Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Bayonne

23 September 2023

We left our accommodation in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and walked to the railway station for our 9.38 am trip to Bayonne. We enjoyed seeing the countryside on the way but rain on the windows did obscure it somewhat.

Our first impression of Bayonne is that it's well worth visiting. It is alive with people and it's fascinating to see the narrow streets and old buildings. All we can say is Wow!

The drizzly rain cleared soon after we arrived in Bayonne and it wasn't long before the clouds rolled away and the temperature rose.

Leaving Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port 

The railway station with its pilgrim sculpture.

Random shot from the train. 

...and another. 

The Ustaritz Station. We'll be walking through Ustaritz in a couple of days. 

An hour after leaving Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port we were in Bayonne!

Walking across the Adour River, on our way from the railway station to our accommodation. 

First glimpse of the cathedral spires. 

After checking in at our accommodation we went straight to the cathedral. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Sainte Marie.

The main alter.

The colours and detail is just amazing. 

The many paintings are massive. This one shows Mary receiving her lessons. She is writing on parchment while her mother Ann and Zacharias look on.

There are many brilliant stained glass windows. 

It's almost impossible to get a good photo of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Sainte Marie as it is so built in - plus some of it is behind scaffolding. 

The main entrance. 

A closeup of some of the entrance detail. 

Back to wandering around the streets. 

The red door on the right is the entrance to our accommodation. 

Our accommodation is somehow fitted into a corner of the cathedral complex - I took these photos just a few metres from our doorway. 

The cathedral spired are easily spotted when walking around the streets. 

Alice Springs 

Otago Rugby

Pauline 

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.