4. Paris to St Jean and Roncesvalles

We have arrived in St Jean Pied de Port after travelling 7 hours by train from Paris. We spent a few days in Paris to rest and get over our jet lag.  Resting in Paris however is difficult with all the wonderful Parisienne sites beckoning us. We did manage to explore the Latin Quarter, Montmarte area, the Jardin Renoir, Sacre Cour, Musee Rodin, and other icons that we just couldn't resist.  We have rationalised our luggage further but Barry has insisted on carrying a mini electric kettle to feed his caffine addiction!  We are all benefitting from this however and are enjoying the odd cuppa and pain au chocolate.  The train journey was wonderful coming through the Pyrenees with soaring mountains covered in Birch forests on each side, dotted with white washed French farm houses and a fast running river alongside us. The train was full of pilgrims.  The atmosphere was exciting, all walking along together looking for our accommodation.  All full of anticipation, hopes and expectations.  All shapes and sizes, all different accents. Lots of Americans (Martin Sheen has a lot to answer for).

We had a Pilgrims rustic dinner, 3 courses for 12 Euro all washed down with strong coffee and a cheap bottle of red.  The Mediaeval village is full of narrow, cobbled, steep roads and ancient buildings. St Jean Pied de Port literally means St Jean At the Foot of the Pass.
The original town which is built on the River Nive was destroyed by Richard the Lionheart. During the French religious wars there was a bloody battle between Catholics and Protestants. You can still see the cities walls and walk along the ramparts next to our hotel.

After a good night's sleep we headed off to the pilgrim's office to get our Camino Passport and were all thrilled to get our first stamp as we now realised the journey was about to begin. 

We did a bit of shopping then sat for a while waiting for our taxi to Roncesvalles. We were still talking about whether or not we could/should have ridden this first leg but after 10 minutes up the mountain in the cab we all realised what a good decision it was not to ride. It was a VERY steep climb and when we passed only five cyclists en route we could feel their pain. So we arrived very fresh in Roncesvalles and booked into this amazing 'hotel'. Having coffee next door we chatted to an obviously experienced cyclist from USA who was about our age and had started to ride up from St Jean but found it much too tough and hopped in a cab.So we again felt quite happy to have done the same.
Roncesvalles is centred around a large monastery which has been extensively renovated and our accomodation is superb. The monastery has several churches which date back to the 13th century - the main one is the Iglesia de la Colegiata de Santa Maria which is Gothic style and it contains a number of objects including Charlemagne's chess board. This was the scene of the famous Battle of Roncesvalles where in 778 the rearguard of Charlemagne's army was attacked and defeated by a Basque force. There was once a coven of witches living in the forest and nine people were burnt at the stake by the inquisition.
Today we tried out the bikes and panniers and rode out through a town called Burguette that features in Earnest Hemingways novel The Sun Also Rises. We mistakenly thought we would buy some lunch along the way, only to discover that there was nowhere to buy anything and by 2pm ending up stopping and eating some wild blackberries and all of Jenny's dates which was the only food we had. We were also getting short of water so filled our bottles in the stream next to the path. Tomorrow we will stock up before we go. We had a pilgrim's dinner at the pub next door - soup, pork loin with chips, yoghurt, and a free bottle of wine for $13 each. These pilgrim dinners feature at most places along the Camino - they are basic but well priced.
So tomorrow is the big day - our first leg of a 790 km ride to Santiago de Compestela.