now outside listening to the sheep taking in the views, so glad we took it easy today.  By stopping we had an easy morning and about a 2 and a half hour hike and now about four hours to sit back and relax.

Once we arrived at the refuge we had a great soup, nice and warm.  Not that it's cold, but the humidity gets to me.  We picked our bunks, Quinn's excited about sleeping up top.  There is a big room of 5 bunk beds, two showers, two sinks and a toilet.  We took showers and then Quinn got to learn how to do laundry, ring it out and hang it up.  No sun but we are hoping the wind will dry it.

Dinner was great, not just because of the end less supply of wine, but I'm sure that did contribute.  Everyone sat in a family setting sharing a meal chatting away.  We had a vegetable broth, then baked port with a bean like almost soup dish. With flan to finish it off.  Now it's time for a nap.  Tomorrow off to Roncesvalles, 17.1 km approx with a 600m climb.

Just a note on some stuff that's working really well.  The new canon camera we got has a wifi connection you can connect to with your phone or tablet in my case and scroll thru and download whatever pictures you want.  I then use the google blogger app offline to write the entry, capturing some thoughts on my phone during the day.  Finally using out Tmobile phones which roam wonderfully I can post the blog.  It takes a bit to publish because the speeds are limited but I just start it and forget it.