I'm here in St. Jean Pied de Port! Got into Paris Sunday morning. My hotel was literally a 5 minute walk to the Gare Montparnasse Train Station. It is a small hotel with friendly staff. My room was tiny but it was a single, not sure if the other rooms are larger. Still I would recommend it based upon service and location alone.
On the train ride over I sat with a very nice family from Florida & San Francisco. The lady did this last year, but had to quit once she reached Pamplona because she got injured. But she loved it. Then another girl from Canada overheard us she is doing the Camino too. She's one day ahead of me.
I took one look at her pack and knew I overpacked. I'm still laughing about it. We arrived in Bayonne to switch trains and met two other girls there. We decide to band together to find our platform. On the way about 8 different people and my Canadian friends asked if I need help. I'm too proud and embarrassed and said no, I'll be okay. Then these two young guys asked if I needed help. I hesitated for about 2 seconds before I took them up on their offer. The two girls from Nebraska had a big wheeled luggage too and told me they are using a serviced called
www.expressbourricot.com to transfer their luggage to Santiago de Compostela which include storage. I told them that I was planning on transporting my heavy pack & post Camino clothes once I hit Pamplona because I had heard that if you're going to mail your things they recommended that you do it from Spain. With this service I don't have to do that.
On the way, I started to contemplate my Camino a bit more. The scenery changed to more pastures and greenery. I saw lots of sheep. And ponies. Very nice. So far I have met people from Canada, US, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Korea and I think this is one of the best parts of doing the Camino.
We roll into St. Jean Pied de Port (which is tiny), I just follow the flow of people up the hill (and with my luggage as you can imagine with my big bags) was tuff. Several people offered to help me but I told them I'll be fine, plus I need to put myself through this so I will know that it would be insane to carry all of this weight with me.
Well, I was probably the last ones up that hill. A nice Irish guy helped me up the final last hill. He offered to carry it to my hotel but I told him what he did was helpful and I'll be fine. We wished each other Buen Camino. I still couldn't find my hotel. I asked this guy and he told this other guy to bring me to my hotel (so nice). And then the receptionist carried my backpack up the two flights to my room. I can't even express how the Camino is providing. I've heard about the Camino Angels but I had about 5 of them already and I haven't even started.
So after checking into my hotel which is very big. My friends are staying at an Alberque so parted ways. After checking in I walked around to try to find the luggage transport service and bumped into my new Camino friend, Laurie. She told me the service was up a couple of doors but to hurry as she thought they might be closing soon. I did and arranged my bag to Santiago and I also arranged for them to carry my big backpack (I'm just carrying bare necessities in my day pack) to Orisson & Roncesvalles). Now I can just relax tomorrow, go to the Pilgrims Office and do a bit of sightseeing. Laurie finds me and we decide to have dinner together. We crash into a nice gentlemen from Texas. We are all solo pilgrims. We find a nice restaurant. Over dinner we shared wonderful conversations, good food and I even got two glasses of wine (which I never really do). Howard and I convinced Laurie to join us as we ordered Dessert. Laurie and I were both surprised and so appreciative when Howard paid for the two of us. Such a sweet, nice guy. We all share very personal reasons why we are doing our Camino (out of respect for their privacy I won't say here, but I was very moved).
Today's Camino Lessons:
- First, there are angels here among us and not just in heaven. And they are both always there for you when you need it the most.
- Don't let your pride stop you from accepting help when you need it. Be thankful and when you are in a position to be an angel for someone else you should because that's what a community does.
- When you open yourself up to others and all share your bumps, it can be a very healing process.
I am so thankful to all my Camino friends today. Tomorrow I go to the Pilgrims office to get my shell (I have one already by I want one from them too) and my Pilgrim's Credential. The two photos are from the train station in Bayonne. Aside from a couple teens, everyone on the train were pilgrims. I love to travel to other places in the world, but when the world are pilgrims sharing the same desires to want to do the Camino, there is a natural and unstated instant bond and that is beautiful.