You will walk with me.: The first climb + Orisson

7:30am

Getting ready to leave our albergue, Gite Compostela

We had breakfast this morning with Ian & Brenda from Scotland. They were absolutely lovely, and told beautiful stories of past Camino journeys. I guessed correctly they were from Scotland because I just watched Broadchurch, and would recognize that D.I. Hardy accent anywhere. Is it embarrassing that I told them that? Oh well. I said "Look at that, it’s taught me things already." And Brenda’s perfect response was, "See, people say TV is rubbish..."

Setting off to begin our walk. Under the beautiful arch we go.

9:30pm

Refuge Auberge Orisson

I don’t even know what to say. The walk was hard. It’s hot. It’s essentially straight uphill. It’s spectacular. It took 5 hours to climb about 5 miles, and seeing our home for the night as I rounded the last corner was just incredible. My dad knew it was coming up but didn’t tell me, and I am so thankful. It’s tucked right into the side of the hill, and from the angle at which you approach, it reeeeeaaaally looks like there’s another uphill climb coming before rest. And then, there it was.

A shower.

A cheese sandwich.

A coffee.

3 hours of deck chat with new friends from Germany and Australia.