Woke up this morning after a reasonable nights sleep and was down at breakfast at the usual hour of 8:00am. This becomes the schedule because the bag transport people want your bag at the desk by that time. As I ate breakfast there was a light mist and drizzle going on, but when I went upstairs to get ready to leave, it was raining vigorously. Today’s walk would have been quite long with two possible routes, one through the mountains with no possible facilities, and with rain and clouds, no views. The other following a secondary road and cutting back and forth with lots of up and down. Given that I was already feeling wet to my underwear by the time I got to the train station, I knew I had made the right choice to pass on 5 hours of walking in the rain. With transport options limited I booked it uphill a fair distance to get to the train station. Basically one train in the morning and one late afternoon. This is a single track, narrow gauge, really poky two car diesel train. I was getting concerned when no sign of the train appeared at the appointed time, but, about 15minutes late it did show up. Bought a ticket on board to Cadaveu, for 1.50E, figuring if the rain lightened up, I would get off a little early and walk the last section. What I didn’t realize was that absent a request to stop or a passenger waiting the train didn’t so much as pause. Luckily the conductor was clear where I wanted to get off and there was a change of engineer so it did stop and my station. Found the hotel, no one around so went nearby for a coffee and warm up. Back to the hotel and called the phone number, they graciously gave me door code to get in and sent someone over to give my room even though it was before noon. Lovely old building, Casa Roja, restored, and I have a room under the eaves which could prove hazardous to my head if I get up too quickly. This town has lots of pilgrim accommodations, a number of restaurants (4) and lots of Horreos. Horreos were built to keep grain safe from mold and from rats and pests. Horreos Wikipedia Apparently if they are mor than 100 yrs old the have to be preserved. Sun finally arrived mid afternoon. I found a great Chicken and fries lunch at one of the local restaurants, although had to wait until 1:00pm for the kitchen to open.

After a very mediocre dinner last night, some fried ham with a couple of lukewarm potatoes, I was ready for a shorter day today. The hotel is not in tune with Pilgrim rhythms and would not do breakfast till 9:00am, quite late for pilgrim breakfast. Anyway, it was worth waiting for and figuring that since it was only 15km, it would be fine. The part I hadn’t counted on was that it was constant up and down which made for slow going, over 5 hrs. Of continuous walking, but eventually arrived at the appropriate hotel just before 3:00pm. After some clean up and down time, off to find some food and a G&T. One bar/restaurant in town is open and has a nice terrace. Another type 2 fun day, although some nice back trail walking through eucalyptus forests. One good view!

This ended up being a really long day. For the most part paved back roads with a small section on dirt road through the forest. Lots of short but steep climbs. Scenery not terribly interesting. Eventually got the hotel after about 7.5 hours of walking. Definitely feeling it. Unfortunately nearest restaurant was a solid walk away, but the proprietor made me a plate of ham even though the kitchen wasn’t officially open. Luckily tomorrow is scheduled to be a relatively short day! 37,461 steps today.

After a fabulous evening last night it was time to get serious today. Up at 7:00am to get as many things in to the roll aboard as I can so that my backpack is as light as possible. Got it to a reasonable 15-16 lbs I would estimate. The guidebook I had said that walking out of Gijon was the worst part of the Camino del Norte and recommended taking a bus, which I had planned to do. Luckily I researched it because the bus only comes once per hour, #24. I got to the stop 10 minutes early and it was right on time. The recommendation was to go to the Pauo Alto stop and that worked well and saved about an hour and half of pavement walking through grim looking industrial areas and along freeways. Right away there was a good climb up through a eucalyptus forest. Weather got warm, and after descent of the hill, it was a long stretch of pavement and a couple of hours of walking along the side of the highway. Eventually there was a bus stop in Trasona with a bus due momentarily, so I was able to cut another hour of pavement and highway off the itinerary. On arrival in Aviles, they were not kidding when the hotel was called a Palacio. Definitely a palace of a place, with a view onto fabulous gardens out back and big plaza out front. survive the first day back on the trail will definitely be sore. This is what they call “type 2”fun. 28,000 steps.

A solid day in Gijon. Went and found the central market this morning, then off to the Roman baths, nearby church and up the hill to a park and famous sculpture. Then a delicious lunch at Taberan Zingara. Some down time and then a major fun dinner with a Spanish family. My New Hampshire neighbor, MP, married in to this family and they are a lot of fun. I think we had around 16 people for dinner at a cider house type place. Much fun was had by all!

A long bus ride today. First bus to Bilbao, which has one of the nicest bus stations ever. Then an hour and a half until the next bus, so a decent lunch was found. From there a 2:30 bus to Gijon with multiple stops arriving on time in Gijon at 7:20pm. Short walk to hotel, then a shower and off to find some dinner. Lots of places around, but ended up with a mediocre pork loin type dish. Gijon is beautiful with a lovely curving waterfront. Fortunately a day off tomorrow to recover and dinner with MP relatives.

Woke up and found that jet lag had struck as it was 9:45am! Got out the door quickly to my favorite breakfast place just around the corner, Simona Specialty coffee which not only has great coffee but does a GF avocado toast that is delicious. Then walked across town to the Cathedral where the Easter mass was just starting, lovely organ and singing. Then a walk around and lunch at a Vermut place. Turns out Spain has an hour of Vermut, which is traditionally between 12:00 and 2:00 just before lunch. I tried a marianito, which is some Vermouth with Campari. Tasty but definitely a bitter type drink. After some lunch back to the apartment to regroup and then out for the evening Tapas run. Perfect temperature today rising to mid 60s.

A long train ride from Montparnasse to Hendaye, a little over 4hours, then the local Euskotren to San Sebastián. All went smoothly, other than the whiny pooch in the next seat who made irritating barking and whining noises for the whole ride. San Sebastián was sunny and about 70 degrees so a nice contrast to Paris. After checking into my AirBnb, a lovely large one bedroom apartment just across the river from the old town, I headed out to get some tapas on board. Then it was back for a load of laundry and some set up and then out again for another round of Tapas. Lots and lots of people out, I forgot this was a holiday weekend when I booked the trip months ago. See some photos, if you haven’t been to San Sebastián it should be on your list!

After coffee at Le Peloton, it was off to the Grand Palais to see about getting in to the Matisse exhibit, which has been sold out for awhile. Usually, you can join the museum as a member and skip the lines and reservations, and that worked well this time. Straight into the building, bought a years membership, discounted because I have other memberships and straight into the exhibit. As it turns out this membership includes a large number of other museums so it works out well. Nice colorful exhibit. For those of you who visit Paris frequently, joining the museums you like is the best hack for going whenever you want without waiting in line or making reservations. Then a walk through the Tuileries followed by a bus to the 3rd to try a new Crepe place in the Marche des Enfants Rouge. Way too many people in line for that, but had a good burger instead. Back for a nap and some organizing and then put my storage stuff back into the storage space. Dinner at Atlas, lovely oysters and Langoustines. Train tomorrow down to Spain!

A low key day today, grey but not raining. Started with a stop at Le Peleton for coffee, then waiting around for a new owner to come to the apartment. Eventually it turned out their flight was a few hours late, so headed over to the Bastille market for a walk around before returning to the apartment. Gave them a good orientation and then headed over to the Ile St. Louis to find some lunch, ended up back at the Louis Philipe a solid bistro and had an excellent chicken with a morel mushroom cream sauce. Then back to hotel for a solid nap. After that a stop at Deux Magots for some people watching and then dinner at L’Avant Comptoir du Terre.