Another Day Walking

Tuesday was another day of walking, although mostly down rather than up. The village of Roncevaux (or Roncesvalles as the Spanish call it) was barely a city, just a few hotels for "pilgrims" walking the trail.

A church in Roncevaux where they hold daily masses for the pilgrims

We had a 14-mile walk on Tuesday, following the 15-mile walk on Monday. My feet were not happy.
I plodded alone for most of the day, taking in the beautiful scenery, trying to figure out whether I should say bonjour or buenos dias when I passed people or people passed me.

This is in kilometers, but I'm still glad I'm not going all the way to Santiago

The trees made a tunnel at the beginning

This cross was to ward off the witches in the "Oakwood of witches" the main route in the 16th century

I met a lot of interesting people on the trail. Some of them I'd seen several times, others were new. Everyone is convivial, sharing life stories and reasons for the trail.
This trail passed along several villages and people were eager to stop for refreshments, even within the first hour of hiking.

A welcome for everyone

The cows outside the fence always make me a little nervous, but these didn't plan to get up

The scenery continued to be beautiful

I continued plodding, only stopping to use the bathroom at one bar, putting me feet in the cold water at a stream that ran over the trail and warning people not to walk on the moss covered concrete. Some bloody footprints nearby showed where an earlier hiker had tried to walk across and fallen, slicing her foot.

Don't let the painted toenails fool you, there's a blister on one foot and something called hikers' rash on both feet.

Finally, an hour from our destination, I sat for some limonada at a trailer that served drinks.  The limonada was super sour, but I drank it and moved on.
The last hour was very difficult as it headed down and was all rocks.

I tried to walk in ruts to avoid the tumbling rocks

I had to choose each placement of my foot. Also, although I didn't get a picture, the rock striations ran vertical or diagonal to the trail, so that made it even harder to walk.

Wildflowers and mountains

This looks more like a witches wood. I love the sunlight in the trees

I was so happy to reach Zubiri.

Linda reached here first and said the bridge is called rabies bridge. People were said to walk their animals under the bridge to heal or prevent rabies. Hopefully, they have updated methods now. 

 I sat and had a glass of sangria while waiting for Maurice and Earl to arrive -- they stopped several times for beers or coffee.

I know that I need to get through the walk and off my feet. Every time I stop, the odds of me getting up again diminish.
The Hosteria de Zubiri is lovely and we ate dinner and breakfast here as well, which limits the amount we have to walk. We walk like very old people, slowly, creakily, holding onto walls and rails.
My knee is shot from the downhill yesterday. Sometimes it feels like it is out of place, catching on something. It's better this morning so hopefully will continue to heal as I take a day off hiking.
Rain is predicted all day, so I am grading papers and then driving with Linda to Pampelona for our next stop.

My Morning

So many things to blog about but I don't want to spend my vacation blogging, so I thought I'd share a few pictures before we continue our exploring.
I'm usually an early riser, but I've been lollygagging a bit -- it is vacation.
We're on a 6-hour time difference from home.
Apparently Grace was still awake at midnight and she texted me, assuming I'd be up at 6. I was awake, planning to get up to see the sunrise this morning -- I've missed it every other morning.
So after her text, I took a few pictures.

And then a few minutes later as the color continued to spread.

It has been confusing to me how the sun can rise in the east behind the mountains and set in the west behind the mountains, but a hike today affirmed that this little village is nestled with mountains all around.

This is a panorama photo on my iPhone. It goes about 180 degrees around the path that we were walking this morning, but I could have continued to take the picture all the way around to show the mountains surround us.
We walked for an hour this morning, about three miles.
And then I ran back to the apartment -- uphill, while Earl went to the boulangerie for our breakfast.
I haven't run much here because I have found flat areas to run. I don't mind running uphill, although I'm not in shape for it, but running downhill is a killer on me.
As we decide where we want to live in the future, I'm torn.
I love walking in the mountains, the views, the feeling of the mountains embracing me to their bosom, swaddling me.
But I wonder if my running years will be limited with so many downhills.
What do you think running friends?
No matter what I did or didn't do to my knees this morning, I got a lovely pastry for breakfast when my husband returned from the bakery.
I usually go for a chocolate croissant or a plain croissant, but he knows that I've been obsessed with cafe eclairs, so he got one for me for breakfast.

Yum.
Hope you're having a lovely day too.
We're off to another market.

Dreaming of France -- Carcassonne

Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
So, I'm in France now -- no longer just dreaming of France, I'm actually living it, although today, I'm exhausted with 27,000 steps on my Fitbit -- that's 11.5 miles.
We started Mother's Day with a hike in the Pyrenèes -- a six-mile walk into the mountains.

Then we had time to grab lunch and take a shower before meeting a blogging friend, Taste of France, and her husband in Carcassonne. They have two gorgeous 17th century apartments in the heart of Carcassonne on Airbnb, so if you're looking for a place to stay, I can highly recommend them.
Now, I had no idea that the city of Carcassonne and the huge fort and castle on the hill were two separate place but within walking distance of each other.
Our GPS wouldn't pick up the square where we planned to meet, so Earl and I just followed the signs to La Cité.

Wow. Doesn't it take your breath away?
Then we walked down into Carcassonne to meet my blogging friend.
The day had threatened rain, but it turned out to be quite warm. We sat in a beautiful square, where apparently the market is held on market days.
Then we checked out some places in the old city. If I got part of the story straight, Carcassonne was partially built by King Louis IX after the Cathars were thrown out of La Cité during the 12th century crusades. The people had no place to go so a city across the river was born.
Next we walked up to the fortress.

It reminded me a lot of Mont St. Michel. The medieval fort and castle is filled with touristy shops but hasn't become Disneyfied. Every step inside reminds you that ancient people lived there and made their home there.
It's all pretty amazing.
 

And then on the way back to our B&B, we had to stop the car for goats! What? 

Thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave you link below and visit each other's blogs to share your love for France.