Orrison to Roncesvalle

ORRISON, FRANCE

Day 2:  APRIL 19, 2017

Lights on at 6am. Everyone was up and moving. Beautiful sunrise over the Pyrenees. We trudged up our first hill. Had a wonderful rest at the Virgin of Orrison. There were a few families camped there. Lots of kids and the women were all wearing skirts even the little girls. The hillside was dotted with battle stations left from WWII. They were stone structures that two people could stand behind and shoot from. Very eerie to see. This was a very gruesome and bloody battle between the Spanish and the Germans. I can’t imagine fighting a war in this terrain. We crossed the Spain/France border. Rugged trail with lots of steep and gravely downhill. We were exhausted when we came to the monastery in Roncevalle. It is an Albuergue that holds over 200 people. We were ;late so we got the luxury accommodations on the third floor — no bunk beds. We had a lovely dinner at the Roncevalle hotel. Lots of paella, pork and leche cake. At the Albuergue, my cell mate was Francesca from Italy and Terry had a Korean woman.

Sunrise at Orrison.

The Virgin of Orrison watches over the mountains.

Edit

Battle stations from WWII dot the hillside. We passed at least two dozen and more on the next hill. 

Behind the WWII battle station. There are two more stations that can be seen off in the distance.

This photo doesn’t do justice to the steep terrain. This was a very challenging pass to cross.

The border of France and Spain. Lots of steep and lots of downhill.

Roncevalle finally! Didn’t think we’d ever get there.


This the monastery we stayed at in Roncevalle. We never saw the monks but there is group of volunteers from the Netherlands that run the place.

This is my bed and Terry is in the next cell.