Turn to Wonder: 22. St Etienne… to Bidarray

After the triumph of the pizzas last night, this morning began with an amazing breakfast at our gite! Guess who was particularly excited!!

Things looked up even more when our friendly host Jean-Paul offered to drive us down the hill and up to the start of our route.

We started up the long climb with more of a spring in our step than we expected the night before. Shortly after setting out on the stage, we came across the smallest horse we had ever seen, indeed, we think it may be the smallest horse in the world. After research, it appears that this is a Pottok, a unique breed of horse native to the western Basque Country. They are unbelievably cute!!

Caves are a thing here too.

And then the climbing began - steep and unrelenting. All up today, we ascended 1350 metres. The first climb was 750 metres with a strong wind blowing. You really had to watch your step on some of the steep narrow sections to make sure you didn’t get blown off!!

As promised, by our hosts from last night, the vultures were circling. Undaunted, we pressed on…

See this one against a dramatic sky.

We think this might be the point at which the track begins to run along a ridge on the border between France and Spain, though the signage was non-corrobating.

This was the top of the first main ascent - just over 1000m (we started climbing at just over 200m).

The hillside fell away steeply into valleys deep, deep below.

We walked along the ridge line for a while, undulating down and then up again, picnicking at one point on the top.

The track then went down into an enchanted forest.

Then emerged to climb again to the highest point of the stage - the Pic d’Impala at 1044m.

Away from the edge, large flocks of very hairy sheep were grazing and dozing.

A couple of monarch butterflies hovered around our queen stage.

We stayed a while at the top, drinking it all in. The weather began to change as forecast and banks of cloud rolled in over the peaks opposite us, gradually obscuring them from our sight.

As we began to descend we found ourselves in much cooler, windier conditions with visibility greatly reduced.

Further down, it seemed to clear again which was helpful for a very demanding and steep path off the mountain.

Finally, after eight hours of walking, we arrived at Bidarray and our gite for tonight.

To top off a truly graced day, we went out for an extremely good dinner at the local hotel. We celebrated the time we’ve shared with Sarah L. who returns to London tomorrow and whose birthday it is next week. We have loved this time together. As well as the gift of her company, Sarah’s fluency in French has made the logistics of this part of our pilgrimage so much easier for us and it’s been a delight. As was this Camembert Roti, which we shared for entree!!