Day 1: Tuesday, June 30th

It has taken me five days to (1) write this entry, (2) find reasonable wifi, (3) feel well enough and rested enough to write anything … either by pen or keyboard. At times my pen felt too heavy to lift, and the lack of wifi made keyboard entries impossible! (Don’t even ask how Andrew managed to write a couple of times on his blog. Something about being taller, thinner, fitter, and a walker-of-dogs.)

After leaving 15C temperatures Sunday morning, we flew from Toronto, to Madrid, to Pamplona, to 40-freakin-degree weather. The bus ride from Pamplona, Spain to St. Jean Pied de Port, France was uphill and beautiful, but the temperature only dropped by a couple degrees. Brutal. The French say Europe is in the death grip of a massive heat wave. Figures. Didn’t see that coming in March when we booked our trip!

So, two years older, twenty pounds heavier (thanks to Andrew’s awesome meals) and sweating litres, I climbed to Orisson, France … five hours to climb 7.8 kms. I asked Andrew to go ahead. Some things your loved ones should never see. Such as? Your wife so exhausted she flattens out on the roadside, falls asleep for thirty minutes until three passing pilgrims (one from Chatham, one from Montreal, and one about to attend Brock’s Faculty of Ed) whisper among themselves, “Is she dead?” I waved my hands to ward them off. I think I scared away a number of Griffon vultures looking to “do Canadian” that night.

The first day’s climb was even harder than 2013 for reasons listed in paragraph one. Arriving at Orisson on a clear day, the Pyrenees surrounding our auberge, and the random thunderstorm at 10:00 pm, … priceless.