Day 29 Bedous, France to Jaca, Espana - 27.7 kms

We are en Espana tonight - in the lively town of Jaca, a day earlier than expected. And we've had the most brilliant day walking in warm sunshine under clear blue skies. Not at all how we thought we'd be spending today. 

When we arrived in Bedous yesterday afternoon we expected that we'd be making the long climb up to the Col du Somport today. We hadn't seen any snow yesterday as we'd walked towards The Pyrenees, so we thought all would be fine, though we'd had a few people tell us that sections of the path were impassable. 

So we visited the information office in Bedous. They gave us a map and marked two long sections - one half way up, and the other at the top - where the path was not usable due to danger of falling rocks in the lower section and melting snow further up. The options were to walk on the national road - which they advised against as being too dangerous - or take a bus part of the way.  Our hosts last night told us the same thing.  

The French and I discussed it over dinner and decided we didn't want to walk on the road - it's no fun. So this morning we set out at 7.30, walked for an hour to the next village, where we took a bus to Canfranc Estacion, just on the Spanish side of the Col du Somport. From there we walked the 24 kms down to Jaca. We've since met some pilgrims who made the walk yesterday and said the roads were no problem at all!! Oh well. We now have another extra day up our sleeve which we'll be sure to put to good use. 

Speaking of other pilgrims. We have seen more pilgrims today - four on the path, and seven more in the albergue - than in the previous 28 days on the Chemin d'Arles. And four of them are Australian!  Extraordinary. That's still only a small number, compared to some other Caminos, but it's a bit of a shock to us after the past four weeks. The Australians have invited Domi and I to join them for dinner shortly. 

Ok, back from dinner - just made it in the door before lockout at 10. Had an enjoyable dinner with Peter from Melbourne and Jill and Sarah from Katoomba. Fabulous four courses for 13.75 euros, vino included. Just as we were leaving, the locals were arriving. 

The French and I are looking forward to our second day in Spain tomorrow. I wonder if the sun will shine again. 

Hasta luego 

J X

Days 27 and 28 Artiguelouve to Oloron-Sainte-Marie to Bedous - 59 kms

Once again I'm behind in my blog updates and emails (sorry to all to whom I owe a reply). My main excuse last night was our celebration / farewell dinner with the French girls Sophie and Amandine. It was a lot of fun. We didn't make it back to the gite until after 9.30 - very late for pilgrims - and almost missed the curfew of 10 when the volunteers would have gone home and locked the front door!  

And tonight a very fragile internet connection so, although there's plenty I could write about from the last two days, I will make this short and sweet and hope that I get to upload it tonight or tomorrow morning. 

Tonight we are in the village of Bedous at the foot of the Pyrenees. We are in a small studio attached to a family home - a working moulin or mill house. We have a log fire and and, right outside our window, an up close and personal view of the Pyrenees. Tonight will be our last night in France until we fly back to Paris on the 15th May. 

Over the last few days, we've had conflicting advice about the feasibility of and options for crossing the Col du Somport. But now that we are in Bedous we have more reliable local information and feel we are in a better position to decide what we want to do. We'll sleep on it but, one way or another, we will be in Spain - en Espana - by tomorrow night. 

A few changes once we cross the border. The Chemin d'Arles becomes the Camino Aragones, gites become albergues, chambre d'hotes become pensiones, pelerins become peregrinos, vin rouge becomes vino tinto. And my French SIM card will suddenly stop working. From then on, I'll be reliant on free wi-fi only, so that - and my energy and time management in the evenings - will dictate how often I can post an update.  

In the meantime I will sign off with some pics from the last two days. 

Hasta luego, amigos

J x