And we are off

3/9/23 Day One

St Jean Pied de Port to Borda. 9km, 2.5hours, 600m elevation.

We left Beilari after a breakfast of toast with spreads and briefly visited SJPDP cemetery before setting off on The Way.

Today was a very steep uphill climb. We planned to break this stage into 2 days, and were lucky to to have booked Borda well in advance (March) as it is small and very popular.

We stopped at a family stand to purchase a coffee from some local children for a donativo.

We continued on to Orisson for lunch, where we met a few fellow antipodeans, including a young couple from WA who are walking with their baby! And Pierre from Ballarat who barracks for Carlton.

My favourite thing so far has definitely been listening to the sound of the bells. The sheep, cows and horses all have bells around their necks, which sound like windchimes in the distance as you are walking.

We arrived at Borda fairly early and had to wait a couple of hours to be able to check in. It was lovely sitting in the sun and chatting with our new friends Pat and Gina.

It cost $43 euro per person for Borda, which includes dinner and breakfast. Laurent's potato bake was phenomenal! We paid an extra $6 euro to get lunch packed for tomorrow.