Please, Nelsa Walker, when you take the Napoleon route and get to Roncesvalles let us directly know if it was a walk in the park or if you encountered any pleasant walks down through a forest.
Most people I know get a grin on their face when talking about the Napoleon route and not because it's a walk in the park ending in a pleasant walk down through a forest.
It's a notoriously difficult stretch! Not because of hard to trot mountain terrain but the sheer distance uphill with everything you've got strapped on your back ending in a steep, long, often slippery way downhill when you already had quite a beating. The entire camino, including that first day, is not about fitness. It's about willpower, how well your joints, your feet, your back and everything else can take a beating and how good you are in taking care of your body.
The Napoleon route is not a walk, it's a climb and a steep downhill stretch, 28Km long.
I will take the Valcarlos route or stop at Orisson any day, except when the weather is almost perfect and I feel really daring to take a risk.
I'm 44 , have a desk job but run 10Km 4 times a week.