St. Jean Pied de-port

entrance to st. jean pied de-port
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Arrived in Barritz on time and had to hurry to catch my train in Bayonne.  I didn´t realize that i´d have to take a taxi to get there.  I decided to ask other people who were waiting for a cab to see if they´d be willing to split one. Of course the first ladies i ask are Irish and of course they were willing to split one with me.

The train to St. Jean was pleasant, though it was raining.  I was getting a little worried for the next day in the mountains.  As we got close to St. Jean i saw a huge set of mountains and uttered "oh crap" to myself...only i didn´t say "crap".

Their were other pilgrims on the train so we all scurried in the rain to the town.  I just followed a bunch of Germans into town.  We found our way to the Pilgrim office where we received our pilgrim passports.  A volunter from the office explained to each pilgrim individually how to get on the trail and how to navigate through the mountains.  It was a small room and there were about 8 soaking pilgrims looking for answers.  A few tables were set up to accomodate folks who spoke Spanish, English, and French.  Then we went across the street to the only available hostel beds.  (Note: the pilgrim hostels are referred to as "refugios" or "albergues" on the trail).  The place was good enough but smelled like smoke and dogs, the owner was crazy, and there was no dinner or breakfast.  She yelled at us the next morning for getting up too early and ordered us back into our beds.  Of course i refused with a smile, packing my belongings and exiting the dog house to begin the journey.