Stage 1 - England to Roncesvalles
23-25 August
As far as I am concerned my pilgrimage began on the Monday morning when I caught the bus from St John's Seminary, Wonersh to Guildford in order to get the train to London. At this stage there was little walking involved, but from that moment on my 'life' was contained in my backpack in the same way as it would be for the next five weeks. I chose to get to the start of the walking phase overland (mostly by coach) partly because I wanted that sense of starting at my front door. Mind you the prospect of 24 hours of public transport did not seem particularly attractive on that Monday morning.
Anyway the journey went fine, and I arrived at St
Jean Pied a Port at about 4pm the following day. I met my first fellow pilgrims
on the short train ride from Bayonne to St Jean - a group of young Germans
including a student for the Lutheran ministry whom I would encounter at several
stages. St Jean is a small town on a river at the bottom of a pass through the
Pyrenees. It is an attractive town as you can see and a popular starting point
for those who want to do the whole of the 'Camino Frances' through Spain.
St Jean was also my first stamp in by credencial. This is a kind of pilgrim passport which you get stamped at each point along the way. Stamps - which can be quite elaborate - can be obtained from hostels, churches and often bars. Generally one stamp a day is enough. I got mine stamped at the pilgrim office in St Jean before heading for the hostel. Her I would spend the first of many nights sharing a room full of beds with other pilgrims. In this case it was with two Aussie couples and an Irish woman. Thee became my travelling companions for the next few days.
The first day offered us the first major
choice. There are two ways to get to the monastery at Roncesvalles. The 'easy
route' is a 30km hike following the road up the valley, which is a climb of some
900m. The more challenging 'Route Napoleon' is slightly shorter but goes over
the Col Leopard at a height of 1440m which is a total climb of about 1300m As
the weather was glorious there was no real choice and we headed up the high
route. We left shortly after sunrise (about 8am) and as you can see the views
were stunning. This particular picture is taken looking eastwards from about
1100m
It is at this point that you encounter the Vierge de Orisson, a statue of Mary the mother of Jesus
perched on the top of a pile of rocks. Images of Mary are common along the
Camino, second only to the Cross in popularity.

A couple of kilometers past this point the camino
leaves the road towards the pass through the mountains, eventually crossing the
border (a cattle grid!) at a height of about 1300m. The picture of me on the preparation page was taken there. Near the border
is a small hut which we later discovered is used occasionally as a refuge. An
older couple we met at Roncesvalles had spent the night there, and described how
the eagles, which we had seen soaring over the mountains, stood around in the
morning sun warming their wings. Near the border there is also a milestone which
reminds the pilgrim of the task ahead! In fact the immediate task is a bit more
climbing to the high point at 1440m. and then a steep drop (which you can loop
round via an interesting modern shrine at Ibañeta) to the monastery
We arrived at Roncesvalles - or three of us
did - late afternoon and located the hostel, which was in a large converted
barn. Basically abut 100 bunk beds in one big room. But it was clean and well
maintained (being quite new) and the showers were good! There was a pilgrim mass
at the monastery that evening at which the two halves of our group were
reunited. The others had booked into the youth hostel and as they had booked a
meal also we went our separate ways for the evening. It was at Roncesvalles I
had the first of many 'pilgrim menu' meals. These provide three courses, bread
and wine or water for between 6 and 10 euros, and provide the staple for much of
my journey. The main course at Roncesvalles was some rather nice fish. Then to
bed for some much needed sleep after a hard first day's walking which included
the longest climb I have ever done and one of the longest days walking. But my
feet and legs seemed OK.
