Total km 68
Total climb 1000m
Today was a cloudy day and a relatively easy one. It seemed to be mostly downhill, but we did about 1000 meters of climbing. I think that the scenery would have been nicer if it was sunny.
The path took us thru quite a few settled areas, and was double marked in a few areas, which meant that we got lost. To find our way back to the path we had to take the national highway, a pretty big road with big trucks. Scary.
After 1000km the brakes on F’s bike are totally shot. We had hoped to replace the pads at the bike shop in Saint Jean Pied du Port, but unfortunately they didn’t have the right parts available, so he is going to have to be very careful on the descent tomorrow.
Saint Jean Pied de Port is a beautiful little walled town. The traditional jumping off point for thousands of pilgrims who want to begin the Camino de Santiago. I suppose that it would be a beautiful little walled town if you could actually see it. The last 2 times that we have been here it has been PACKED with tourists. The road was chock-a-block with cars and the town was bursting at the seams with people.
We stopped for some not very good food then didn’t even bother to wander around before starting the last 4km and 300m (climb) of our trip. By the time that we reached Honto, the place where we were sleeping, it had started to drizzle.
Our B&B has about 30 pilgrims staying at the gite. Almost all are French. We are all hoping that the weather improves tomorrow.
We have one last final push before we end.
Night 17 – Aug 24th
Honto
Demi-pension
