Camino de Santiago de Compostela

[sillydoll]

The route from Lourdes is scenic and challenging. We ended up walking on the road from Lourdes to Asson (long story which you can read on the 2009pilgrims.blogspot) but have tried to stay on the paths since then.
We stayed on the road up to Somport and it was a long steep climb. Borce is about 630m and Somport 1600.
The albergues have been good.
The Aragones is very beautiful but very rocky with many piedras to test the feet!
Today we will get a taxi to San Juan de la Pena and then walk back to St Cilia and Arres.
Hot day, bright sunshine. Free internet at the albergue in Jaca.

[ivar]

Good to hear from you Sil.

As she said, you can read all about it here:
http://www.2009pilgrims.blogspot.com/

Saludos,
Ivar

[Simsonite]

great blog
you walk exactly my way, so it will be interesting to read your experience
in 6 weeks i will start in lourdes too

[Simsonite]

by the way could you tell me where to bool the refuge in sarrance online?
greetings

[Alan Pearce]

Hi Simsonite
I would be nearly certain that you cannot book the Refuge at Sarrance on line, but would have to do it by phone. When I stayed there in April 2008 the owner of the gite where we stayed in Oloron Ste. Marie booked it for us, by ringing the night before. The hospitalero does not live on site so you would be disappointed if you just turned up hoping for a bed. There is a bar in town where you can get a meal but it is not cheap like you will find with the peregrino meals in Spain. The tourist bureau in Oloron can probably help with the booking.
10 weeks from next

[Alan Pearce]

Hi Simsonite,
After reading the blog from Sil and friends I did some Binging [as opposed to Googling] and found that the website for their accommodation in Sarrance is http://www.fontaines.selfip.com
They give discounts for pilgrims if you identify yourself as such - eg 13 euro for 2 pilgrims sharing, 22 euro for a single piklgrim.
The photos of the building do not look like the old monastary we stayed in, which from memory was cheaper. There were 4 of us and room for more.

[falcon269]

I stayed in the monastery in Sarrance, too. The bedrooms were upstairs, the showers and kitchen were downstairs. It took some persistent knocking on the door to rouse someone, but I think they are there all the time. The restaurant was closed. The only store we found, a butcher shop, was open for meat, wine, bread, and a few other items, plenty for cooking dinner back at the monastery.