Sunday 17th of October

I had tried to phone the number given in the guide for the municipal camping site but got no reply. I left a message but that also did not yield a reply. Erhardt and myself decided that we would go past the campsite/Pilgrim’s refuge and see if we could get access and if not we would share a room in a hotel. We left at 7:00am as being Sunday the two supermarkets in Morlaàs would be open only until 12:30 and we had 15Kms to cover. We left The Gite in Anoye in the dark. Fortunately the the first part was along the road and my headlamp worked really well to see where we were going and verify we were on the right track by being able to find the red and white stripes indicating the way. Walking while the sun rose and seeing, feeling the dawn was magnificent.  As the stars faded and clouds became visible the changing hues from pink to orange and white was well worth having started when it was still dark. Mostly we walked in silence only sometimes mentioning to each other our appreciation of the entire space and environment around us. We reached the outskirts of Morlaàs at 10:30 well in time to catch the open Intermarche supermarket, bought supplies and found a bench on the church square to have an early lunch. We had not stopped along the 15km stretch except to take a pee. A singing choir could be clearly heard emanating from the church. There was a mass in progress and when it ended we were still in the middle of having our picnic and were suddenly surrounded by people coming out of the church. We were ignored by the churchgoers most likely looking like hobos eating our lunch straight out of its packaging. Then when almost everyone had dispersed a guy came up to me apologising for his indiscretion and asked if we were pilgrims and we got chatting. He had a lot of questions about where we had come from, where we were going, how long had we been walking and how long would it take us to get to Santiago. I really enjoyed chatting to him and was pleased he approached me. I was glad to show my guide book with maps oand show him how we were navigating the route.

Well satisfied we headed off to see if we could get access to the Gite/camping/Pilgrim refuge. It was all closed! And sign up saying the campsite was closed sinced the 1^st of October. A bit dissapointed we decided to go and see if we could share a room in a hotel. Even though only midday we were not up to walking a further 20Kms to the next Gite. The I spotted a tiny sign “Accueill Pelerins” which indicated to go around to the back of the locked campsite office. Through the windows we could see a kitchen with adjacent dormitory and beds. Erhardt tried the door and it was open! The heaters were on the fridge was equipped with soft drinks, there was a cupboard with sheets and blankets but all completely deserted. We scouted out the place and discovered access to the campsite showers toilets with area to do washing and….hot water. It did’nt take us long to decide that is where we would be staying the night.

The day was beautiful and sunny and with a table and bench outside it is everything we could hope for. How fortunate for us. We can spend the afternoon doing washing, relaxing and writing my journal.

Tomorrow I plan to walk 19kms to Lescar (Pau) then on Tuesday hitch to Anglet between Bayonne and Biarritz where I have booked an room through Airbnb with a coupon I had for being a “Superhost” Erhardt plans to continue on to Lacommande and the onto St Jean pied de Port.

In Pau the GR 653 takes a sharp turn south to Col du Somport. I want to carry on westward to the Atlantic coast and see  what I will do from there. As yet I am undecided. From Bayonne to Santiago is around 800kms so I am nearing halfway.

• Camino