May 25th (from memory)
It was raining lightly when I arrived by taxi at 4 am in the sleeping village of St. Jean, France from Pomploma, Spain. I stayed dry by hovering under small porch overhangs on the fronts of buildings. At 5 am I texted Jenn and she came out to let me inside. The owner also came out to greet me and I enjoyed a wonderful breakfest with all the guests. As soon as the Pilgrim's office accross the street opened, we took a break and went over to register. Soon we were officially registered to start our 500 mile camino to Santiago on the other side of Spain.
Back to the albergue to pick up our backpacks. We had agreed we would use baggage transportation every day so off we went with our small backpacks up the very steep mountain for 5 miles to our first albergue, Orrisson. Jenn became the leader of the group that seemed to form behind us. As she proceeded to find an unusual road or path for our group to enjoy. It seemed to stretch on and on further than the 5 miles we'd planned. She also had us walking backwards to stretch the fronts of our legs every so often. Jenn kept me going by offering me small pieces of Meringue Pastry, which she had purchased in Sant Jean yesterday. She continued to do this throughout our trip on the long hills; sometimes ice-cream, popsicles, and various sweets to get me up the very steep hills. It was a beautitul day and everyone greeted us when we arrived. That night at dinner we each shared our story about who we were and why were we were walking the camino. They made a huge issue about it being my third camino and nearing the age of 86.
A few of the men said that I had beat them walking up the hill today. We made many new friends from around the world that night. Tomorrow we begin the day long walk across the Piernese mountains into Spain.
Soon we were tucked into our bunk beds.... yes .... we are in albergues most nights and when two people arrived together; one of them has to take the top bunk. Jenn will generally do the honors for us as they must feel it is not safe to put me up there! When I traveled in Europe with my twin sister at the age of 70... I was the designaed top bunk girl!
