During the decension from the Pyrenees, we crossed the border into Spain. "Bon Jour" becomes "Buen Camino" not only acknowledging the language change from French to Spanish but also our evolution into Peregrinos (Pilgrims). The Virgin Mary greets us in what seemed like all the hardest places, and we were able to spend the night in an old Monastery at Roncesvalles. This Monastery has been providing shelter and meals to weary pilgrims for centuries after the cross over the Pyrenees. We went to Mass and received our Blessing for the journey. As the priest raised his hands in the ancient cathedral over my family, I knew that he was providing protection greater than anything North Face or Marmot could sell.
The Camino is marked well with seashells, yellow arrows, and signs. Spain is not interested in lost pilgrims, and neither are my feet. We still need to stay alert to directions, and since I gave my phone away (my burden) to a sweet lady back in France, google maps aren't gonna get us there. This has been a great way to teach the girls about maps and for all of us to work on our Spanish. It has also been kind of fun on the trail when your mind needs to think of something other than your feet. We count, review colors, and greetings all in Spanish as we chug along. Future conjugation will come next week.
The history our girls are learning about, and living is amazing. Our path to Pamplona is not just one that was walked by Pilgrims. It is also referred to as Napoleon's route- his preferred path when he invaded Spain in his quest for conquering the world. Charlotte loved to connect those monuments we previously saw in Paris, with the people that he terrorized to receive that glory. Charlemagne also preferred this route, when he defeated the Moors and then got greedy and messed with Pamplona. However this Basque region is tough and didn't let Napoleon stay very long, they also took out the rear of Charlemagne's army with boulders as he raced back to Paris. So we had a quick family meeting and decided against our world domination.
With 65 kilometers behind us and a long way ahead, we hiked into Pamplona- ready to run with some Bulls!
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