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Bon chemin @rometimed !Hi everyone,
In the other thread Vacajoe requested I post about the Voie de la Nive as I go. I am using this as a warm up for my Camino Frances.
About 10 KMs right now and stopped as "Paarela Cuinguette" for food. Will post photos and more impressions later on today.
Bon chemin @rometimed !
It's a walk I wanted to do in 2020, and hopefully will experience next year.
I look forward to your journey to StJPdP along the Nive. I am hoping to do it as a warm up for StJPdP to Roncesvalle in Sept/Oct 2022, it looks a lot better than the GR10 I walked in 2000 to StJPdP and with an Auberge!Day 1 Report: Bayonne to Larressore:
(About 20 KMs)
I started this morning from the new pilgrim Albergue in Bayonne @ 7 Rue Gosse. It's quite close to the cathedral.
View attachment 125091
The albergue has beds for about 20 but only had 5 others staying there last night: two young French couples not on an actual Camino and a Brazilian woman walking the Camino Norte but starting from Bayonne.
The albergue is comfortable and has a combo laundry/washing machine, small fridge, coffee, tea, microwave, etc.
A young French gent named "Alex" was volunteering there for one more week then was off on the Camino Norte as well.
Exiting the Albergue I turned right and then took a quick left, right and there's a set of stairs that takes you down towards the Nive River just past a few shops and a round about:
View attachment 125092
Cross a couple of busy streets but stay on this side of the river and you come to a boat launch:
View attachment 125093
Just passing here you will see the first Camino marker and it's a big marker:
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From there... there's not a lot to say for quite a while. You follow the Nive on the path next to it for about 12 KMs.
For the first 9 KMs or so there are water fountains every 1.5 KMs and there are benches more frequently.
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I will say that through-out the day I did not see any other pilgrims but the path itself is steadily busy with bicyclists, joggers, walkers, etc.
It becomes quite agricultural and I saw many cows, horses, chickens and the like.
I hoped to go 10 KMs before stopping to have a lunch I prepared for the journey. However, just after 9 KMs I came to an interesting bridge and what looked like a patio on the other side of the river:
View attachment 125099
This turned out to be a small stall food patio/bar "Paarela Cuinguette" that was just opening for lunch as I got there right at 12 noon:
View attachment 125100
It had what seemed like a pretty good menu and selection so I stayed and ordered fish'n Chips and a beer for 15 euros all together which is quite a bit less than what I'd pay in Canada now:
View attachment 125101
......
ill see about the imagesFABULOUS so far!!!!!!! Thanks for the extensive posting - love it! What a great record for future pilgrims.
PS: perhaps post your photos as thumbnails as the large photos are not loading too well
Sadly, people seem to love βcollectingβ the small Camino markers, leaving pilgrims lost and wandering the back roads of Basque countries!. We asked our French host why there were so few markers and he replied, βUnlike the Spanish, we do not splatter yellow arrows all over our countryside!β A gps route guide or mapping app is extremely helpful on this route. (Even with one we ended up wandering through a sheep pasture and climbing a few fencesβ¦)
Merci @rometimed ! Thank you!Thanks for reading about my first day!
It's a long day under the sun, and I'm glad you're feeling better, @rometimed !Whew. Totally different than day 1 lol. If it's going to be this hot I do recommend splitting it up.
Fantastic reporting - LOVE the goat swing!!!!! It brought back I so many memories ESPECIALLY that restaurant in Macaye!!!!! OMG!!!! Best food weβve had over our four Caminos (photo below for future travelers looking for it, though itβs the only place in that tiny villageβ¦). We were fortunate to get the Menu del Dia - three courses with wine for β¬15 each. Not cheap, per se, but high quality and very local; when we asked where the cheese was from, she pointed to the field of cows across the street!!!! . We ended up visiting the cheese factory a mile out of town and bought a small wheel.
Your walk tomorrow was the most challenging stage for us because we lost the path about a mile out of Irissary and then wandered over hills and through pastures before regaining it close to SJPdP. The good news is that your path today is certainly the most physically challenging section, so thatβs behind you.
Buen Camino - keep your spirits up and the reports coming!
Me too! Our Gite host mentioned that he had accompanied a group of 5yos on a day walk to SJPdP and back the previous week and ensured us it was very easyβ¦and yet we were hopelessly lost less than 30 minutes later!I am interested to see how confusing this last day is today as there appears to be fewer roads to get lost on compared to yesterday.
Me too! Our Gite host mentioned that he had accompanied a group of 5yos on a day walk to SJPdP and back the previous week and ensured us it was very easyβ¦and yet we were hopelessly lost less than 30 minutes later!. Hopefully they fixed the waymarking as there was so little of it when we walked.
I have toured many parts this route in my car. Great description of the villages in Pays Basque. There are some of the top restuarant in the world here which can only be described as a culinary heaven on earth. It is sad more pilgrims don't find the time to start from Bayonne before their start in SJPdP or chose to take the Batzan to Zubiri or Pamplona
Excelent writing, I find it most useful and will certainly use it, with shorter distance advice. I agree about the French rural cuisine, I loved it on the GR10 from Hendaye to StJPdP in 2000 and look forward to it again!
Thank you so much. I plan on doing same for a warm up when Iβm able to do the Frances.Hi everyone,
In the other thread Vacajoe requested I post about the Voie de la Nive as I go. I am using this as a warm up for my Camino Frances.
About 10 KMs right now and stopped as "Paarela Cuinguette" for food. Will post photos and more impressions later on today.
Congrats on not getting lost (too much). I agree that itβs not a first-timer Cami o as you have to be able to remain calm and keep moving forward even when the waymarks disappear.
Thank you so much for the detailed information. I wanted to do this walk as a warm up for the Frances but couldn't find enough information which was making me nervous but I now have the courage to do it, thanks to you! I will be walking in mid August which I know will be hot but I live in the tropics and am used to constant heat and humidity. I will walk it in 4 stages. Do you recommend booking accommodation ahead?
Thank you. I will take your advice.Bayonne likely not necessary but for the other 2 nights I would recommend booking as most of the towns only have a couple of official places to stay, then there are a few air bnbs.
For Irissarry I would recommend Gite Aire-Berria.
https://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/aire-berria.en-gb.html
Staying there leaves about 15 KM walk into st jean.
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