After 10 days of glorious sun while Nelson and I vacationed with his family in London and our friends in Barcelona, I woke to a downpour on the first day of my Camino. 

Luckily, I had already planned to only go as far as Orisson which is just part way up the mountains. Any urge I had felt last night to abandon this plan and do the whole pass quickly disappeared. 

So I waited out the weather for awhile even though that gave M Jean Francoise another opportunity to share his fatalistic bedbug expertise (delivered with very solemn sound effects, somewhat like slow-motion munching).  

       

After a time the rain stopped, the clouds lifted and I started on my way. What a fantastic reward for waiting:  I had the pilgrim road to myself.

  

   

I’ve decided that in this part of France all farmers must be required to wear berets, have short, fat sheep and shaggy, friendly dogs or they aren’t allowed to farm. Their little farms are charming and with the springtime green everywhere, almost absurdly beautiful. 

   

   

Almost to the top, the clouds gathered and just as I thought I saw lightening flash, the Refugio Orisson came into view. I have a better understanding now of the term “refugio”.

  

If you decide to do the Camino I highly recommend staying a night here. Wonderful Basque dinner with 50+ other pilgrims from all over the world. Australians, Canadians, Japanese, South Americans, Koreans. Lots of Europeans of course including a young Italian couple on their honeymoon (!). Only two other Americans which I think isn’t typical.