Day 1 - Camino Frances - St Jean Pied de Port to Valcarlos

Today I walked from St Jean Pied de Port to Valcarlos. After meeting other pilgrims on the same road, we walked together for most of the day and laughed our way through the torrential rain and thunderstorms. It was the loudest thunder I have ever heard! The 12km leg took us 4 hours but that included sheltering during the heaviest part of the downpour. Valcarlos is not the common route during the summer months but we all had something in common. Unable to get a bed on the Napoleon route we had all decided that 26km in dodgy weather may compromise our ongoing health and wellbeing and so we had all chosen the ‘easier’ (and safer for us) option. There are lots of pilgrims staying in Valcarlos tonight! Tomorrow we will walk 13km gaining about 600m in elevation ending in Roncesvalles.