After the war cancelled the flight through Qatar, I didn’t think I would be making the journey to London and Europe this year. Gayle decided not to renegotiate the trip we had planned and stayed home. Emily was very disappointed. I then   organised a flight through China and touched down in London last Tuesday. After a 5 minute stint through customs, I waited half an hour for my luggage. I normally don’t have luggage in the hold of the aeroplane, as I just carry a backpack. Because the family had heaps of goodies for Emily, our daughter who lives in London, I dragged the dreaded suit case. Then came the first shock. Sixteen quid for a forty minute train ride to Clapham Junction in London. I arrived at Emily’s about 9 am. We had a great time hanging out ,and Thursday night I was very proud to see her at work at a function raising money for Just a drop, a very important organisation,who she works for, raising money for the poor people that have no running water.  On Friday after a teary farewell, I caught a train back to gatwick airport and stayed at a local hotel, as I had a 6 am flight to Biarritz in France near the Pyrenees mountains. By now my body clock is not far from being engaged with the local time. I went to a local Italian restaurant and ate the best lasagne and in bed by 8 as I had to get up at 3 in the morning to walk the 3 kms back to the airport. Why would I walk you ask?don’t trust cabs that time of the morning. When I almost arrived at the airport in pitch darkness, I thought I was trapped by a locked gate. I felt a bit tense at that stage wondering whether I would make it to the airport in time. Luckily a security guard happened to be on his round and assisted me to safely find my way. Whilst waiting for my flight, I met some english folks also on their way to St Jean pied de porte and funnily enough we were seated next to each other. Incredible coincidence. We went to SJPDP together and finished the first day by walking the first eight kilometres. There is  good reason for this, as otherwise tomorrow  would have been 28 kms. The Pyrenees are very beautiful, but also very cruel. The bulk of this short walk is a steep uphill battle. Even under a cloudy sky, and temperatures of around 14 degrees celcius, my shirt was saturated with sweat by the time we reached Orrison, out in the middle of nowhere. There is one albergue here. Nothing else. At 3 pm after checking in, I had a shower and zonked out for at least two hours. Apart from the hickup near the airport this morning, it has been one incredible day. Meeting Helen and Mark from Bristol, and Amy, husband Jason, and their good friend Jeff, I felt the camino has already provided me with a brand new family. Beun camino.

Photo of my new shoes,and Jason, Amy and me having a well deserved rest.