Ok so it’s never going to make the Oscars but this was an interesting start to El Camino! Keep reading. We caught the bus from Pamplona to St Jean Pied de Port – a delightful Basque town in south west France, with all the French Provincial charm you could want or imagine. Cobblestone streets and imposing city gates, a breathtaking gothic church, and charming little shops selling the most exquisite Basque materials, espadrilles and crafts.

We began our Camino adventure staying at the Casa Beilari, a hostel run by the gracious Josef and his wife Jaqueline. Josef welcomed us and the 20 other guests as family, and ensured we understood what it means to be a Camino family. We celebrated by gathering together to share an aperitiv and stories of ourselves.

Then Josef asked us – if you were going to make a film about your Camino, what would it be called. And so, “Tania and the Ugliest Shoes in the World Go On An Adventure” was conceived.  Spent the afternoon meandering through the township, bought a few souvenirs I will ship home later, shared a wonderful vegetarian meal with our new Camino Family (cooked by Josef and his sister!), and went to bed excited and a little worried about the day ahead.

We were woken by some beautiful singing at 6am the next morning. After our communal breakfast and a few other things I had to do, we were on our way!

Everyone says the route to Roncesvalles is the toughest of all the Camino. On advice from the Australian Pilgrims on the Camino Santiago de Compostela Facebook forum, we decided to split it into two days and stop at Orisson to break up the journey. I’m so glad we did. The first 8km to Orisson was vertical and spectacular and tough. But we arrived in good time (2.5 hours) and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and meeting other pilgrims. Even saw a shepherd and his herd pass by!

A great communal meal of soup, roast chicken and traditional basque cake and we were off to bed in our dorms.

The next morning we woke to the most beautiful sunrise above the clouds.

The next day to Roncesvalles (19km) was even tougher. Straight up, straight down – with the peak at 1400m. The down hill part was more difficult than I was expecting and really tough on thighs and knees. At one point I did mutter “I had better have a butt like Elle McPherson after this trip…”! Of course the young and fitter pilgrims bounded ahead but I was just going at my own pace and made it to Roncesvalles by 2pm.  It was a spectacular walk over the Pyrenees. I felt like being Maria and singing all the songs from the Sound of Music.