It took us 55 hours from take off in Singapore until we made ir ro our first accommodation in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. If I recall correctly, that was the same time it took if you drive the 400km from Lake Tsomoriri to Manali over the muddy mountain passes. But that is another story.

To take the least expensive option, our flights were Singapore > Kuala Lumpur > Singapore > Paris > Biarritz before catching a train to SJPdP. Yes, the first two flights seemed redundant but we saved enough to pay for airport hotels in KL and Paris plus all our albergue stays on this Camino. Go figure.

Hiccups along the way were minor enough that I have already gotten them out of my system. The woman at security in Paris came close to doing enough to trigger me into getting arrested. The flight delay in Paris almost made us miss our train connection but by taking a taxi to Bayonne station instead of a bus, we made the final link with time spare but at a cost of and extra 36€.

Here is a thought for anyone flying from afar to walk the French Route. SJPdP is not all that easy a town to get to. The easiest way though is probably not the best anyway. Flying to Paris, connecting to a flight to Biarritz, taking the bus (or taxi if you were on a delayed Air France flight) to Bayonne, then the train to SJPdP isn’t too bad. One thing for sure though is that it is ridiculously harder to to get from Santiago de Compostela to Paris. Our best option looks like a 12hour series of flights from SdC to Marbella, to Milan, to Charles deGaulle Airport in Paris. I really should have flown into Barcelona or Madrid, taken the train or plane to Pamploma, then a bus to SJPdP. Then, at the end of our Camino, I could take a direct flight back to the entry airport. We need a few days at the beginning of our trip anyway to get over jet lag. Who cares how easy it is to get to the starting point. Getting home needs to be the fast option.

On our second day in SJPdP, we walked around town a good bit and to do some errands, visit the citadel and a very old Basque cemetery and to shake off jet lag. At dinner, Melanie recognized a Korea woman who was staying in our gite. She was sitting a her table by herself so we invited her to join us. The first thing she said after happily accepted the invitation was “I am not alone”. Wow. It pays to be kind. We had a great time laughing our way through dinner and it looks like we will be walking with Theresa (we can’t pronounce her Korean name) over the next couple of days.

We, our first day of walking is tomorrow. It’s only 8km but with some steep sections and a 600m net gain in elevation. I have to sleep so enjoy these photos from today’s stroll.