1. Tag Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port near Roncesvalles

Rustling, zippers, annoying noise....
A Korean daypack tourist thinks she has to completely empty her suitcase and re-sort it in her room shortly after 6am....
So my first day of pilgrimage begins a little earlier than I had hoped. But surprisingly, I slept pretty well in the six-person room.
Well, then I get up and go have breakfast. There, two other pilgrims asked me if I had already reserved a bed for the evening, because it seems to be the trend at the moment to fly from Asia, walk a few kilometers and then be driven to the next place by a bus full of tourists. Including luggage transport, of course (ah, that's why the Korean woman in our room has a suitcase and only a small backpack). These groups then naturally block many beds in the hostels due to the sheer number of people, so that it becomes tight for the actual pilgrims.
But I have no idea how far I will make it. Then I got ready and set off at 7:30 a.m.

I start at a pretty good pace, as I have a lot ahead of me and I want to get far before it gets really warm.
In 2 hours and 10 minutes I reached the Orisson refuge. There I took my first break and enjoyed the view over the valley and the first mountains.
The 30 degree mark has already been broken. It is sweltering and as I run the sweat runs down my whole body.
I notice that I feel friction on my right heel. I didn't tie the shoe properly. That will definitely cause a blister.
I didn't feel like having much of a conversation all morning, so I went alone. At around 11am my left calf and the back of my right thigh started to ache and I had slight cramps until the end of the day.
When I slowed down, I had my first conversation with Jean-Pierre from Frongreisch. He has been running for five days and is therefore already going pretty fast. A little later, Marc from Australia accompanied me for a longer period of time because he wanted to improve his Spanish and we had a long conversation in Spanish.
By now I was really exhausted. I wondered how much longer I could keep going, because after every peak there was an even higher mountain waiting... in total I was uphill for 5 1/2 hours. Without my poles it would have been a pretty difficult undertaking.
At some point I got talking to Viki from Valencia. Our motivation for the walk is pretty similar and so we talked about it for a long time. When it finally became flat and then went downhill for the last two hours as a nice change, that motivated me and I reached the monastery in Roncesvalles at 3:50 p.m. 🙏

The monastery is looked after by Dutch "hospitaleros". Hospitaleros are mostly volunteers who take care of everything that goes on in the hostels. I was assigned a bed in one of the three dormitories. There is one on each floor. On the first two levels there are 90 bunk beds right next to each other and luckily for me on the third floor there are only single beds, two of which are always separated by wooden structures like in a small separate room. But the steps up to the top were torture.

Finally a shower. I felt like I was in the shower for half an hour. It felt so good after this extremely exhausting day. But I forgot my towel on the bed 🤦🏽
But my "roommate" Ryan (from the USA) is standing in front of the shower and quickly gets me the towel.
When he came out of the shower he asked, quite annoyed, if anyone had found some money? Like $300?
He has a big hole in his trouser pocket and must have lost the money somewhere along the way. And that on the first day...

By the way, I actually have two blisters. One on my left heel and one on my right thumb from my walking stick. I also have a pretty bad sunburn, but funnily enough, it's only on my left side because the sun was only on my left side for most of the day. It looks pretty strange. Sunburn on my right leg, but only on the inside 🤣

After a bit of rest, I looked around the monastery and the grounds and had something to eat. I was extremely hungry.
Dinner was then at 7pm.
Pasta as a starter, half a chicken with fries and an ice cream.

Conclusion of the day: drank almost 7l and only went to the toilet twice...

Tomorrow I have to manage at least 2.7km to the next hostel. The rest is open and I will decide spontaneously 🤣

Now I'm lying in bed at 8:30 p.m. and saying it's my pleasure and see you tomorrow. 🙏

Cost:

Accommodation 20€ (including breakfast)
Food on the way 23€
Dinner 13€