Puente la Reina

Today I have finished walking along the Via Tolosana and Camino Aragones routes finishing here in Puerta la Reina, Spain.  Standing here to key this page in I hesitate to say walking.  Yes, tired as I am after a day walking, there is not a computer chair so I must stand to key in my Blog.  Yuk! 

Along the way I have met some wonderful folks Eugenia y Migeul (Madrid), Fernando y Ricardo (Canarias), Christiana und Edmund (Cologne, Germany) and then the lovely Brigita (Germany) who is lost to us now, she is possibly a day or two behind. We all finish walking in Puerta la Reina and in celebration will have dinner together tonight.

Via Tolosana 

The Gite at L'Isle - Jourdain

The best way I could describe the 2010 Via Tolosana walk was, wet. It rained every day that I was in France - sometimes drizzling soaking rain and at other times torrential downpours with thunder and lightening. France was suffering major flooding in some areas and every day on the television they showed streets like rivers with cars being thrown around like white water rafts. So I walked, took a bus, a train, sometimes a taxi, but still when I stopped for the day there was rain. This did not detract from the spectacular views at the times when the rain would ease.

Go on you try it ..... I did, and I poured coffee down the front of my shirt.  In all my travels I have never been served coffee in a cup with a handle set this way, have you?  BTW all the cups in this Bar were like this not just one.

Auch, Gascony

I stayed in some nice Gites but otherwise in small hotels, especially when I could not find the Gites. Gites in France are not as easy to find as albergues in Spain, there is a sad lack of good signage. It is still raining in France.

 So wet ... the rain does not ease up, it continues.

Col du Somport

Walking this way the Pyrenees crossing is over Col du Somport, from Oloron Sainte Marie (France) to Canfrac Estacion (Spain).  I crossed Col du Somport by bus as had been suggested to me by the woman in Toulouse who issued my pilgrim passport (credential). The route is spectacular although maybe because it was cold, damp, rainy and I was feeling blue, I am not sure that I could walk this way, to me it looked tougher than Route Napoleon from Saint Jean Pied de Port (SJPP).

Camino Aragones

Canfranc Estación

The 1928 station that has been abandoned since the 1970's after an International train accident took out a bridge along the way.  It is a beautiful old building and such a shame to see it fall into disrepair.  I wish that I was a millionaire as I would restore this building and turn it into a hotel.

It was very cold and wet in Canfranc Estacion, Spain so I took the train to Jaca (a traditional starting point for Camino Aragones) and I decided that this is where I would start my Camino Aragones. It was a good decision as finally the sun was shining. It felt wonderful to be home in Spain with familiar foods, bars, language and more. As I wrote to Garry be careful what you wish for as now not only was the sun high in the sky with no clouds but each day was hotter than the one before.

Santiago in Jaca

The 16th century Citadel (San Pedro Castillo)

This pilgrim cannot stand much longer, and I want to check email, so I will finish for today.

I am going to Burgos tomorrow and will spend a couple of rest days there before continuing on. Given the opportunity I will Blog again in Burgos.