Run To The Hills!

Well I've made it St Jean de Pied de Port which i like to think of meaning St Jean with his foot in the door, but probably doesn't.

It is here that people flock to begin the Pilgrimage of St Jacque west to Galicia to Santiago. Apparently nearly 200 folk every day sign up and head off with walking stick in hand for the 35 day trek. I'll be on my bike so it shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks and I’m very much looking forward to the journey.

I slept in a bed last night for the first time as there are plenty of cheap hostels along the route so this is a whole new phase to look forward to.

Since my last post I’ve been up in the mountains in the Pyrenees discovering the joys of cycling a heavily laden bike on mountain roads. After arriving in Lourdes i headed south into the hills and decided on a route that looked pretty scenic on the map. As ever i never quite know what lies ahead but this time in turned out to be an infamous route on the tour de France involving an epic 1709 meter pass way up in the mountains. The views were stunning, the shepherds were charming and the sense of achievement was almost overwhelming but i certainly nearly died in the process and think perhaps i have taken this extreme bike touring a step too far. Although the ride down the hill on the other side was pretty ecstatic, speeding through beautiful mountain scapes and fantastic woodland with the ever-present sounds of sheep herds dinngling there bells across the valleys. ( current down hill top speed is 62 km an hour)

I have so many beautiful pictures of the mountains and misty valleys but here´s just a little taster:

 

The following morning was misty and damp so i decided to take a lower road westwards and came across another English lad on a bike. His name was Charlie and i realised that it was the first time for quite a while that i was able to natter away in my mother tongue. We spent the day riding through beautiful woodland and rolling hills and camped out in the wilds of the Basque country.

This is what it was meant to be like; wild camping and open fires with fellow adventurers of the open road. I had been getting a bit down for the last few days and feeling that this was actually a ridiculous idea and far harder than my crazy idealistic dreaming mind had realised so a bit of companionship and nature's wilderness has set me right back on track and i can't wait to hit Spain tomorrow and continue this journey into the next chapter.

To south and Beyond!. . . . well west a bit actually!