Last day in Saint Jean Pied de Port (click)

The below marker is where pilgrims take their first step of their Camino. We took our photo last night and cheated a little bit. Afterwards sat in the Notre Dame of the Assumption of the Virgin Church of Saint Jean Pied de Port. This church was built during the 14th century with a Gothic Basque style. Most pilgrims attend a mass here prior to starting their Camino.

Below is a photo of the entrance of our hostel that was built in 1662. It was restored recently as close to possible to its original form and owned by a young French couple. The husband is friendly to all but the wife seems to be only friendly towards Turks. It is in the oldest part of the town on a cobblestone street with no car traffic.

Today we started our day with a breakfast with our fellow pilgrims in our hostel. Super basic breakfast but all I needed was French bread and cheese which were plenty. The big question everyone has is if the Napeloen route will be open tomorrow to cross the Pyrenees. Wild speculations range from it is sunny and glorious up there to there is 2 feet of snow. Which one is true i don't know. Everyone claims they have the right info they got from THEIR local source. The Napeleon route is the toughest but also the most beautiful route which opens on April 1st each year due to weather conditions being too unstable prior to April. However, with recent storms we are hearing that it might not open another 10 days or so. We will all know by 5pm tonight. If it is not open we will go over the Pyrenees on the alternative route which has sections where you need to walk on the road. Not too excited about that.

Amy and I registered for the Camino at the Pilgrims Office today. This is what pilgrims have done since 12th century where you get your Camino passport and your first stamp. In the below photo Josephine (a volunteer) is stamping our passports and officially welcoming us as pilgrims. She also gave us a crash course on how to walk the Camino with maps, emergency numbers and rather more detail that I didn't pay much attention to. Amy was taking notes of course. This is also where we got our traditional sea shells which we are supposed to hang onto our backpacks. They weigh about 150 grams so I am not sure I want to carry it for 800 kms.

Early morning we had a chance to walk around this ancient town as later this afternoon there will be a rain storm that will require us to shelter in our hostel. Tomorrow, the weather looks good till 3pm so we will start our climb early in the morning. Before we leave town will buy a baguette that I will couple with my already purchased Nutella bottle for lunch. Hoping for the Napeleon route. My knee which I injured in my very last training run is a concern as it hasn't healed in a week. Hopefully Amy won't need to carry me.