Hello AlexWalker This is a Holy year, as a catholic I'm following the French Camino. My understanding is that we start in SJPDP. Thank You for trying to help me.
How to open a can of worms. Lesson one: write "I'm following the French Camino. My understanding is that we start in SJPDP".
For many people it does. For many people it doesn't. Historically, there are actually four main Camino routes wending their way through France to Santiago de Compostela: from Paris, Vezelay, Le Puy, and Arles. They are described in the Codex Calixtinus. Three of those routes (from Paris, Vezelay, and Le Puy) go through the Ibañeta Pass to Roncesvalles and on to Santiago. One (from Arles) goes through the Somport Pass and on to Santiago. For many people the
Camino Frances starts just before both the Ibañeta Pass and the Somport Pass and includes both. That's what I see in a number of the guide books I possess. Others start the
Camino Frances just before the town of Puente La Reina, where all four routes from France converge. They call the route over the Ibañeta Pass the Camino Navarro and the route over the Somport Pass the Camino Aragones.
Still others (and you seem to be in this school) keep the Camino Aragones separate but lump the Camino Navarro with the
Camino Frances. For these people, the
Camino Frances starts more or less where the three western French routes join. SJPP is the closest town to this point, but if you want to be a purist you can start 20 km earlier at Ostabat which is the village more or less where they join.
Of course, if you want to be a real purist, the Camino starts at your front door or local parish church.
I will note that the earliest Camino Guide, the previously mentioned Codex Calixtinus, does not mention Saint Jean Pied de Port at all.
with a hug I been so stressed 
wow you have totally reassured me and help me gain confidence 
