St. Jean de Pied de Port

I was up early and ready to go hoping to avoid the previous days experience. I walked across the bridge in Bayonne which is a seaport of historical importance. I found coffee and fresh fruit and headed back to the station to wait for the train. It was a hour and a half´s ride all up and the train ran along side a river most of the way as we pushed our way up into Basque country. The sky was overcast but not threatening and at 12:30 we arrived in St.Jean. There were about twenty pilgims disembarking with a couple of them being cyclists. I followed the crew and soon found myself in the small central citadel area where another crowd were all waiting for the credictial office to open at 1pm. The credictial is a pilgrims passport which must be provided by the church or an afffliated group. Cost is nominal and as you walk the church or Alberque where you stay stamps it each night proving you are doing the pilgrimage. You only need the last hundred miles to get accredtted.    This was also going to be my first dilemma since I had been told that they asked what your intentions for the walk were. It seems at Santiago one certifacte is issued for religous purposes and one for secular. Well as my friends can attest my face is an open book just chocker block full of tells. Poker is not my game unless its strip. But I wanted the authentic certificate, only seemed just after hiking 800 clicks. Just to back up a bit when I was a child my family immigrated to Canada from England. My father as a young man with little money did what most newbies did, he walked, Everywhere! This was how he explored his new home and to provide my mother a bit of relief he literally dragged my along, everywhere! I think this is where my love of walking comes from if not some older primordal thing. Trying to keep touchstones with the old country my parents soaked in anything British and one of my parents favorite shows was the Saint with Roger Moore. At the start of one of the eposides he has just come back from a 600-800 jaunt through the spanish mountains (the camino perhaps). Well this was cool and always stuck in my head and floated back from memory as my plans for the trek progressed. As I sat down to get my credicenta my story was ready as the questions came and they filled out the form. Walking yes, purpose?  Religous, I answered "the Saint is responsible". Form stamped I was wished the best and assigned a bed for the night on the municipal albergue where I immedaitely went to and stored my gear. I spent the next few hours exploring the town and making sure of the trail out and after a early supper of baguette cheese and ham I hit the sack to be well rested for the next morning.  to be continued.....

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