Church Tower at St Jean Pied de Port

Since I arrived late last night, I planned to spend today in St Jean Pied de Port, getting a few bits and preparing myself to start walking tomorrow. But as the other pilgrims got packed at 6 am it was useless trying to sleep, so I went down and had breakfast too. Over breakfast I met Jess from Australia, Altin from Albania and Tom from Ireland (the generous guy who gave me a waist pack). As they spilled out onto the street to begin, I was so so tempted to just start today.

But I took a breath and sat on a bench for a minutes (near where I took this photo) and let myself be reminded that today was a day of stillness, of composure. I went into the church, lit a candle, said a prayer and sat with God awhile. Well, the rest of my day has been just great. I met Hanna, an lovely lady from Australia who shared her Internet access with me. Chatting over a three hour lunch we discovered that both our lives are at amazingly similar crossroads. Like me she’s just sold everything and starting a new life with el Camino as the first step.

Every day promises something exciting. Good or not so good, I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.