I thought today would be an easy travel day, but it took *all* day to reach the medieval town of Saint Jean Pied de Port, at the foot of the Pyrenees in Basque Country.

I had originally booked a train from Biarritz to Bayonne, then another one to here. 14 Euros, I believe, but it was a tricky, 10-minute transfer in an unfamiliar station. So I found another option, from a private company that provides transportation from Biarritz airport direct to SJPdP. A relative bargain at 29 Euros.

Oh, and the original train was cancelled due to “maintenance.” Both the French and Spanish train systems have been having a lot of strikes recently.

Not my favorite thing to spend an hour on windy roads in the back of a van with 8 other people. Several of us were a little green, but we made it.

SJPdP was the first place to get my “pilgrim’s passport” stamped. The line was long, but it marks the starting point. My passport will be full of stamps in a few weeks.

One of the passengers in our van was an older Swedish gentleman named Martin, who decided to go on this trip without speaking a word of Spanish. Or French. Or English. He tried to rely on Google Translate, but never knew what language to translate into, since they all sounded the same to him.

By the time I arrived, it was too late for lunch but too early for dinner. Restaurants in France open for dinner at about 7:30. By that time, I was ready for the huge shoulder of lamb the waiter brought me!

I wish I could have brought the leftovers with me. Tomorrow is a long hiking day, about 11 miles with 4,500 feet of elevation gain.

(Continuing the food saga, nothing will be open when I leave at 6:00 AM. There is a restaurant a couple of hours up the mountain, but then nothing until the summit. I tried to buy something à emporter (to go) this afternoon, but the concept seemed to be unknown).