Day 50 - St Jean Pied due Port France - 32 kms. And now the Pyrenees !

Thankfully some of our Hotel staff had returned after Sunday afternoon off, in time to allow us to have breakfast, pay our bill and hit the road !

A short ride was the plan for the day to give Kev more time to recover. The good weather and good road conditions were perfect for cycling with only a few small climbs thrown in !

I hadn't counted though on Kev`s Alzheimer's condition as pulling over to meet me at the half way point he remarked on how good he was going considering the 30 km climb !

I had to sadly explain to him that the 30 km climb was in fact tomorrow and that today's ride other than a couple of small hills was pretty flat .. Kevs look said it all ...maybe more recovery time is actually needed !

We got off the main road close to our destination to specifically ride the designated pilgrim route climbing steeply to a walled citadelle with great views overlooking St.Jean Pied de Port and the magnificent surrounding hills of the Pyrenees- just a little daunting !

The Citadelle provided access to the Pilgrims gate (traditional entry point to St Jean) and a steep cobble stoned road that led us directly into the main part of this lovely old town a fabulous way to end our 750 km Camino cycle (part 1) from Le Puy !

Entering the walled town had a great feel to it, the old buildings and relics complete with the echos of the millions of pilgrims who have passed this over the 1300 years the Camino has been in place.

The town was busy with tourists as well as walking pilgrims + the occassional push bike.

Having secured a hotel in the old section of town we took an afternoon snooze then stocked up big time on pasta for dinner preparing for the climb to cross the Pyrenees into Spain thus starting the next leg of our European journey !

Hola !