Hi Peter,
I've booked
www.expressbourricot.com (or at least trying to as she's shut down til Jan 4th) to ferry me from Biarritz to St Jean Pied de Port. Are you or anyone else arriving into Biarritz on the 12th that wants to share the taxi and keep costs down?
I've looked at taking the train but it would involve two trains and the webpage for the trains seems to indicate that they'll be doing some works on the line and might not be running. To complicate matters further my flight doesn't arrive until 17:05 which means I'll probably miss the last train anyway.
Have a look at the express bourricot website and make an enquiry if you're interested. She automatically makes up groups to save pilgrims pennies!
I too am happy to meet up for an alcoholic beverage of any kind (including Guinness). Having visited Dublin I fully concur that Guinness drunk elsewhere is just not quite so good.