A wet walk through the woods

We set off this morning from Roncesvalles in the pouring rain. The woods were magnificent mainly consisting of beech and larch looking lovely in their fresh foliage.

It was here that Roland was said to have sounded his horn to bring support. Charlemagne had come over the Pyrenees to fight the Moors. On his return he broke his promise to leave the walls of Pamplona standing. The Basques were understandably angered and attacked the baggage train on its return to France. This led centuries later to the famous poem, the Song of Roland.

Our route was mostly downhill with some ascent to tease the legs after yesterday. Much of the initial part of the route was well paved and a pleasure to walk along.

The scenery was green with rolling hills. It was so quiet in the woods which was calming.

As the day wore on the rain lessened but the way was covered with running water and large puddles. Many of our fellow pilgrims were carefully avoiding the water but we were in our element. We hadn’t thought that slogging our way through the mud in Hampshire from Winchester to Salisbury would be good practice though it turned out to be ideal.

My reflection on today’s journey was that the road goes on with no idea what is around the corner. Enjoy the present which is good.

As we came to the end section the path went quickly downhill with streaming water over the exposed rocks. Julian was relishing finding his footing again yomping over the rough terrain. Beryl had to remind him to be more sensible.

We came to journey’s end at Zubiri which means ‘village with the bridge’ in Basque. The building just before the bridge was an old hospital, possibly a leprosarium. Thank goodness such diseases have gone. It was great to enjoy coffee and savoury in the local bar with the locals enjoying their Sunday afternoon.