Day 8 July 19 2016 St. Jean Pied De Port to Esterencuby
We finally resumed our GR10 hike.
Sometimes life exhausts you in one way or another. That was how I felt at the beginning of this trip. The train took us from Paris Gare d’Austerlitz to Bayonne in a lulling, overnight ride, and that’s something we never do back home. I was looking forward to the long ride, watching the sun set and rose again.
We had two-hour layover at Bayonne before catching the Aquitaine local train to Sainte Jean Pied De Port, just enough time for a nice visit to the St. Mary’s Cathedral, a Romanesque cathedral whose construction spanned over 300 years since the 13th century. The awe inspiring twin spires were not completed until the 19th century. The church is nestled among the elegant Basque houses with weather-enduring wooden beams and shutters.
We arrived in St Jean Pied De Port in a blazing sun and probably record temperature. Yet, nothing dampened the enthusiasm of Camino walkers. I would like to join them one day, but for now, we headed the opposite direction towards GR10.
Day one was an easy, pleasant walk from St Jean Pied De Port to Esterencuby through tiny villages and rolling hills. The familiar scenery of the white washed house, bright red roof, and gentle slope covered in lush greens, once again captivated us. The hot wind blew hard in unrelenting sun. It didn’t matter. Our legs were fresh and bouncy. We arrived at Esterencuby feeling just warmed up. Along the way, we encountered 4-5 walkers. None of them except us stayed at Esterencuby, a tiny town with a couple of restaurants, a gite and a hotel along a beautiful creek. While planning the trip, I tried in vain to find accommodation between Esterencuby and Iraty in order to break up the 16 mile, +2000 meter/-1000 meter hike on the following day. I could not find anything until I discovered the secret from fellow travelers: looking outside the English-speaking world! Apparently, there is a place called Kaskaleta, which is an hour or so further east from Esterencuby, and appeared to be the perfect place to end the day. Well, it was too late for us as we booked the hotel in Esterencuby long ago! So we relaxed and enjoyed a dinner while we could. The food from the hotel was ok and the only worthy dish to me was the interesting Basque vegetable soup. The name was somewhat misleading as it was by no means vegetarian. Yes, fresh vegetables were hard to come by on these trails; but it was the rich, full flavor of cured meat in the soup that satisfied a hiker’s appetite.