April 19, 2023

I have a full day to look around St Jean before leaving tomorrow morning to start walking.  At breakfast I sat next to a man from Switzerland.  We had a nice conversation and he plans to leave tomorrow as well, I plan to get up earlier than him and skip the breakfast.

St Jean is a walled city, it was easy to locate existing portions of the wall and climb up to it.

I followed the trail markers to get a look at my way out of town tomorrow morning, I also found a posted sign with the distance to Santiago.  Picked up a sandwich for lunch.

There is a custom in Paris to leave a lock attached to a bridge for a loved one. But I found them here in St Jean as well, on the small bridge located on the Camino on the way west out of town.

It is my plan to attend the Pilgrim’s mass at the church tonight, but first I need to find the  Pilgrim Office to check in and get my first stamp in my credentials or pilgrim passport.  For a small town with so many people going to the same place, I had a hard time finding the office.  A Dutch man helped me at the office by filling out my credential and offering me a clam shell, for a donation, to attach to my pack.

He warned that the walk will be hard tomorrow, but the weather was clear and safe to cross the mountain on the walk to Roncesvalles in Spain.  I was also told that if I reach Roncesvalles and there is no room for the night, I would need to keep walking another 3 miles to find lodging.  I then decided to make a reservation to be safe at La Posada de Roncesvalles.  I had not planned on making reservations during my walk, but this seemed prudent.

I attended mass at the little Eglise Notre Dame Church.  There were probably 30 pilgrims and 6 locals that attended the mass that was said in French or Basque.  I speak neither languages, but I got the gist of how to follow along.  When mass was concluded, about 4 of the local ladies corralled the pilgrims to the front of the church so that the priest could bless us before we start the pilgrimage.  A French, German and  English speaking pilgrim were asked to come read a prewritten blessing in their own language.

This mass happens everyday as new pilgrims make ready to leave.  It was touching to think of how many thousands upon thousands of pilgrims have gone to mass here over the last 1,000 years.  I decided to light a candle and sit in silence before leaving.

I walked around to find dinner, I ran into another pilgrim that had walked from Lisbon to Santiago and then from Santiago to St Jean.  He had just completed an 800 mile walk and was surprised at how quiet St Jean was compared to Santiago.  He said Santiago was a party of people finishing their walk. St Jean is a bunch of people questioning what they have gotten themselves into.  I headed back to my room with food from a vending machine, packed my backpack and went to bed. I plan to leave at 6:30 am.