What a day!

We had planned a short day of walking but when we arrived at our destination at Orisson before 10 AM we decided to continue on. We stayed at the cafe in Orisson long enough to eat a tortilla (a slice of a potato and ham pie) and have a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. We recognized people we had met before and had a great time meeting new people.  We headed out knowing the next town was Roncesvaux (Fr.)/Roncesvalles (Sp)/Orreaga (Basque) and it would be a 20 km hike over the French Pyrenees.  We understood that the terrain would be challenging, arguably the most difficult of the whole Camino,  but we underestimated the amount of time it would take to walk it. We hiked through light rain and light snow and thunder and more rain and cold wind. We wore many layers to stay warm. We shared a pair of gloves for a while until socks were put into use as mittens! We talked with folks from WA, MT, SD, Toronto, Ireland and had a wonderful day, despite the mountain weather and the fog that moved in and out. We took lots of pictures because the views were astounding,  and because we needed to stop and rest sometimes  (and taking pictures was our excuse). There was so much to see including wildflowers, birds and icy trees. HOWEVER,  the day wore on and we got tired. There was only one thing to do- keep walking! If we thought going up was bad, going down (while exhausted ) was treacherous.  There were amazing sights, like the beech tree forest, but we were calculating how much longer we had to walk! We left France and entered Spain.

An interesting thing- in the middle of all of this mountain trekking a man appeared selling snacks. For days I felt like the French had an aversion to fruit. I desperately wanted a banana. Think potassium. ..and leg cramps.  Avez vous bananas? No was the answer I  kept getting. And there, in the middle of the Pyrenees, was a man selling bananas. I bought two and ate them immediately. I could hardly believe it.

We finally finished the hike, but that's not the end of the story. But now  it's 11:30 PM and we have to put on our packs again tomorrow for more walking, so we need to sleep.