Uhart Mixe - St. Jean Pied de Port 27 kms

Saturday, September 29th

A perfect last day. By far the most scenic since leaving Moissac. A clear, not too hot day with great views of the Pyrenees for the entire etape. Even with painful feet it was a marvellous walk. We stopped en route at a farm to buy freshly made cheese and yogurt. Tres bon...
We arrived at St Jean in the early afternoon, but for the first time without room reservations. We had been told that the city was complet in part because it was a Saturday and it is a major tourist destination. Figuring St Jacques owed me one for 10 days of painful walking we took our chances. The first two places we tried were either complet or closed. I spotted a "chambre a louer" sign on a door and decided to give it a try. An elderly woman answered our knock. Looking into the dark passageway of her home I was amused that we had entered a haunted house....Turned out the woman was a delight and best of all spoke fluent Spanish. She had a room available and took us up 4 flights of stairs to a cute little room with an amazing view of the surrounding countryside. The best part was the little balcony where the toilet and shower were located. "A Toilet With A View".
St Jean is a very pictureque, if touristy town. After the quiet of the past 12 days the number of people walking about came as a bit of a shock.
We ran into many of our walking friends - most of whom were continuing their way to Santiago: "Orange Cap" John, the young American; the two Swiss men that had already been walking for two months; Mado, the energetic French woman whose husband was meeting her on occassion on his bike; and the young french woman who was forced to stop at St Jean because her walking companion - her little dog - would go no further.
We said adieu to all these friends. The Pyrenees awaited them the next day...We were done. 320kms since Moissac. 800 kms since Le Puy. Enough for now....We will be back in the near future to meet up with St Jacques once again.

Navarrenx - Uhart Mixe 29kms

Friday, September 29th

We decided to get to St Jean in two days instead of three. That meant two more long days. Hot again, with very little shade as we struggled through the rolling Basque countryside. Remote walking with no real villages to pass which meant lack of access to water...This became a problem because we actually ran out of water with about 5kms left. Very fortunately we passed an isolated home on the chemin where we spotted an elderly woman moving her car. I asked for some water and she invited us into her home where she filled our container with cold, delicious eau. Thank goodness for St. Jacque's intervention beecause I'm not sure if we could have made it to our destination.
And what a nice destination it was. A walker's gite, but it was more like a roadside Inn - the only place to stay in the tiny village. Again, our own room. But the best part was dinner. Along with 4 other walkers we had met along the Way, we were feasted like royalty. Among other things, my first Piperade - a Basque-like stew made from peppers, onion, tomatoes, and garlic topped with slices of jambon (from black pigs) and sausages. Beyond delicious. Copious amounts of unending bottles of Red and Rose wines, all overseen by an elderly male owner taking care of our every need - a perfect evening after a very difficult day....And Leslie got stinking drunk....The breakfast the next morning was just as nice with fresh squeezed orange juice and sundry goodies.

Arthenz - Navarrenx 28kms

September 28th

Another hard, if rather uneventful day of walking. Pretty countryside, but lots of steep climbs, and worse, steep descents. After 7 hours of heat good to finally arrive at our Hotel....A Hotel is a bit more luxurious than a gite - sheets and towels provided, but honestly, the accomodations at the gites have been quite nice.
Navarrenx is a larger town - very pretty. A good demi-pension dinner with a lovely bottle of Jurancon white...Another day closer to St Jean.