I’m sitting outside my albergue using wifi from the pilgrim’s office. Today has been a great day of easy travel and beautiful sights. This town is about as charming as it gets and makes for the perfect jumping off point for the Camino. It has everything you need – not that I didn’t overpack already. 

My albergue came highly recommended and I can see why. I don’t have to sleep in bunk bed tonight! I’m sharing my room with two other pilgrims that I met at the airport. We were picked up by the same shuttle service and by chance we all ended up at the same albergue. 

I walked around the town exploring, found a geocache and tried a local Basque beer. 

I also checked in at the pigrim’s office and got my credential stamped. I’ll be getting this stamped at most of the places I stop along the way. Luckily I got to the office before the line formed. Our shuttle driver said about 500-600 pigrim’s leave from St. Jean a day. No matter where you walk in this town, you see pilgrims – all ages, from all over the world. 

Tomorrow will be one of the hardest days, with almost 4,000 feet elevation gain and 15 miles. It’s forecast to rain. At least I’m prepared for rain. Though the countryside is so beautiful that I’d like to enjoy the views! 

Tomorrow this is the bridge I’ll cross to start my journey…