Arrival – Edmonton to St. Jean Pied-de-Port

Tomorrow I begin walking the Camino de Santiago (The Way of Saint James) – a pilgrimage across Spain to Santiago, where it is said that the remains of Saint James are buried. Each year hundreds of thousands of people walk the Camino de Santiago – some for religious/spiritual reasons, but many others for personal reasons. I will be walking the Camino Frances (The French Way), which is the most popular route to Santiago. This route often begins in St. Jean Pied-de-Port, France, and then spans approximately 800 kilometers across northern Spain before reaching Santiago.

I don’t know if I could say why I decided to walk 800 kilometers across northern Spain. I heard about the Camino de Santiago through the movie “The Way“ and felt compelled to make the journey myself. I decided that I would walk the Camino de Santiago after completing my degree. At the time of planning my trip, I was unsure where life would take me after graduation, and it seemed like a fitting time to take a month to myself and walk across an entire country.

I still am not sure what exactly I have gotten myself into, but I have made it to France! The adventure is seeming surreal so far.

Getting to St. Jean Pied-de-Port was a journey all on its own. It involved a flight from Edmonton to Toronto, another from Toronto to Paris, a 7-hour layover in the Paris airport, a 4-hour train to Bordeaux, then a 1.5-hour train to Bayonne where I spent the night before catching a bus and finally arriving in St. Jean Pied-de-Port this morning.

As I repacked my bag in my hotel room in Bayonne this morning, I started questioning whether this pilgrimage of mine was a good idea. I was already tired and I hadn’t even begun any walking. I was enjoying the quiet of a hotel room, with a comfy bed and a shower. Sleep would have been a kind graduation gift to myself, but sure, let’s walk 800 kilometers! I begrudgingly hauled myself to the train station in Bayonne, and my excitement was renewed. The station was full of pilgrims – others walking the same route as myself. I spoke with a group of women from the States, a man and woman from Germany, and a couple from Calgary. All of us were approaching the start of the Camino de Santiago with some trepidation, but were excited to begin our journey.

Upon arriving in St. Jean Pied-de-Port I walked to the pilgrim office to receive my credential (my pilgrim’s passport which I will get stamped along the way) and a scallop shell to fasten to my backpack. The converging lines of the scallop shell represent the various paths people take to reach Santiago, and the shell serves as a route marker to keep pilgrims from getting lost. The man who presented me with my pilgrim’s passport spoke no English, and I speak no French, but luckily the woman behind me spoke both and was willing to translate. I was struck by how many languages were being spoken in the little pilgrim office. People have come from all around the world to walk the Camino de Santiago. The man beside me was reading instructions in Korean.

Once I had received my credential and scallop shell, I wandered through town for awhile, purchased a set of walking sticks, and then checked into my hotel to get some rest before my long day of walking tomorrow. Tomorrow’s walk over the Pyrenees from St. Jean Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles is supposedly the hardest leg of the journey, and so I hope to be as rested as possible. It is raining today – a light drizzle which is expected to continue tomorrow – but nothing that would deter pilgrims from making the walk to Roncesvalles. The man at the pilgrim office recommended finding a walking partner, but was confident that the route was walkable.