15-05-2018
Walked 25.6 km, 6 hours 30 minutes
Ascent: 110
Decrease: 480
Kilometers to be traveled: 840.3
It was a cold night again, I’m glad there were extra blankets because the linen sleeping bag was REALLY too thin for this night. I wouldn’t have slept a wink from the cold. Wake up at 6 am, plenty of time to get ready for a new walking day. Borce is the next place on the route to the Somport. When I have made my toilet, I now also know that it is raining again, or actually still raining. It looks sad.
In the room, repack all things and put them away in the plastic bin, then with the plastic bin down and repack the backpack. Don’t forget to take the clothes I hung in the drying loft with you, otherwise my backpack might become too light. It is not all dry, some parts still feel damp. It is almost half past seven, on to breakfast.
During breakfast there is still plenty of talk about the weather and the problems to be expected along the way. The priest and the local staff especially insisted on taking the bus to the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. The path to Borce looks more like a fast-flowing stream than a hiking trail. The chance that you slip on the stones is very big, it keeps raining today. And walking up the Somport from Borce is also not advisable, because it freezes on the pass and it snows. The path is even harder than the one to Borce, because it is only steep uphill.
Hans-Peter is going to take the bus, because he does not want to get physical problems, that camino road is not worth that. Lacking and suffering pain is not a must, it must also remain fun. I think back to the meeting of new pilgrims at Ria and Henk in Munstergeleen. It was made clear to us that if the locals give you advice, the best thing to do is follow them, they are best acquainted with the environment. So I also decide not to walk to Borce. I could still consider walking along the main road to Borce, but it is very busy with trucks driving back and forth, not recommended. Just the bus, Jacobus will not charge you, he wants you to arrive unscathed.
I go outside with Hans-Peter and Valeria, into the rain and we walk to the bus stop, there we have to wait another 10 minutes for the bus to arrive, if we miss it, we have to wait quite a long time before 1 comes again . There are already 6 people on the bus and some are pilgrims, I think. The ride costs 4 euros and takes a good half an hour. At least every pilgrim we board at almost every stop we make, so we are definitely not the only ones taking the bus to Spain.
The route goes through a tunnel from the French side to the Spanish side, the route over the pass is avoided because of the weather. And the possible crowds of freight traffic that do not want to pay the toll for the tunnel. When we drive out of the tunnel, the weather doesn’t look much better at first. Is it raining now or not? The bus stops in Canfranc Estacion where we all have to get off. The bus stop is at the large train station that has not been used for decades. Some pilgrims are already walking, others are looking for an alberge and we are just looking for a store to buy something for the road.
It is not raining, but it is drizzling. So as a precaution, just put on the orange colossus not to get too wet. The wind is stronger here than in France and if we look back at the French side we see quite a few dark clouds crashing against the tops. It seems that the peaks stop the bad weather.
We make our first meters in Spain,
the land of the caminos,
the land of the yellow scallops,
the land of the yellow arrows,
the land of the nice weather,
FINALLY!!!!!
We pass the first pole with a shell and kilometers still to be covered, another 850 pieces, kilometers. We walk south, the sun seems to shine in the distance, a clear blue sky in the distance, would it stay that way there? Are we not taking this gray sky with us? The first meters go through the village of Canfranc, then towards the main road and then you veer left, to a path along the river that starts at the mouth of the white power station. Is this the Aragon river, or just a stream? We follow the path through a village, then through the landscape next to the road. We pass through more villages and the weather is smiling.
The blue sky lingers nicely, the sun becomes visible and the heat becomes palpable. If we look back, we see that the bad weather is stuck, luckily it is not over the top, it stays in France. After 2 hours of walking in Spain we can finally take off the rain gear. Jean-Pierre is very optimistic, he even unzips the bottom pieces of his pants, rolls up his sleeves and puts on sunscreen.
We regularly come across water taps on our route. In a village on the main road we pause for lunch, then we continue towards Jaca. Fortunately it always goes downhill towards Jaca, the first stop in Spain. The landscape here is different than in France, much more colorful and, above all, drier. A kilometer before Jaca, the light goes uphill, we pass a meadow with sheep and goats. The goat goats wear very large iron bells, they are very long and almost reach the ground. There are also 2 Pyrenean mountain dogs (white sheepdogs) that protect the herd. As a young 8-week-old puppy, they are dropped into the herd, making them accepted by the herd, and their instinct ensures that they protect the herd against everything and everyone, especially when walking alone on high pastures.
We walk through the suburb of Jaca, we head towards the center past an old fortress and then we arrive at the center of Jaca. On a square we ask the way to an alberge, there are several alberges. Our Swiss friend walks in another direction, I walk to the cathedral to go inside. Here we request information and are referred to the municipal inn more or less via a map. It is a beautiful cathedral where I take some beautiful pictures. Then looking for the alberge.
The description and the map are easy to follow and eventually we end up at the inn. It looks very neat, the entrance and reception. We are assisted by a volunteer who provides us with the necessary information. We pay the 5 euros for the night, get a cover for the mattress and the pillow and then we can go to the first floor to choose a bed. They are not bunk beds, but per 2 beds they are separated by a low wall. The disadvantages that exist are to be overcome: few seats and sockets.
Now be the first to send a message back home, make the bed and hang the damp stuff for drying. Then rest, take a shower, do laundry and prepare blog / vlog. Fortunately my socket now comes in handy. Due to the lack of sockets, a file could be created for charging our gadgets, but now 4 devices can be charged at the cost of only 1 socket, happy faces … .. And then I see Jean-Pierre too, he is sitting so in the same inn. Whether I already know where I’m going to eat, not so. Maybe then we will have to look with Valeria for a place to eat? Fine, but what time? According to JP not before 8 o’clock, because here in Spain most people don’t go for dinner until around 9 o’clock.
At 8 pm we come together at the reception and walk outside in search of a nice, nice place to eat. We deliberately do not go into the center, there it is touristy and you get the usual pilgrim menu according to JP. Let’s walk the other way. At every restaurant that we pass we view the menu card, in Spanish. Fortunately via Translate, we can more or less decipher what is on it. And the opening times of the restaurants? Indeed, they will not open until 9 pm.
Twenty to nine we find a nice restaurant with an extensive Menu Del Dia, there is enough choice per course, everyone can put together their own menu and you get water and wine (included). The costs are 14.50 euros pp. It is slightly more expensive than the usual costs, but it looks chic. But this restaurant also only opens at 9 p.m. Then the door is opened, we can wait inside at the bar and can have an aperitif until the time that we can take a seat in the restaurant.
We are brought to our table with glass. This is very nicely laid out, it looks like a restaurant with a Michelin star, so beautiful. We get the menu card and make our choice. Every course is served perfectly, it all tastes exceptionally good, it is pictures that taste good. Before the dessert is served I take a look at the watch, it is almost 10 pm and was there not a sign at the exit of the alberge that the door was locked at 10 pm?
My 2 companions have not seen a plate but we decide to eat the dessert a little faster and then settle it and off to the alberge. When we arrive there it is almost 10.10 pm and yes, the door at the reception is locked and the light is off. We see some movement inside and knock on the door, luckily a fellow pilgrim opens the door to smoke another cigarette in the courtyard. We wish each other a good night’s sleep, agree to leave around 7 and go to our bed.
You should almost spend your first Spanish night on the doorstep of an alberge, lucky in an accident I had seen that sign … The dormitory is not very quiet yet, but the light is off. Quickly to my bed and to sleep, in the linen bag, luckily it is not cold and I fall asleep, I think.
Accommodation: Alberge Jaca Photos / Video
