Date: Tue 7th May

How fitting to Begin the Camino Frances from Paris! Following in the footsteps of fellow Pilgrims over many many centuries we symbolically visited the tower of St Jacques where many started out from.

At 4:30am, it was up and out! Final pack and down to the Metro to catch a couple of connecting trains before arrive at Gare Montparnasse for our train destined to Bayonne! (We were getting quite proficient at catching Paris Trains!)

Now this is the way to travel! Fast and Comfortable (No comments please Mark!) A stop at Bordeaux for another connection came with a small surprise of sharing a train compartment with a couple from Adelaide on their way to San Sebastian. Some hours later we arrived at a town called Bayonne for a 2Hr stop over before the slow train to St-Jean-Pied-De-Port (SJPDP).

2 Hrs gave us time to find lunch (more croissants! How can one resist when a Chocolate croissant stares you in the face with a price tag of €0.90 saying “eat me”!

Back on the train we finally reach SJPDP, our starting point for the Camino! A very small but picturesque town just like everything we had already seen and read about. No disappointments!

Picked up our official pilgrims passports and explored the township.

Enjoyed the hospitality of Marie Josée and shared both an evening meal and breakfast with 3 Frenchmen enjoying the countryside on motorcycles and a Californian who will also be walking the Camino.

It’s now time to pack the backpacks and take our first real steps on the Camino.

The Journey begins! (or continues?)

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