Voie de la Côte

[Bert45]

I bought my credencial in the Cathedral of Bayonne. The lady who sold it to me gave me several sheets of information (in French) about the auberges on the way to Irún. She told me to go down to the river where I would find a marker for the Camino del Norte. I took a photo of the marker (attached). If you can read it, it says, from the top, "3 Roncevaux Oreaga 2 Pampelune Iruña 1 Chemin de la Côte Kosta Bidea Hendaye-Irun Départ de Bayonne. So I thought this meant that I should walk in the direction of the arrows, i.e. straight ahead, and I would be on the Voie de la Côte, and get to Irún. I followed the River Nive for about 3 hours and arrived in Ustaritz, with no yellow arrows pointing in any direction. When I looked at a map, which I should have done much sooner, I saw that Ustaritz is in the middle of nowhere and miles from the coast. The only thing I could do was to walk 3 hours back to Bayonne and find my own way to Biarritz, St Jean de Luz and eventually Hendaye and Irún. To say I was a bit peeved is putting it mildly. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Is there anyone who can explain why the sign has 'Hendaye-Irun' on it when the path goes nowhere near the coast?

 

[MinaKamina]

Perhaps you missed a sign or a sign is missing?
If you follow the Nive all the way up, you end up near St Jean PdP!

 

[KinkyOne]

I bought my credencial in the Cathedral of Bayonne. The lady who sold it to me gave me several sheets of information (in French) about the auberges on the way to Irún. She told me to go down to the river where I would find a marker for the Camino del Norte. I took a photo of the marker (attached). If you can read it, it says, from the top, "3 Roncevaux Oreaga 2 Pampelune Iruña 1 Chemin de la Côte Kosta Bidea Hendaye-Irun Départ de Bayonne. So I thought this meant that I should walk in the direction of the arrows, i.e. straight ahead, and I would be on the Voie de la Côte, and get to Irún. I followed the River Nive for about 3 hours and arrived in Ustaritz, with no yellow arrows pointing in any direction. When I looked at a map, which I should have done much sooner, I saw that Ustaritz is in the middle of nowhere and miles from the coast. The only thing I could do was to walk 3 hours back to Bayonne and find my own way to Biarritz, St Jean de Luz and eventually Hendaye and Irún. To say I was a bit peeved is putting it mildly. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Is there anyone who can explain why the sign has 'Hendaye-Irun' on it when the path goes nowhere near the coast?

Exactly what @MinaKamina wrote
You should have followed Nive to the Atlantic and not upstream because that would bring you to SJPdP.
When I was walking Via de Bayona two years ago I had two options. Either follow the Nive or turn a little bit inward and head straight to Biarritz and then through all the towns on the coast to Irun. The two routes merged but I'm not sure exactly where. What I did is shorter but also less beautiful or attractive I guess.

 

[jsalt]

Is there anyone who can explain why the sign has 'Hendaye-Irun' on it when the path goes nowhere near the coast?

Hi Bert, you must have missed a sign to the right.

You first walk under the railway line:


And a short while later you leave the river, and cross back to the other side of the railway line.
Jill