Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port - Rest day

22 September 2023

We spent the day quietly exploring, and enjoying, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The whole town appeared to be alive with new pilgrims full of  nervous excitement, and intermixed with them were the tourists. 

It rained on and off all day and it was cooler than we were used to, around 17°C. Quite a drop from the 37°C we experienced when we arrived in Paris, and even the 28° and high humidity we had while walking the Chemin du Piémont Pyrénéen. 

We went to Mass again in the evening and received another pilgrim blessing for good measure. The priest really enjoys interacting with everyone and after the blessing his message was to eat well, sleep well, and walk well.

Some snaps taken during the day:

Rue de la Citadelle 

I loved this plant. Many of the houses had it at their entrances. 

We went for a walk up the lane beside the church. 

The district is called  Eyheraberry. So beautiful and peaceful.

This chap was enjoying the walk too.

We're well and truly in the Basque country. The houses have either red shutters,  like this one, or green. Long gone are the muted earthy colours of the French buildings we saw at the early part of our walk. 

Back in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port 

We thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the different mixes in this shop.

...and all we bought was some crystallised ginger - the best crystallised ginger I've ever had. 

We went for a walk around the top of the old town walls. 

...from there we looked down into people's backyards. 

An arrow slot in the wall.

We finished our walk back at the church.

I took this photo on our way back to our accommodation. After Mass and the pilgrim blessing we had a fabulous Basque meal in one of the many restaurants - well, Father did tell us to eat well. A great way to finish our day in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.