Well, the wedding at the gite last night was quite entertaining, and noise level they were able to maintain for hours was nothing short of amazing. Fortunately I was tired enough that I slept anyway. Since the official photographer left right after the ceremony, I took a number of candids and set them up for the bride in a shared album. Today’s walk is a bit of an estimate, the Gite was far enough off the trail that they dropped me at a place near with a short cut of a few Kms down to the trail. From there it was the usual rolling through some miles in beautiful rolling Basque Country. My hotel tonight is also in a town that is 5.1km off of the trail, at 4km/hr walking pace that is a bit of a ways. Today got quite hot, 83degrees, and wow, I don’t understand the people who decide to walk across Spain in July and August, that just seems like insanity to me. Much to my relief, Saint Palais is a “real” town, meaning a nice central plaza with multiple restaurants that will even serve you at 1:30pm. I stupidly put all my chargers accidentally in my transported luggage, but luckily had a battery pack and cord just in case. Suitcase didn’t get picked up till around 4:00pm, so, glad I had the essentials with me. Daniel, who I have run into several times, and is a physician from Croatia, is staying in the same hotel so we will have dinner together. He is moving to London and is an infectious disease specialist. While all of this is going on I am busy booking my unscheduled section between May 13-23. So far, St. Jean de Luz and Pamplona followed by San Sebastián are either planned or confirmed.

Cafe Gourmand.