November 9. Larcevaux to St. Jean Pied de Port. 20.36 km.

Well. This will be our last day of walking in France as we are set to arrive in St Jean Pied de Port, the end of our French pilgrimage, with one more stage in Spain to come.

This is the earliest we’ve gotten on the road in the morning, before 830 am.  Since Richard was having brekkie at 730 am, we felt we had to as well. Heavy sigh.  But the day promised to be sunny and warm, not a raindrop in sight.

The view from the dining room was not too shabby.

Backpacks are often left in a separate room and if you can take them into the bedroom, you never put them on the beds. We’ve never had an issue with bed bugs but they can be a problem on the Camino in Spain when thousands of pilgrims are walking and staying in the same albergues and carrying the bugs with them.

Ken and Richard, our #2 pulgrim. He was walking from his house about 50 km from Le Puy, which is the start of the Camino we joined yesterday. He’s on his way to Santiago, so only another 820 km to go for him.

Our pilgrim hosts for the night.Guillaume prepares and eats dinner with the pilgrims and serves ice cream and compote for dessert…which he says he no longer eats after the 200th time. They have room for 8 pilgrims and he serves hundreds over the course of a year.

The house where we slept.

We couldn’t believe the number of airplane contrails in the sky. Well, I guess, where else would they be but in the sky?!? But so many.

Don’t we look tall and skinny?

The trail took us through someone’s yard.

Ken figured I would be too frightened to go over this little bridge. That’s a little insulting.

At first we thought Ossy had followed us but then realized it was a different but identical looking dog. We saw many similar dogs….turns out Ossy is an Icelandic sheepdog but most of the Basque dogs we’ve been seeing are skinnier versions of our border collies (according to Guillaume).

Hello, hill. I see you. You don’t frighten me…much.

The boys were going to walk right by this place but I read the signs and realized this was a basic pilgrim refuge (used to be part of an old mill).  It contained 4 bunks, a table and a clothes drying rack. No running water that I could see but we didn’t go around the back to check and, given that it’s on a highway with houses around, there is likely a washroom/outhouse in the back.

Not the best picture but all the sheep in this field had very curly horns.

Rescuing another gigantic worm from certain death by car and / or dehydration by sun. The small things become important on these walks and everyone deserves a chance, even an ugly worm.

A small town with a pelote court.

I’m very cute. Give me food. No? Well, phlbbbt to you.

What are you looking at?

This group of walkers, five married couples, overtook us.

The roots on this tree were huge but I also liked the sheep wool stuck to the fence.

Almost two and a half months of walking. Only 7.1 km to go. Bittersweet and I am trying to make the day last. This intersection is where the trail from Lourdes joins up.

I asked Ken to stop so I could take his picture. Not sure he noticed the cattle crossing sign. Hee hee.

No cattle on the road but a small herd of ponies going for a stroll.

The animals come to say hello and Scott obliges.

Bus shelter? Pilgrim shelter? Ken says it’s a beautiful view and it was from where he was sitting. But this is what I saw.

Just having a conversation in the road, sitting on my lawnmower.

Aaawww! Look at the little black-headed lambs! Adorable.

The Basque apparently love their chili peppers as I saw them on a lot of the souvenirs (in St Jean when we arrived).

When we first were going into this hotel/bar/restaurant, this gentleman said if I was hungry the restaurant was open. We only had drinks but when we left, he was snoring loudly and happily in the warm sunshine.

Ken kind of admired the old fellow who was humming a tune as he slowly made his way across the street. Could be him in a few years, he figures.

We haven’t seen a lot of the green, which apparently is the only other colour besides red to use on your house. I do prefer the red.

3.5 km to go!

The very rare blue-butted Pyrannean sheep that we first saw on the Camino Frances in 2019.

The Basque flag.

He’s at least an inch long.

The Snax and teensy out for their photo op on a giant agave.

Poor little DeuxCheveux Dyanne.

They passed us again.

Most of the plane trees we see have been “pollarded” for the winter.  The theory is that it encourages new growth but keeps the size of the tree from getting too big.  In this picture they have grafted branches from two separate trees together to form an arbour.

I was right in front of the church when it’s VERY loud bell rang out and made jump. Having a hear attack caused by church bells was not in the plan!

The walkers would not give me a chance with the burrows.  Grrrr.

How lovely.

Free ducks not destined to be foie gras pate (I hope).

More grafting to join two trees together.

Piglets! Keep in mind we’re in town.  Sad to think they are going to be the “lardon” (type of bacon) that Scott likes so much.

300 metres!

Through 2 1/2 months and about 900 kilometers of laughs and mud and determination and hills and whyarewedoingthis-es and rain and maybe a wee tiny bit of waaahing and sun and more hills, we stand at the Gate of St. Jacques.  Still smiling, still family, still friends, still talking to each other.

We make our way to the Pilgrim Office for our last pilgrim stamp (tampon de Pelerin in France) and explain that no, we are not beginning our Camino like everyone else, but are finishing here, having walked the Francigena Britannica, the Via Campaniensis, and the Voie de Vezelay.  We received many congratulations.

We also met Richard the Pilgrim again at the Pilgrim Office. He needed a place to stay, which the pilgrim office helps with, especially as so many albergues close November 1st. We had an extra bed and offered it to him if he could not find anything.  But he didn’t contact us so presumably he found a bed and is now well on his way to Santiago.

There is more to come. We’ve arrived in SJPDP a little early so are doing some exploring. Then on the 13th we take the train to Bordeaux, pick up a car, then drive to Santiago. We’ll meet Antonio, with whom we will walk the final chapter of the Camino de Santiago – to Muxia and Finisterre, land’s end at the Atlantic.  Ken was too sick to walk this section in 2019 and we drove it but it’s not the same as earning it by walking.  And we will become “peregrinos” instead of “pelerins”.