It was around1:30 and we hadn't eaten yet so this was our lunch stop, in the rain. 

This was at the top of one of our major hills. Rémi is trying to catch his breath and Monique was putting every effort in those last steps. Unfortunately, we still had lots of climbing and I did not have the energy to take out my camera for more pictures, plus the rain was really coming down.

We were quick to take our showers, we decided to get some clothes washed, and we did some stretching. Our shoulders are amazingly sore, so it was massage time. We are presently sitting in the restaurant, drinking sangrias, and chatting. We already ate our pilgrim suppers. I had a veggie lasagna and the rest had pork loin and fries with our bottle of wine.  Monique and I and possibly the boys will go to the pilgrim mass at 8 pm, and then off to bed.  Not sure when the next post will be as Internet connection is not reliable. 

Saint-Jean-Pied-de -Port to Roncesvalles- this hike was 29 km through the valleys. We climbed 1400m and came down 500m. this town is at 950m. The day started at 7am and we arrived at our destination just after 3 pm. It was cloudy but unfortunately it started raining around noon and it is still raining now at 7pm. The walk up the steep hills was an amazing challenge, probably the biggest physically for us. More to come, I'm sure. Here are a few pictures of the scenery.

The last picture was a very steep climb before arriving in Valcarlos.

It is definitely sheep country in the mountains.

Monique met a really cute friend. He was hoping for some food. Sorry, everything we are carrying is for us.

We left Bordeaux on Sunday headed for Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We changed trains in Bayonne where these pictures were taken. The railroad is being repaired so we need to take a bus for the last 45 minutes to SSPP. We arrived around 4pm. SSPP is a beautiful town, very picturesque. The bus load of people all had the same destination- l'accueil des pélerins. We sign in as pilgrims, get our passports, information needed for our trek and off we go to find a place to stay. Luckily the first albergue had beds available. We signed in, paid, and found our rooms. There were 5 sets of bunk beds in the room. We ended up being 5 women and 5 men.

These pictures were taken during our walk to the citadelle.  The next pictures are of the town and our drinks before our supper.

The "patisseries and chocolateries" in a little boutique. We are faced with this on a daily basis. Everything looks so yummy, especially in Ron's eyes. He's had his chocolate fix at least once a day.

Visited the local market for the second day. What a busy place on Saturday.

We then walked over to the train station to meet Rémi and Monique. Their train came in around 12:45. After booking into the hotel and taking their bags to their room. ( they ended up sharing a room as Monique booked the wrong day the hotel was fully booked) and luckily the room has two single beds, but a very tiny room

.

We decided to buy bread, cheese, strawberries, olives, hummus,and two bottles of wine to eat in because we found a great Asian restaurant and ate Pad Thai for lunch around 2 pm therefore we didn't need a major meal for supper. We will have an early evening as we are taking the train to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the morning. We have about a three hour train ride on a normal day, unfortunately there is construction on one of our lines tomorrow so we will have to hop on a bus for the last leg of the journey. Leaving Bordeaux. It been a great 4 days. Good night all.

St. André church. Picture taken from the tower. 

More pictures from the tower. We walked 233 steps in a narrow, windy staircase to see Bordeaux from high above. We were lucky as the sun was out this morning. It was cooler and misty this afternoon.

We visited the wine region of Saint Emillion this afternoon. This was our first stop: le Château Pressac. Our guide explained the types of wine made here and showed us the barrels, the vats, and the wine. We tasted three different a wines.  

We visited the medieval town of Saint Emillion. Cobble stone walkways and very hilly to get around.  

We visited one smaller winery called Laniote. The owner gave the tour. He was very intertaining and showed us magic tricks.

This is the stone bridge crossing the Garonne river. The river cruises do not start until April, so no sightseeing down the river.

We've walked Bordeaux and have seen lots of beautiful churches which will hopefully be posted later. Having technical difficulties. 

Today we also went to the wine and trade museum. Interesting history. 88% of the wine produced in Bordeaux is red wine. We are currently drinking Côtes du Rhone wine as I complete this blog and it is quite yummy. It is being complemented by Camembert cheese and a baguette. This is supper as we had a nice lunch of lasagna for Ron and a scallop risotto for me. 

Tomorrow we are off to the wine region of Saint Emillion. We are taking a tour as not all of the wineries are open this time of year and we are guaranteed to visit those that are.

Good night.

Arrived in Bordeaux at 11:30 this morning. Nodded off a few times during the flight but not enough to be ready to spend the day visiting. We took a shuttle to the city center and then walked to our hotel in 10 minutes. Wouldn't you know it, the Tourist Info center was closed today. We got our room and luckily got a map from the receptionist. We found another tourist bureau and headed to it. We booked a wine tour for Thursday, from 2 to 7pm. We will visit two chateaux in the St. Emilion region. (Some of our friends will be very jealous, right Patrice and Annette)? We will do some wine tasting, visit the wineries and finally walk through a medieval town. Can't wait. We had an early supper compared to the French, but we were hungry and tired. Back in our room now to relax and have an early sleep to be ready to see the sights again tomorrow. Bordeaux is a Unesco Heritage sight so it has many old buildings, churches and it's university is also well known.
Sorry, no pictures today as they are struggling to download. Hopefully tomorrow. I will post some on Facebbok.

Arrived in Montreal. Uneventful flight. Guess who ordered a coffee,  a tomato juice and a ginger ale. Time for a beer and a bite. Flight to Paris leaves in 1h20 minutes.

Rémi and Ron each bought a neck pillow for the trip. I already had mine.

Talk to you in Paris.

We are at the airport, ready to start our adventure. Our backpacks are filled with our hiking gear. First stop Montreal!

Buen Camino. Our group is putting in the final preparations for our departure for France. Rémi, Ron, and I leave Tuesday, the 24th from Moncton. We fly to Montreal and then Paris. Rémi will spend 3 days exploring Paris while Ron and I will make our way to Bordeaux. We plan on doing some wine tasting in this rich wine region. Monique will arrive in Paris on the 27th and will hang out with Rémi for the day. On the 28th they will hop on a train for Bordeaux. We will spend the remainder of the day visiting Bordeaux. On the 29th, we board the train for Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We will go to the Pilgrim's office to get our passports and coquille (shell). We will then find an albergue ( refuge or hostel) for the night. Weather permitting, we will head out early on Monday, the 30th, to begin our adventure. At the office, they will tell us whether the mountain trail is open for walking. If they have had as much snow as we have, we will be forced to take the lower route through the valley.
Two more sleeps. Stay tuned for more!

9 days to go

As I sit here watching the snow swirl around outside my windows, I'm realizing that in 9 days we will be in Europe and away from this never ending winter. Our back packs are getting pretty full so we must be ready. Physically, only time will tell whether our bodies will survive the 25 km on average that we will be trekking. We look forward to starting this challenge and amazing adventure together and separately as it is a very personal journey.

Here are Ron, Camilla, and André snowshoeing in Kouchibouguac. What a great day we had, but now, we are ready to walk. Camilla will be leaving in April to conquer a longer section of the Compostelle. 

In two weeks Ron, Remi, Monique, and I will be heading to Spain to start walking the Camino de Compostella.  Ron, Remi, and I are leaving Moncton on March 24. Remi will spend 3 days in Paris and Ron and I will head to Bordeaux to tour the vineyards. Monique will arrive in Paris on March 27th.  Remi and Monique will join us in Bordeaux on March 28 and we will make our way to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on March 29 and prepare to start our pilgrimage on March 30. We are excited but also nervous as we start the journey that we starting talking about last summer.  Hopefully we will be well prepared for this trek.  I will try to update this blog on a daily basis, but it will depend on our internet access as we move along the trail.
Bye for now.