10.2km, 12,988 steps to Orisson.

We had a late Pilgrim enter our cosy quarters last night. He had nothing to say but snore LOUDLY he did in the early hours of the morning which kept us awake!

Nethertheless, we bounced out of bed & downstairs for our Pilgrim breakfast this morning, consisting of a couple of bread rolls with jam, some sort of thin nutty loaf slice & tea & coffee – YUM!

With full tum tums (?!) we packed up & made it out by the deadline of 8am. Most Pilgrims had already left & there were only us and a scattering amount of other late starting Pilgrims, as we made our way out the gate & over the bridge: the starting point of thousands of Pilgrims before us & thousands more that will follow.

The day was perfect for walking, very misty to start with then cleared to beautiful blue skies. It was only 8kms to our second albergue so we had a pleasant slow walk soaking up the views.

We stopped halfway along the way at a cafe / Albergue by the side of the road. There I struggled to communicate an order for coffee & crossiants to the older lady serving inside. She kept disappearing for a while then returning. Finally I had two coffees as she didn’t have tea, & two  crossiants. Mr D was laughing at this one young woman practicing yoga & meditating in front of someone’s gate. Then they came home in their car so the young lady had to stop her practice & move out of the way. She only continued in another spot sitting cross legged in the dirt meditating away.

Steep climbs went up & up then zig zagged up & up. Our fellow Pilgrims marched on by, leaving us in their dust. We arrived at Orisson at lunch. But we had booked into their overflow Albergue, Kayola 1km back down the road we had come! AND no dinner or Breakfast there!

So this means walking extra back and forth for our meals. Well, it is what it is. We enjoyed lunch & Sangia / Beer overlooking the mountain views.

Our little Albergue sleeps a full house of 10 & is quite comfortable & quiet. Tomorrow we have an early start as we continue our climb over the Pyrenees mountains.