Camino Baztan - Day 3

27 September 2023

Urdax to Elizondo - 19 kms

We had a lovely meal last night, all 12 of us pilgrims, in the old Monastery at Urdax. The French trio that we had crossed paths with earlier were there - only two of them are Basque - they are sisters, neither French nor Spanish. One of them explained that they grew up in a home where only Basque was spoken.

Another trio was made up of two French men and a chap who is French Canadian - he can speak English but it doesn't always come easy to him, then there were four Spaniards - a couple and two women walking together. It was a fun evening. 

This morning was a bit of a scramble as we all got ready to get on our way again with the different groups leaving at different times. We were on our way just after 8am.

Today was fabulous. The path took us straight up into the hills. Yesterday we climbed to 400m, today we climbed to 600m - both a warm up for tomorrow's climb. We then had a steep descent and found ourselves in the beautiful village of Amaiur where we had lunch at a hotel. Already at the hotel were the two French and Canadian men and just after we got there the other trio arrived, the Frenchman and the two Basque women - one of whom placed our order for us, speaking Basque. 

We walked through beautiful wooded areas, especially when up in the hills, with views out to farmland and little settlements from time to time, as well along roadsides and through villages. 

We had one nasty experience when we were challenged by four very aggressive dogs, one in particular came charging towards us. We kept our heads down and kept going and all was well in the end! And our snake encounters continued.

Coming down from the hills we entered the Baztan Valley, and are in Elizondo tonight, the main town in the area, with the Baztan River running through it. 

It was a hot humid day once again, the temperature was 30°C this afternoon. Cloud cover protected us from direct sun which helped us to manage. We're rather tired tonight though 😊

Setting off from Urdax, the Monastery and albergue in the background. 

The path took us straight out into the country. 

We were 763 kms from Santiago de Compostela at this stage. 

We had chestnuts, hazelnuts and acorns raining down on us.

We had a morning break in the woods - water and Espelette pepper chocolate. 

Making the most of a water fountain - they are few and far between. 

Coming into Amaiur. 

At the hotel in Amaiur. L-r: Guyon, French-Canadian; Jacques, French; Michel, French;  Marie-Claire and Françoise,  sisters, Basque; Jeff: Gérard, French - he jumped out the window for this photo. We had a fun time together. 

Gérard insisted that I take this photo. He said that the window perfectly framed the view.

Leaving Amaiur. 

...and back in the countryside. 

We walked through the small village of Urrasun.

This area used slabs of rock for fences.

It was near here that the dogs threatened us.

Another small settlement 

At last, walking into Elizondo.

We had a view of the Church of Santiago from our room. 

The Church of Santiago in Elizondo. Sadly it was locked. 

Elizondo 

An Elizondo house. Elizondo had a very strange feel about it - maybe it was because we had both read the Baztan trilogy before leaving home. The books certainly aren't my usual genre. I think the stories, which included Basque mythology,  biased our thoughts as far as Elizondo was concerned.  It may have been just because we were so tired after the day's walk too though. 

Camino Baztan - Day 2

26 September 2023

Espelette, France, to Urdax, Spain - 14 km

Au revoir France, merci pour tout.

Today we walked from France to Spain. We left our accommodation around 7.30 am and made our way directly to the boulangerie to get our daily fix of pain aux raisins. They are so good, there's nothing better than one straight from the oven. 

Just as we did when walking into Espelette, we found our own way to rejoin the camino. Once back on the camino the path took us up into the hills on dirt tracks then steeply down to Ainhoa - which is listed as one of France's most beautiful villages. It is beautiful but, like Espelette, it was bustling with tourists. 

It wasn't long after leaving Ainhoa that we were at the border of France and Spain. Unlike crossing into Spain on the Camino Frances, which is up in the mountains with nothing around for miles, this crossing was an absolute nightmare of massive shopping centres, service stations and restaurants. It was a real assault to the senses! I had read that the French cross the border to take advantage of the cheaper prices in Spain, hence all the businesses and service stations etc.  

We were pleased to leave it all behind and take the path through the trees to Urdax. Where we're staying in the albergue. The albergue is in the top floor of the 9th century San Salvador Monastery - a former pilgrims' hospital. Initially it looked as though we would be the only ones here tonight but another couple has just checked in. The family has grown to 12 of us here for the night. 

The hospitalero is going to provide our dinner and will leave breakfast things for us for the morning. Urdax is a very peaceful old village, perfect after the busyness in both Espelette and Ainhoa, and the shocking mess of buildings,  shops and traffic that stretched several kilometres from the border.

The weather was good for walking as, although it was still in the mid 20°s there was a lot of cloud cover so we didn't have the sun baking down on us.

We encountered several snakes on the Chemin du Piémont Pyrénéen and today Jeff had the first encounter with a snake on the  Camino Baztan when he nearly stood one. Fortunately, so far, they have moved away quickly. 

It seems so strange to be in Spain now. France was wonderful and I was just getting used to speaking in French, suddenly I have had to switch to Spanish. My French was limited enough but my Spanish is more so.

On our way to the boulangerie to buy our pain aux raisins before leaving Espelette 

As Espelette isn't on the camino route we had to find our own way out.

On the camino again. 

We passed patches of Espelette peppers again. 

We stopped a wee way out of Espelette to eat our pain aux raisins. We miss them already. 

Up into the hills. 

Some of the last of the French camino signs.

We tried chatting with these two but we couldn't understand their accents. 

Coming into Ainhoa. 

The Church of Notre-Dame of the Assumption in Ainhoa. 

Inside the church. 

Ainhoa was beautiful but so full of tourists. 

Leaving Ainhoa. 

Nearing the French-Spainish border.

The now unused French border post. 

I didn't take any photos of the mess of shops, cafés, service stations or traffic we had to walk through once we crossed the border. It was so lovely to be back in peaceful surroundings.

As soon as we entered Spain the yellow arrows appeared again.

On the way to Urdax. 

Waiting at the albergue entrance of the old Monastery for the hospitalero to arrive to check us in. 

Looking down to thr inner courtyard of the Monastery from the albergue windows on the top floor. 

The Monastery 

A couple of photos of Urdax.