In August 2011 we spent a few days in our campervan in Hendaye; a pretty little seaside town on the border between France and Spain. Gerry had a yearning to find a fish restaurant beside the sea somewhere in Northern Spain so we headed off in search of lunch.

First we stopped for fuel on the outskirts of San Sebastian before looking on the map and choosing the area around Getaria. These were the days before google maps and smartphones so a map and a rather basic Garmin GPS were our only travel aids. I’m not sure if you remember the old GPS systems but they really weren’t great!

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Do you ever wake up with a pain in your shoulder?  I do. Last night before I went to bed I googled “why do I have pain in my shoulder when I sleep?”  Apparently, it’s common with side sleepers.  The solution is to keep your arms by your side or hug a pillow and bring your knees up together to improve your posture.  I tried this last night and slept dreadfully. I had a fitful night and woke at 4:00 and gave up, got up and made myself a cup of tea. Eventually I did go back to bed and I must have slept and although my night was restless I didn’t have any shoulder pain! 

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Our flights to Porto were cancelled. We were due to walk the Coastal Route, then jump across at Ponte de Lima and walk on, follow the variente and then head to Santiago. Of course, like most folks, those plans came and went. I was then planning on walking the Aragones, meeting a friend at Oleron Sainte Marie and walking to Puenta la Reina. And then I planned to bus back to St Jean and meet some friends for a walk along the Camino Frances. It’s early autumn, it’s when we walk! But alas no.

To add to our tale of woe it’s been raining a lot in SW France. I spent so many days just looking out of the window thinking… we should be in x or y or z today.

But there was a break in the weather. Autumn returned. We decided to venture south and go walk for a few days. It’s not a camino. It’s not even a ‘there and back again camino‘ like we did in the Picos. It’s simply a walk. But oh what a walk!

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