Back to Paris on the start of another trip to the Camino del Norte. This trip will be walking from Santander to Gijon, about 129 miles. Flight to Paris on Delta from Seattle was smooth and on time, arrival at CDG was better than usual. The new EES machines are set up but not in use and the automated passport scanning was actually working well. Easy ride on the RER B in to the St Germaine area. Out to dinner with friends, John R. And Léopoldine at Avant Comptoir du Mer and du Terre, to tapas bars that are easy and enjoyable. Not many photos but stay tuned. Regrouping tomorrow and then to San Sebastián by train on Wednesday.

After some coffee at Big Shot, headed over to the Jardin du Luxembourg. Lovely day. This park was part of my regular commute as a 10-12year old when we lived at Pl St.Sulpice. I used to walk across the park to get to the Luxembourg RER station and then take the train out to my school in Antony. One of the fun things in the park is sailing toy sailboats in the pond. We used to have our own, but there are also rentals, so, since it was windy, couldn’t resist renting one for a spin. After that it was up to Cafe Charlot in the 3rd to catch Adrian Leeds at her usual haunt. Said a quick hello but didn’t get into anything too serious. She did say that she is done doing fractionals for the moment as so many Americans want to move to France full time. She is also primarily focusing on Nice now. I managed a lovely Poulet Fermier plat for lunch across the street and the a nice stroll through the Marais. Met Ward and Melinda over at the Bar of the Tour D’Argent, unfortunately no rooftop space for us, but they did let us up to see it. We had a very nice dinner at the Rotisserie D’Argent, their much less expensive bistro at street level.

After coffee and some walking around, met up with John R for lunch at an Italian place, Navigili. Interesting concept, a full buffet of appetizers and desert and then you choose a main course. Decent but nothing to write home about. Did some walking over towards the opera Garnier, which is still covered in some scaffolding. Stopped in at the Pinault/Bourse modern art museum, a place that is a fabulous building restoration, but seldom has anything on display that I find interesting. This trip was no exception. After heading home for some laundry and regrouping, decided to have a cocktail at the famed bar of the Tour d’Argent. Unfortunately it turned out that the rooftop, the main draw, is not open on Mondays, so, one very expensive Gin Fizz later it was out the door to meet friends for Avant Comptoir du Mer and du Terre.

Not a great nights sleep, hot and lots of noise all night from celebrating soccer fans. Apparently the Champs Elysees was nuts and something like 500+ people were arrested. Anyway, being Sunday, headed for the Bastille market and a galette or buckwheat crepe from the Breton booth. Makes for a hearty breakfast, then headed over to the March d’Aligre and the Baron Rouge. Baron Rouge has tamped down its presence substantially due to neighbor complaints and eliminated its parklet as well as no oysters due to seasonal timing. After more walking around and some regrouping met Melinda and Ward for dinner at Camille. Very nice solid French restauarant.

Not too much to say today. Checked out of Hotel in Bayonne, bus over to the station and then 10:14am train to Paris. This was a TGV but seemed to be a fairly slow one. It did however go all the way to Paris with no changes. Some 5+ hours later arrived at Montparnasse and after a few miles of underground passages and steps on to the metro and back to the same AirBnB I had earlier in the trip. After doing laundry and getting set up, off to Apero with Ward and Melinda who moved from our fractional to a bigger one down the street. Lovely apartment, 5th floor with elevator! Then a quick walk to dinner at Le Petite Celestine. Very warm here so good for outside dining. The whole city is going nuts because of a soccer game which Paris St. Germain ultimately won over Milan. not a great night for sleeping with fire crackers, etc. going off and much yelling and screaming. It was also quite hot. A note to those planning to go to Europe, if the weather is going to be hot, I strongly suggest you bring a silk sleep sack. Otherwise, you’re likely to get a duvet and a bottom sheet, but nothing else. This works fine in cold weather, but not well in hot weather. 

Today was definitely a travel day, excellent breakfast at my favorite coffee place in San Sebastián, Simona Coffee Club. Then bus to Euskotren station, half hour ride to Hendaye, then wait an hour for train to Bayonne. Then bus to hotel. I have stayed here before, so have a basic sense of where things are. Got my room and did a full face plant on entry, pack and all. Turns out, just in the door was a roughly 4 inch high step painted black, which I didn’t see at all. Luckily no injury, but wow, if it had been an old person that would have broken some bones. After putting my stuff down, to a nearby cafe for lunch. Temperature was clocking in at 91 degrees Fahrenheit, so back to Air Conditioned room for awhile until it cooled down. Then Roam around town and found an Asian spot for some dinner.

Had a nice breakfast at the hotel, went out for some additional coffee and then headed to the bus station for ride to San Sebastián. This involved changing buses with a 15 minute layover. First bus was apparently an upgraded service, only 3 seats across and luxury leather seats. About an hour and 15 minutes to Bilbao, then onto another bus. This one had two levels and the driver said it could hold 82 people. My seat was the first row, so I had a great view and a few chats with the driver, very cool bus, about an hour and 20 minutes from Bilbao to the San Sebastián bus station. from there about a 10 minute walk to the hotel. Unfortunately lodging can be quite expensive in San Sebastián but I did end up with an enormous duplex room. Went out after installing myself, around 4:00pm to find some lunch. Pintxos available so I strolled around and grazed for the next few hours. Tomorrow the local Euskotren for about 35 minutes to Hendaye and then a local train to Bayonne where I will spend a night.

Today was the final walking day of this particular trip. Started out with an hour or so on the road but then around some spectacular beaches. After a few miles of that, a ferry over to Santander. There was a bit of a long wait for the ferry as the tide was initially too low for it to get in. They have the front of the Ferry covered in tires and the just run it up to a stair case at whatever height and you walk on. Works quite well. Santander seems to be fairly spread out and it is not particularly easy to figure out what to do or where to go. After enquiring with 3 different people I finally got a hint as to where a cluster of restaurants might be. I had thought about spending an extra night here but given the timing of travel I ended up booking the quickest bus to San Sebastián, just under 3 hours, and night there, which will make the travel a little less of a marathon. So, adding up all the steps registered from last Thursday until today, 176,166! Seems like a pretty solid week especially when you consider that I was carrying a loaded pack most that time. Finishing segments is always a little bittersweet, but I am quite sore and ready to get home. The plan at the moment is San Sebastián tomorrow, Bayonne on Friday and then train to Paris on Saturday with flight back to Seattle on Wednesday.

Ended up having a nice dinner at about 9:30pm last night at the only place open, some pork loin and fries, but it did the job. Today was a fairly light day although still close to 5 hours of walking. Because my hotel was far away from the Camino path, it took half an hour just to get back on the trail. From there through pleasant country side and villages, but almost all on paved roads. Eventually arriving in Guemes where the one place that was open was fortunately still serving lunch. After a menu del dia that was a salada Mixta and then some lamb with fries, I found my lodging, a Posada, much like Gite in France. Nice room with a pool outside that looked very inviting. In spite of the hosts assurances that is was heated, it was very cold so a quick dip followed by a shower and then a luxurious nap. Then back to where I had lunch for an apero, met some interesting Brits and had a pleasant conversation with them. Only dinner spot, next building from my lodging doesn’t start serving till 8:00pm. Tomorrow will be the last walking day of this trip ending in Santander with a ferry ride across. Only about 22,000 steps today!

Woke up this morning to rain!! Ugh…but a quick look at weather forecasts suggested it would stop in about an hour, so I waited and sure enough, it did in fact stop as forecast. A short day today that wasn’t all that short. First about an hour walk to the end of the peninsula that Laredo is on, then small boat across. Then coffee with some other pilgrims and then took a somewhat sketchy route around the ocean side with some serious scrambling involved. Beautiful scenery. Noja is apparently a resort town and mainly populated in the summer. While it has a huge number of buildings, all the shutters are down and almost no one is here. My arrangers put my in a nice hotel but a good half hour walk from the camino and the town center. It is near a beautiful beach and I did find an ocean side bar for an Apero. But, wow this place is a ghost town. Hope I can get some dinner, and it will be more than half hour walk just to get back on the trail tomorrow. 23,000 steps.