Clare and Ross walk France to Spain

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...

So - the upside down town signs - farmers protesting new taxation laws. We were told that the French love making laws and love ignoring them. Another great host! Laurence couldn't do enough for her 6 guests. There are lots of laughs and good food at the dinner table. We were served Sangria for an appetitive ( getting close to Spain)!. There are some language difficulties. We have entered the Basque region In St Palais, nearly every house was in these Basque colours.  We arrived in St Palais about 3pm and our hotel was all locked up. A man sitting outside just murmored at us. After an hour, 3 phone calls and an email a man drove up. Let us in and gave us a key to a second floor room. We didn't like the narrow staircase, hot room and cigarette smell so we looked for an improvement. All 13 rooms were empty, unlocked and nearly identical. He gave us a door code, new room key and breakfast time, then left. We were alone in the hotel. L...

We are getting fitter! but we needed to! See the church on the hillside? It looks closer than it was. That was to be our lunch stop. After leaving our wonderful host/ chef we had 11kms of rolling hills till lunch. More kind locals left us a resting place. Lunch was an unexpected treat. We sat at an outdoor cafe and rang our daughter. She was at a rather loud football game, so we were speaking loudly. An English couple came over and asked about our walk. An Australian couple from last night's Chambre also joined us and we all chatted happily for a couple of hours. The English had just about made France their home and the Australians had been walking in France for months. We left town through one of the original gates with another 11 km walk ahead. A long lunch was risky. Fortunately our walking companions were really solid characters. We just had to photograph this house. It was one of many very attractive house...

There are a lot of stone walls, but this one was one of the nicest. Can you see what's growing close up near the camera? We have done a lot of ridge walking. No I don't mean walking along ridges. I mean walking to ridges. What goes up must come down! and we have gone up a lot of times today. Guess how far away and how much higher this church is.  We get it wrong all the time because little parish churches and cathedrals are often the same shape. Is it 3 or 8kms away, on a 50m or 200m ridge. You find out when you get there. These horses were pretty special. A couple of mares wanted food but most stayed away. A majestic stallion with black neck hair was making a lot of noise. Our trip was improved by this kindness. Our nights stop, near the top of a 100m ridge was hosted by an ex chef from Marseilles, who was full of energy and made us very welcome. Good night!

Our wonderful hosts chatted with us at breakfast whilst preparing for the day. At 8.30, breakfast over, they open their doors as a cafe. Their dogs take up station at the gate to welcome anyone in. A pleasant days walking, especially in the morning before the sun breaks through the mist. Our typical lunch at a grocery store/ cafe. She sold is the components for sandwiches and gave us plates and a knife We saw this bee "farm", but couldn't hear or see if it was active. Dont read the roadsigns, the crosses are far more important. The red and white cross means it's not our route Rest areas for us made us feel welcome What wasn't welcome was a methanol plant ( we think). There is a huge amount of green (organic matter) These signs and others were our constant companions for about 5 kilometres  I think we are getting fitter, it's verrrrry hilly, but we are coping. Goodnight

We left our amazing hosts and walked the 700m into the village for the bakery as we entered the village we were stunned The snow covered Pyrenees greated us. In a week we would be crossing them. Just a bit daunting🫣. A very pleasant walk, sunny but cool got us to morning tea in Pimbo, and this view from our seats The town gardener had cleverly pruned large trees to provide summer shade. We think that the trees actually grew together (grafted). We dallied to long!!!! If you have read our last France blog, or travelled in rural France you know there is no long lunch.  Arriving in Arzacq- Arraziguet for lunch at 1.50pm was Dangerous!!!! The town had two cafes and 3 hotels! Cafe 1 = closed Cafe 2 = kitchen closed, barman dismissive Tourist information centre = closed ( lady opened for us and suggested Hotel 1 Walking past Hotel 2 = closed Hotel 1 closing now = can do menu de jour Taboulie, fish and cake = yes please Taboulie = couscous= yummy Fish ...