September 3, 2013
Irun: We are in Spain!
The little Basque village we were in last night was absolutely charming. We ate our Paella and drank our Sagria as we looked out over the countryside in one direction and out to sea in the other, the evening was warm and there was not a breath of wind. I cannot believe what a wonderful run of golden weather we have been having. I really like the distinctive Basque architecture with its shutters and long balconies. The churches too are different, they are very solid and described as defensive churches . The entry area is more or less enclosed and is where they held important local meetings, inside it looks much lighter and this particular church had 3 rows of galleries. In a Basque church service male and females sit separately . The females sit on the ground floor and the males in the more elevated positions. Ken was delighted last night as he found a Basque Beret, he wears one pruning in the winter and had lost his last one
Today was really a transition day for us the end of our trip along the western coast of France and the start of the Northern Coastal Route of the pilgrim way to Santiago de Compostella. We only did 38km but it was hard. The route finding once more drove us to distraction and the entire way was up and down steep hills, our very low gears got a real work out. The compensation for all this was the wonderful views we got of this beautiful coast line. Tour buses were passing us and stopping at the best vantage points. I wondered if the passengers appreciated the views having not had to work so hard to see them.
Getting around the corner from Hendaye and into Spain at Irun was more complicated than we imagined. We had decided to stop here and organize ourselves for the next part of the trip. I found the Tourist Information and Itsaso who ran it is a lovely young woman and gave us a lot of help. I think the fact that we come from New Zealand helped as she wants to go there. Our hotel is cool and comfortable and full of old world charm. Now all that remained was to get Credentials for our trip to Santiago. We found the Albergue de Peligrinos. It was like going back in time for us. It was full of eager pilgrims and this was the first day of their Camino, they were clean and not footsore and all were full of good humour , the joys of life and the euthoria of the thought of a 4 weeks on the road to Santiago. We got credentials and will get them stamped as we make our journey, it feels rather strange that this time we will do it on our trusty bikes rather than walking. We got some cockle shells to attach to our baggage and all that remains now is to get started.
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Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 2,155 km (1,338 miles)
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