The Way-My Way: April 24th and 25th, St Jean and beyond

I flew from London Stanstead airport to Biarritz in the South of France, Great flight with Easyjet with no bumps and bangs but getting through the system to get on the flight was a nightmare that took nearly 1 hour and 45 minutes, A stressful start to the journey, I noticed a few people on the plane with backpacks and some even had walking poles with them which surprised me as i did not think they were allowed on board, You could tell the pilgrims but 1,backpack,2,convertible trousers and 3 hiking boots, We were met at Biarritz airport by express bourcot taxi and after an hour we were in St Jean Pied de Port where i had a reservation at L'Esprit De Chemin or the spirit of the way, Very very friendly owner, I was in a room with 2 others, Brian from Canada and Sarah from New Zealand, We popped across the road to the pilgrims office and collected our Pilgrims passports that will get a stamp wherever we stop or stay along the route, We got our first stamp in the passport there and the 2nd and 3rd in our accommodation, The reason for 2 stamps there was that it was a special occasion, The owner was to hand over to a new owner that night so plenty of tears from them as we toasted their futures, Before we ate we all had turns in standing up and telling everybody where we had come from, Our names and why we were doing the Camino, There were a few grasps when i explained that i had 4 brothers with Cancer and that 2 had passed away and a lot of interest of the fund raising, We had people from all over the world walking and lots of wine flowed that night,
I found it hard to sleep that night, I felt somewhat out of my comfort zone and probably had 3 hours total, The weather was pretty dire and rain lashed against the window most of the night, The pilgrims office showed a possibility of snow at the high elevations that night which was a worry, The next morning we were told that it was clear, I had hoped to have a late start as i had booked a night at an Aurberge in the mountains called Orission, I walked around the town that evening taking some pictures and hoped to take more the next morning, Brian had met another Canadian and had arranged to start the walk at 8am, The weather in the morning was pretty lousy so i set off with them, 8km or around 6 miles does not sound far but it was steep or that should have been STEEEEEP, I ended up walking alone as Brain was suffering with the incline as he has had new hips, It took me a lung bursting 2 hours and 45 minutes, The views were tremendous and there was a couple of surprises in store as around 30 Griffin Vultures swopped past countless times catching thermals off the side of the mountains, It was a shame that my camera did not have good tracking abilities but i did get some Vulture in habitat shots, The accommodation was a welcome sight and a grabbed a coffee creme and local tart which was Delicious, The accommodation was great and the views spectacular, If you are walking the camino this place is a must, The weather cleared and we managed to sit outside with some cold beers and enjoy the views, You meet a lot of people from all over the world and everybody has a tale to tell, Once again lots of great food and wine flowed,
Beautiful St Jean