23 April Paris to St Jean Pied de Port

It was an uneventful flight from Dulles Wash DC to Paris. Icelandair seems to be a very good airline. I understand they have service out of Denver now so all of you folks in Colorado who are tracking my blog might want to check out the service and most importantly the prices.

My night in Paris was spent at the Charles de Gaulle Marriott. My last good bed and dinner for awhile I am thinking. Today I travel from Paris to Bordeaux to Bayonne to St Jean. Three train rides. The good news is that I am on the high speed train to Bordeaux. I might add that the train conductors look and act like they should be in a Peter Sellers' Pink Panther movie JoAnn you will have to explain who the Pink Panther is to our 5th grade team. The train is excellent, to bad we do not have that service across our country.

The french country side is at full spring. The sun is shinning , the are farmers plowing fields, planting crops and trimming fruit trees. The spring flowers are glowing everywhere. We passed through Orleans, a city that my brother was stationed at during the early 60's and also a city that our good friend Leslie Roe lived in during her younger days when her father was stationed there in the Army. Leslie seemed to have some great stories of this adventure that I am sure she will share. I can see why Jean Louis' likes to come home as often as he can. I know , who is Jean Louis.. he and his wife Susan own Cafe Normandie in Annapolis and he always tells me how beautiful France is... however he claims his food is better than what you might find here.

I will meet up in Bordeaux with my walking partner from Annapolis Bill Kennerly. He is flying to Bordeaux this AM after arriving from Annapolis early this morning in Paris. Bill made the train and we are now headed to St Jean.

The trip from Bayonne to St Jean was nothing short of a beautiful country side. We followed a small river for the entire route. Fly fishing, people floating the rapids and of course lots of cows and sheep. This is the Basque region, pristine, all most like the sound of music. We arrived in St Jean, found our quarters for the night and then preceded to the office where you get your official stamp on your Credencial del Peregrino, I am now a Pilgrim. The Pilgrims Pass Port. It was pretty interesting , the older french gentleman who interviewed me found that I had been in the Marine Corps, he jumped up from his chair , ran to the back room and brought out his French Marine Corps ID. My new friend Jean Loc was also a retired Marine Colonel from the French Marines. He too had been all over the world. After registration we walked the village to find a place for dinner only to find that the official hour for dinner was 7:30PM. After an hour we found the Hotel Central, built in the time of the French revolution. Christina our host presented us with a Basque meal that will be hard to forget. Leg of Lamb with a soup that was a mix of lentils , vegetables and a beef broth base. A meal to remember. The end of our first day.