Two steps forward, one step back.

On Thursday night I was sick. I could not eat in the morning, and had no energy, so I decided to take public transport to St Jean Pied de Porte. Danielle, who ran the gite, told me there was a bus at 9 am. Unfortunately, she had an old schedule. I ended up taking a taxi with a chatty Basque guy. A visit to the tourist office got me a place to stay. I slept in the hotel for hours. However, I was still super tired, although I walked around the walled city a bit. I was hoping to stay a second night, but the town was booked up for the holiday.

I felt better on Saturday, and waited around for the once a day bus to Larceveau. I checked into a hotel there. I don't want to get back to St Jean until the holiday is over. 

I told another pilgrim that I had lost two days, and he disagreed, that it was all part of the pilgrimage. That makes sense also. 

Mass attendance in rural areas can be a challenge. The masses tend to move around between the churches of the parish. In this case, that is 8 different communities, as every community has a church. My plan was to attend 11 AM mass in Ibarolle (Ibarrole). Given that I am in the Basque country, everything has two names, one in French and one in Basque. 

I got up and walked one hour to Ibarolle.      I ended up an hour early, so I sat on the church steps and ate a bit. They opened the door, and I sat down.  I came in with low expectations, but the church was in great condition, freshly restored. I did not expect a lot of people, but every seat was taken by mass time. 

The mass was in Basque, with a bit of French. There was a men's choir in the choir loft, out of sight from where I was sitting. The choir was amazing, they belted it out in the tiny church. I understood nothing, but I loved it all. I. It was a great experience, perhaps my favorite part of the trip so far. 

After that, I had to cross a mountain pass, the Col de Gamia. It was an hour of steep climbing. The regular trail avoids this pass, but I was south of the trail. I walked one hour to get to mass, three hours after mass, and felt pretty good. 

I found my Gite without much trouble. The older hostess has a Down syndrome daughter. She said that her daughter wants to imitate the pilgrims she sees, put on her pack, and go to Santiago. The following week she and her daughter will be going to Santiago, on a handicapped bus tour sponsored by a charitable group. 

There was no Wifi, so I could not Skype Sandi, which I have been doing every afternoon. 

I met three French ladies at the gite on their 7th annual pilgrimage week. They originally started in Le Puy. They laughed a lot. They were booked at Orisson, so I asked them to book me there also. They were from Avignon area. There was a French guy at dinner who talked a lot, but I could not understand him. 

Tomorrow, to the Pyrenees!