Holy Cheese!

Holy Cheese! If ever there was a religious experience along a pilgrimage, I´d have to say I practically levitated last night. Introduced to two new besties from Canada (Alli and Shay) and my new favorite cheese- this whole pilgrim thing is an amazing way of life. We went out for dinner and a beer and Brebis- a delicate cheese that can be out of the fridge and is perfect for the pack, with a consistency slightly more moist than parmessan, is so delicious I wanted to buy a block, and my new Canadian friend was a step ahead of me and bought one for me. MMMMmmmmmm. Cheese!

Yesterday, Daur and I traveled south on the train from Paris to our starting point at st. jean pied de port. Well, first we got on the wrong train, but luckily- and kind of in a sneaky way- it was attached to the train that we wanted which would take us to Bayonne to connect. After realizing our error we walked the interior length of the train looking for la voiture 20. Alas, we could not get there from where we were in the train that we were in- but we found out that it was connected. After my new favorite game, charades, I discovered the train we were on and the train we wanted to be on that was connected would soon split. At the next, and only stop before the split Daur and I got out with our packs on, ran the full length of the train, and hopped back on to the other end, the train we wanted, as it was rolling out. It was pretty sweet, actually. Well, much more sweet once we had pulled it off. Once on the right train we travelled through Bordeaux-
beautiful mustard fields highlighted the hills in yellow. We switched to a single car train that was full of people of all ages and an inventory of recreational outdoor gear. Daur asked if we were on the right train, which given our morning was a valid double check, but when i pointed out that the entire car was filled with folks in zip off pants, she concurred that we were indeed in the right place. It´s a land of zip off pants.

St. Jean Pied de port is a place that everybody should get to in life. It´s an artisan village situated on the side of the foothills to the Pyrenes. The Pyrenes are so majestic and yet loomed with a heavy presence knowing that today we would be climbing through them with great respect. Oi, the burning and wind whipping- i would say it wasn´t that bad, but it was pretty intense! There was sleet, snow, high winds, low temperatures, exposure, MUD and eight hours of climb. te he heee, this was a crazy day and I am so pleased that the only muscles i am using right now are in my fingers. Really, I have never done anything like what we accomplished today. 5000 feet of elevation gain and 16 miles is a doosey of a way to start 500 miles of walking. We were soaked through from the rain and snow when we arrived eight hours after our departure. We are sleeping in a former monastary, and when I walked in I commented to Daur, well, i´ve never done anything like
this before. There are lines of bunkbeds- think Madeline times ten, or maybe shawshank redemption without the jean shirts. There is room for 100 people to sleep in this huge open brick room, and we are at full capacity. It´s a little village of people who get dressed in techwick. As I sat and enjoyed sitting, and watched folks filter into the space, each went about his or her business of getting settled, laying out a sleeping bag, getting shower stuff together, de-mudding, etc. There was a lot of mud today. What´s amazing about walking is that I noticed how many different types of mud there are-red clay, dark and spongey, yellow and sticky, grey and slick. I like the pace of walking. There´s a commonality with everyone on a similar journey and in the same boat, that we all just help eachother out. We share food, drinks, random toiletries, it´s a delightful utopia- with the exception of the B. O. Lot´s of it!

I am so impressed with the people I have met. Just last night in a room with ten beds there were people from 8 different countries, and 6 different languages were being tossed around. What a fascinating collection of people with such a variety of purposes. I am off to sleep off today and dream of the cheeses to come! Basque country- if only for the local beer and cheese, is a must do for everyone.