Along the Way

I did not anticipate that today would be such a long day.

The walk out of the city of Pamplona was pleasant, through parks and university grounds.
Once back out into the countryside, the first noteworthy place encountered is a hill called the Alto del Perdon. The name comes from that of a church which once stood there centuries ago. The iron figures depict pilgrims in different guises, corresponding to different time periods, starting from the earliest days of the Camino de Santiago, to the present. They are on a windy ridge with turbines along it, and 360 degree views.

D. and I are walking often today with L. At a point of about 20km, she mentions that in her guidebook there is detour here, off the Camino, to a somewhat mysterious chapel with unusual architecture, called Santa María de Eunate. The detour would however add several km to the day’s walking. D. and I decide to do this as well.  Other middle-aged men might not be capable, but us … ?  No other pilgrims are taking this option though.
We turn left off the Camino into an open area of cultivated fields. The countryside is now quietly baking under cloudless skies and September sun. We see the Eunate chapel at first, but it then disappears and reappears.  The detour seems to be taking longer than would be expected from looking at the map.

The chapel is closed and locked. We later find that churches being closed is the typical situation in Spain. This may have to do with a scarcity of “ground personnel” (as Hape Kerkeling calls them). Someone is alerted to open the building.

The day’s temperature has now climbed to a splendidly ecclesiastical 33 degrees C. (91 Fahrenheit). A match for the 33 sides of the surrounding wall.

Santa María de Eunate is considered somewhat enigmatic, because no one really knows who built it, or when, or why it has the unusual octagonal shape it has, or why it was built in this relatively isolated location. Perhaps that is why some esoteric practices have arisen. It is considered to be appropriate and rewarding, to walk around the chapel three times without shoes (which we do, duly recorded by the GPS.)

By the time that we have been able to have a look inside the chapel, it’s 4 PM. We resume the hilly way back to the Camino, towards the destination for today, Puente la Reina. This turns out to be a beautiful old town along a river. D. and I are by now in a rather overheated and dehydrated state.  We run into A. and C. who we had met in Zubiri. They are already ensconced in their albergue, and had enjoyed cooling off in a public pool during the afternoon. They had not taken the detour to Eunate. We are somewhat disappointed to realize that the albergue booked by D. is not in the town, but rather further on outside of it. So we continue on down the long main street, with lots of friendly greetings from Italian and other pilgrims who are now and relaxing with beer, in a line of cafes through the town. These are pilgrims who did not make the detour to Eunate.

We exit the town over the bridge and starting climbing steeply upward again in the late-afternoon heat. The albergue had advertised a pool, and we are excited to see it, until we get closer and discern that it is empty! The albergue itself is large and well organized and offers a nice communal dinner, where we chat with a lot of people. One Spanish pilgrim we meet (S.) is very proud of Puente la Reina and offers to give us a tour. D. is too tired, but I do go with S. back after sunset to see something of the town and bridge at night.

L. said to give greetings to her friends  B. and K. if I found them , which I did.

My GPS trace

 The landscape was an easy,  rolling downhill. At one point, opens up to walking along highway to Pamplona, with cars. Long line of pilgrims stretching out into distance. Car goes by, honking in friendly manner. I imagine that the driver is a bit excited, as I am, to be part of this juxtaposition of the 11th century, and the 21st. Although people have been walking this route for over 1000 years, we may not always walk directly on the original path, because it may have long since become a highway for cars.

The way becomes gradually citified as we make a long entrance into Pamplona. Unlike other trekking routes in the world, the Camino Santiago goes straight into and out of the center of some large cities. This is because the route has to go past each cathedral. There is therefore a lot of asphalt and concrete walking. D. and I are walking mostly with a few Americans and people from the UK. Hot and bright in the city streets, with a gradual, slight dehydation and overheating that goes on when walking into the afternoon like this. We follow shell signs on the buildings and sidewalk. Pleasant and a bit unexpected to be greeted by, and even entering into short conversations with, locals in the city who see that we are on this long walk.

Finally climb up through the Pamplona old city walls. We have decided to stay in a nice hotel. Went to a restaurant known for pinchos, and the well-known Cafe Iruña bar with a group we have met on the way.

day’s walk trace

Camino map

 

 

 

 

Lights came on in albergue at 6 AM , with recording of Gregorian chant. Breakfast at nearby restaurant. A German psychology student (L.) told D. and I that we were “not old”. This information (however incorrect) buoyed us up considerably. We set out shortly before 8 AM , and I immediately recognized the albergue “La Posada” seen in the film “The Way”  – where the Martin Sheen character Tom spends his first night. Across from La Posada is the iconic “790km to Santiago” road sign seen in the film, now plastered over with stickers.

The Camino today at first passes through several villages. The road and building signage lets us know that from the point of the people living here, we are in Navarra, not Spain. The way then turns to more undulating woodland , as the days’ warmth increases. I book places for us in an albergue, while walking. Not wanting to eat more, we don’t stop much before we arrive in Zubiri in the afternoon and have a late lunch at a cafe. Now starting pilgrim daily routine of finding / checking into albergue, taking shower, washing clothes, and resting. Then, not really knowing what to do with myself, I went down to the river. Some pilgrims were already there cooling off. D. and I met new people -an English poet and spouse, as well as a world-traveling retired couple from Napa Valley, among others.

The albergue had an inviting common area, where we hung out after dinner.  Met two new people from Germany, (A. and C.)  and connected with family back home via Zoom. Then to bunk bed at 10 PM (after repeated admonitions from host). 

The flight from San Francisco to Paris, the overnight in the Latin Quarter, the train to Bayonne , all seem like preliminaries. Even my most scenic bus ride ever, from Bayonne to St. Jean pied-de-Port, through the foothills of the Pyrenees. All overlayed with a sheen of unreality, perhaps partly due to jet lag. D. and I came into St. Jean-pied-deport quite late, in gathering dusk, but found one pleasant restaurant still open, and afterwards heard beautiful choir singing coming from a church on La Rue de la Citadelle. (St. Jean is actually the “new” St. Jean, the older town having been destroyed by Richard the Lion-hearted !)  Had a short overnight in an AirBnB outside town, which we found our way to in the dark after some effort.

We made our way back down in the predawn light to the pilgrim’s office, where we each obtained our pilgrim credential and shell.The sun was now rising and turning the Pyrenees red. I felt a quiet thrill to be starting, and recognized the scene from movies. After some discussion as to whether or not we should eat breakfast before starting this 25 km hike, we made our way down the narrow street out through the Porte Notre-Dame. Quite soon out of town the road turns steeply upward. The route today starts as a normal asphalt road, through countryside, and only much later gives way to an unpaved way or track.

The landscape is quite open, with mixed trees and fields, and later becomes treeless and grassy. People seem to find it hard going, but for those like me used to hiking in California hills, the slope seemed quite moderate. There is a rest stop at a place called Orisson after 8 km, where one can relax with a coffee in a large patio area, and enjoy the view of the mountains. One person cut in line in the one, crowded cafe/bar, which was quite unpilgrim-like. After Orisson, there is less and less tree cover , until it is all grass, with stone outcrops. Groups of sheep, cows and horses , with bells continuously sounding. That, and the sound of the wind. D. and I met and chatted with a group of Irish ladies from Dublin.

Summit after summit, through similar landscape. Larger stone formations, stronger wind, sweeping views, and horses on the road …
At last, the way turns to an unpaved path, which starts sloping gently down through unearthly-looking, bent, thin, trees. We pass the fountain of Roland. (This pass through the mountains is where Charlemagne’s army was attacked and defeated by Basque locals.)
Down and down, until about 3km from the destination, the track degenerates into a steep gulley . Fortunately there is an alternative, less steep, wide gravel road, a bit longer. I’m feeling somewhat exhausted as we finally arrive at day’s destination (former monastery – no real town there.) We eventually are installed in a relatively modern 4 person cubicle. Someone came around later to count the people in beds ! “Pilgrims dinner” in nearby restaurant was mainly an unadorned chicken leg, and some cold french fries. We were seated with some young Italian guys. Lights out at 10 PM. Slept until 3 AM (jet lag). Then slept 4 – 6 AM.