Patricia: request Arles- Puenta de la Reina route

[Crawley, Jeffrey]

Sorry, disagree entirely.  Walking up to Hunnto (or any one of a dozen different spellings) and seeing eagles soaring BELOW you is amazing.
 
I arrived at the highest point in the company of a 70 year old Belgian guy and all we could do was grin stupidly and shake hands.
 
Reading Ben Nimmo's book Pilgrim Snail afterwards I could identify totally with the overweight Canadien who huffed and puffed his way to the top, grumbling in Joual all the way but he DID it.
 
I'll admit you need to take your time - the Accueil in SJPP recommend 1hr45 to get to Hunnto and I only took 1hr20 even though I wasn't in the greatest of shape. And to do it soon after a west to east flight across the Atlantic smacks of innocence or masochism.
 
I'm not sure why anybody should consider the choice of SJPP as perverse, I think a lot of people like to there because the Camino is seen essentially as a Spanish journey and there is something about crossing a frontier on foot rather than plopping down inside the borders by air or bus or train.
 
One thing for sure, after 3 or 4 days in the mountains you enter the noise and bustle of Pamplona and wonder how anybody can live in a city!
 
Personally I would have said O'Cebriero was worse but then I attacked that in the pouring rain with acute tendonitis in the left leg whereas Roncesvalles was achieved in autumnal sunshine.
 
Chacun a son gout si tu le prefere en francais.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: E. O. Pederson [mailto:eldorpaHOTMAIL.COM]



"80 % des pèlerins passant à Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port commencent là leur pèlerinage, ce qui est une aberration, l'étape de Roncevaux par la montagne étant la plus difficile du chemin. On en parle peu, mais le mauvais temps y est fréquent, on peut y errer pendant des heures, voire même y mourir."

St. Jean is the worst possible place to begin  . . .  

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.oakapple.net/pipermail/gocamino/attachments/20030523/2284652a/attachment.htm