La Posada in Roncesvalles

Day 2 : Orisson to Roncesvalles
Tonight we're in Roncesvalles staying at La Posada, a restaurant and simple hotel for pilgrims who have just crossed the Pyrenees - the main building in the village is a monastery with a 13th century church. There is also an albergue for pilgrims and two small hotels, Casa La Posada and Casa Sabina.

People are standing around the fire drinking hot tea with rum, as we shake the snow off our legs and enter the bar. Luna and Rosa have apricot juice, tortilla, olives, chicken bouillon, cheese sandwich, cake and hot chocolate. I'm surprised to find that there are 2 computer terminals in the bar with internet access at 1 Euro for 20 minutes and open Wifi. I sit down to check my email and think about filing my blog, have a cup of tea and then a coffee. In the meantime, a succession of retired couples from Quebec and France sit down at the adjacent terminal to file stories on their blogs and upload photos about their morning's journey to Roncesvalles. Most came along the low road from St Jean Pied de Port because the Cize Pass was closed but one couple were in our group - the 39 people who had stayed at the Orisson Refuge the night before.

Day 1 : St Jean Pied de Port to Orisson
At 770 metres above sea level, the Orisson Refuge is the half way point for those who want to take the more spectacular Route de Napoleon. Normally, it is a 2 or 3 hour walk from St Jean but Luna, Rosa and I had arrived exhausted on our first day because we had taken nearly 5 hours to get there. As we walked out of St Jean at 12.30 pm, we were busy talking to three Korean girls in bubble-gum coloured ponchos and we all missed the easy-to-find turn to Orisson. After realising our mistake the Korean girls turned back to retrace their steps and I decided to go on and rejoin the route further on. If only I'd been reading the map correctly...with a certain amount of luck and a lot of help from some local farmers, I discovered that I was totally off track. We spent an hour or two walking along country lanes, in the rolling verdant slopes of the Pyrenees with only sheep for company and the odd house white, with blood red roofs and window shutters. 'You're a long way from Orisson but you can get there this way. Just keep climbing,' the farmer with grey hair and a large timber door said. 'Take that road and then the first left and keep climbing. Then ask someone else.' He forgot to mention that there was a fork before the left turn and that the houses are few and far between. I had to centre myself and get in touch with my instinct rather than give in to the sense of despair as the girls became tired and it was past three o'clock. Did I mention in my last blog that I hadn't done much 'internal' preparation for the Camino? Our first two days turn out to be mid-week tests...and at this point I'm failing miserably.

To get back to Orisson: it is 'demi-pension' so after the hearty dinner of vegetable soup, roast lamb with baked beans and warm Basque cake, the owner of the refuge, Jean Jacques Etchandy the owner and experienced mountain guide, told his guests who were sitting around two long tables that rather than sending us back to walk on the low road he would guide us over the mountains and bring us to Roncesvalles.

Luna has written about the Crossing on Day 2 in her blog entry and I'll perhaps write another version tomorrow