We had to get out of the Auberge du Pelerin by 8am. We took advantage of the short day and slept until quarter to 7. It likely won't happen again. It will be 6 o'clock from now on. After a quick self-prepared breakfast, we walked back up to the fountain outside of the municipal auberge and took our pictures. That signifies our starting point.
The climb is not getting easier now that we are three years older. The good thing is that we managed to stay out of the rain. It did rain overnight last night. We could hear it. By 8 o'clock, it was just cloudy and the radar image suggested no rain for the next few hours. Three hours and a gain of altitude of 640 m later, we arrived at Refuge Orisson without being rained on. The bonus is that we can even do our laundry. The key is not the washing but the drying in the wind and the sun as long as the rain stays away. Yes. We did have brief periods of sunshine.
Refuge Orisson is getting better. I am not sure how much they have done to the main building because we did not stay in that area last time. But the deck and the accommodation section below it were rebuilt and looking really nice. We were stuck here for a bit of time but it is good to relax the first day. Fellow pilgrims who choose to stay at Orisson all have the same reason. We don't want to over-extend ourselves in the first day by hurrying to Roncesvalles.
The rain finally came in the form of a front that brought a brief period of wind, heavy rain and even hail. In that order. As quickly as it came, it was gone leaving not quite clear sky but we got a lot of brightness back Since it was close to dinner time, a lot of us simply move into the main building and wait for dinner.
Dinner at Refuge Orisson is as good as ever. It is still so amazing to me that we had dinner together with people from Canada (a couple of other Canadians from Quebec), Korea, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, the US, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico and the Barbados, with one of our group from Hong Kong, all in one room. And for a variety of reasons from just having fun to being addicted to the Camino to walking for family passed away, to walking for a dog. Food is simple but good and plentiful. Yost and Nannette from the Netherlands are delightful company.
Today was tough when trying to get to Orisson but I was feeling no ill effects. Now the tough climb is almost over, the rest will be easy, right?
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