Clare and Ross walk France to Spain

We spent a week in Poland and really loved it. Starting in Warsaw, we stayed in the old town, next to the main square. We did a walking tour, ate Polish food and drank beer. The old town is very new. It looks old, is partly made from old material, but was built in the 1960's. It's not fake or gimmicky. It's a statement of national pride. This is the old Old Town in 1944. This is the same street today. The Nazis destroyed the town to punish the people of Warsaw for the Uprising. When they rebuilt they added little embellishments to honour people who lived there. One door had pigeons engraved in stone above because the occupant famously fed the local pigeons. Krakow is a much older town, the original capital, it's main square is on a grand scale. Cafes lined the 4 100m sides and you chose where to sit based on the weather. When it's 5° but sunny you choose one side, 9° with a wind and ...

You may think aeroplanes are fast? Trains can be fast or slow, and walking IS slow. Ummm? We crossed southern France (on foot) in about 6 weeks. We were never bored. We weren't stationary unless we chose. We saw a variety of everything, felt we were getting somewhere, and we were mostly enjoying ourselves. The food and drink and chairs were all better than before! We booked to fly Pamplona to Madrid to Warsaw over 6 hrs. We sat on the second plane for 4hrs. Our average speed was 0 kmh. Off the broken plane, waiting for info one hour, airport hotel, an hour to check-in (some waited 2 hrs). Dinner at midnight😵‍💫. Day two, new flights offered, 2 not one. Amsterdam airport is nice this time of year. Then off to Warsaw. Our bags weren't fast enough. They missed our connection🫤. They rejoined us over the next 2 days. One at a time!  Not quite walking pace. But a lot less fun. I am writing this post from a train ( Warsaw to Krakow ) Smooth, quiet, cool and fastish. Huge...

All things come to an end. We have retraced our younger steps for three days, including 2 verrrrry hard days. Over ten years we have now walked from eastern France to Western Spain (Brisbane to Melbourne) Amazing people, amazing places, food, beer, conversations, overcoming hardship and feeling achievement. But first The walk to Pamplona was not hard or long. We are match fit, just wait, you 🎾 and ⛳ people. The city is fun. Town squares with bars and cafes and statues and street art. We missed the "Running of the bulls" but looking at this monument you get the idea. We had a drink then dinner in the main square which was busy with families enjoying the warm evening. When we went searching for ice cream we discovered the amazing nightlife bustling away throughout the old city. Tomorrow we head to Poland for a week then England for another. I won't do a daily post but stay tuned. Thanks for staying in touch Clare and Ross

A new walk Everything is the same  and It's all different Spanish food is quite different. This amazing dinner at our Bar/Albergue had whiter fluffy bread, a tomato salad, two quiche/ tortillas and spagetti. Red wine is everywhere, local, cheap and good. We are on a people highway, we saw maybe 50 people, on and off, all day long. Bar/ cafes are in nearly every hamlet. The path is mostly through forest rather than narrow roads through farmland. The town's are a little different The walk today was long, but not hard. The elevations are lower, we are mostly going downhill, and there is shade.  At lunch we met our Brazilian/Danish pair. They were overjoyed to see us. They had taxi'd over the Pyrenees and were now continuing their walk at about 12kms per day. We are using a birdsong app and happily identifying birds that we hear along the way We met this small river and followed it for a few kilometres to our stop for the night. ...

I have used my exclamations to early OMG! Oo la la! What the heck! This day was huge. Endless up then endless down, then when we were too tired to notice, a nice soft forest trail😀. In the beginning An amazing morning greated us! We turned from this view to meet our Danish friend in tears. "I can't go on, my back is just to sore". "It will be 80 euros for a taxi and that is too much for me" Inside at breakfast our Brazilian friend could not go on because " I am not ready for another day like yesterday" "I have no accommodation booked" We listen to each of them then suggested they share a solution. They put their heads together and started to plan. When we left they were sharing a taxi to the camp ground the Danish lady recommended. They both thanked us over and over. Up we went Looking back on Orisson, an outpost for people ready for a challenge. The horses roamed free but wore bells ...

Leaving the now bustling hotel we walked through town again. It is strange to see a town where the houses are all different but. In the same colour scheme. We walked up and up and then into countryside again. This chapel was at the top of a 120m climb. The trees will sprout through spring to form a ring of shade. As we approached our lunch stop we heard chanting. 50 metres into the forest were twenty or so people all dressed in red. One was holding antlers above his head and was gyrating. Was this a covern of witches, or a sect? We listened , but stayed out of sight. At our lunch stop we learnt they were travelling performers. We chatted over a sandwich and coffee at the cafe/bars picnic table with a Canadian man and a Dutch woman. Before we had finished, at midday, the cafe and bar had closed and we were alone, plates and all. A pleasant but long afternoons walk brought us to our nights stop, just 12kms from St Jean Pied de Port, where the famous Sp...