My day began when I woke up at 6am in Red Deer, Alberta. I had stayed the night with my friend Donna and she was driving us to the airport. She had a flight booked to Kelowna so it worked out well. My vehicle would stay in her garage for the duration of my trip, which I really appreciated as I don't have a home of my own at the moment and my stuff is in storage.
I felt surprisingly calm considering the trip I was embarking on. My flight left at 1130 to Toronto and then a 3 hour layover. The Air Canada flight left at 2020 to Paris. As I sat waiting on the tarmac in row 45 of the plane I contemplated the trip from here. The lady next to me moved seats so I had two seats to myself with a pillow, blanket, a cheese plate, crackers, some grapes and popcorn and a coke. I was set for the seven hour flight. I started to read The Third Jesus by Deepok Chopra but I also needed to get some sleep which I may have got a couple of hours. I also watched a movie but can't recall which one.
I was somewhat nervous contemplating the arrival in Paris as I do not remember any French from my highschool days or cereal boxes. I know more Spanish and even at that I don't know much. I did take a small French language book and a Spanish dictionary. I hardly used them at all because what I found was there was always someone who could speak English when I needed it. And that goes for the entire trip. Knowing a few words is helpful but one can get along without knowing too much. Using a lot of gestures and pointing works well too along with smiling as you are trying to communicate. There were many conversations I had with locals that I had no idea what they were saying. Maybe they were talking about the weather or the camino, or the town..who knows! All the ATM machines have an English option so that is helpful.
Once I arrived in Paris it was easy to find the train at the Charles De Gaulle airport. I had to wait 3 hours to board my train to Bordeaux St Jean (1337hrs -1800hs) change trains on to Bayonne (1904hrs - 2046hrs). I had reserved a room at the Best Western Hotel about 2 km from the station. It was dark when I arrived so I took a cab rather than stumble around in the dark looking for it. I was happy to arrive and very tired. The first leg was done.
October 5, 2011
The next morning I slept till 8 and went off with my backpack on, to the train station (Gar) to see about a ticket to St. Jean Pied de Port. The train didn't leave till 1158 hrs so I had time for a leisurely French breakfast across from the station. Cafe o'lait was excellent along with fresh orange juice, bread and croissant and jam. 6 Euros (about 9 dollars) so a little pricey. I hoped every breakfast would not cost that much. I gave a man begging for money to eat, 2 Euros and his eyes lit up. However, he approached me later as I was waiting in the Gar, forgetting that I had already given him some. I do like to help a person out when they are down and I donated to many individual causes over the course of my journey. Most were women begging at the cathedrals for money to feed their children or grandchildren.
I arrived in St. Jean Pied de Port around 1:30 pm, followed a bunch of pilgrims up the street, and met a couple from Toronto who where going to walk for the second time. They remembered where the office was.
I walked around a bit and waited for the lineup at the registration office to shorten. There were a number of people who were going to be starting their pilgrimage. I was told I could not stay in the municipal albergue (hostel) as I had arrived by train and had not walked that day. I would need to go to a private albergue for the night and the lady recommended one. The cost would be 15 Euros. I thought that seemed reasonable but I found out later that that was a higher price than most private albergues in Spain,which were 8 to 12 Euros. The public albergues and parish and monestary hostels usually cost anywhere from a donation or 5 to 10 Euros. I discovered that the Toronto couple got into the municipal albergue and they had arrived on the train so I figure that they have to support the local economy by referring people to the private accomodations. They also would not be sure how many people would be arriving on foot from destinations in France, so they would need to leave beds open.
This was the beginning of a lesson I had several opportunities to learn along The Way.
"Do not assume that things are one way or the way that you are used to. Look around to discover a different way or perspective."
The hospitalaro (host), whose name was Eric, welcomed me in and took me upstairs to a large room filled with bunk beds. He showed me the showers, washrooms and kitchen where I was invited to share dinner with them for 10 Euros. By this time, I am very tired and a little out of sorts. At first I did not want to have dinner there, I just wanted some alone time but I had to eat so decided I would partake. As it turned out, a musician, Henri T, was giving a concert in the kitchen that night so I listened to him and had a wonderful dinner with other pilgrims. As the wine flowed into Eric and Henri, the concert became an impromptu singsong in French, joined in by a homeless man that Henri had invited for dinner. I met Corina from Australia. She had come to France to start her camino 3 weeks prior. She told the story of how she missed getting off the train at Bayonne and slept all the way to Irun (the end of the line on Spanish side of border). When she got off the train she fell, smashing her knees and face badly. She had spent the past 3 weeks recouperating in St. Jean, and would not be completing her camino this time. She decided it was the Camino's way of telling her to really slow down, that her life had been too hectic, so she was enjoying where she was and wasn't sure what she would do next. 
I also met Kim from South Korea. A 27 year old man, who could speak some English but was just learning from watching TV and movies. We were the only ones staying at the albergue that night. Kim was trying to catch up on some sleep and recover from over 20 hours of travelling. We were both newbies, of course, and a little unsure of what to do or what we were about to embark on. After dinner, wine and song, Henri gave me a big hug and said I was blessed. I started to cry as I could only imagine what my adventure would bring but I felt safe. The room was full of empty bunk-beds except for Kim and I. He chose a top bunk. I set my alarm for 6:30 am and went to sleep on a lower bunk, next to the window overlooking the cobble stone street of SJPP. 
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