St. Jean Pied de Port to Orisson, France

St. Jean Pied de Port to Orisson

We woke up to a beautiful day in St. Jean Pied de Port (SJP). For breakfast we ate rice cakes with PB2, almonds and apricots, and chocolate soy milk. It was here we learned Camino Lesson #2: Eat a bigger breakfast! Or, more importantly, listen to your body. I quickly learned that I needed to start the day with a hearty meal, while A. felt better sleeping in a little, having a bite before we left for the day, and later on having a substantial mid-morning snack.

We stopped in a shop by the church and bought apples, figs, bananas and plums, as well as a small jar of jam, rice cakes, lentils and quick-rice.

One regret from SJP: that we didn't stock up on spices from the bulk spice shop by the church! You can't miss it... It was very fragrant and beautiful (and, if I remember correctly, economical).

st. jean pied de port, where we met our first camino angel

On our way to the "starting point" of the Camino, we ducked into the very picturesque church and enjoyed the little bridge and tranquil views of the town.  It was here that a passing stranger stopped and bid us luck and imparted some meaningful advice for when the way got tough. "Pray to Mary, and She will push you up the mountain." When we asked her where the camino began (meaning the trail-head), she told us it started the moment we got out of bed and walked to our front doors. "Every morning, I put the Camino under my feet," she reflected. We don't know who she was or where she came from, but we like to think of her as our angel! We did remember her words when we felt like we couldn't keep walking, and it helped. A lot.

After a trip to the Post Office to mail some unnecessary items home, we finally got on our way to the Camino starting point.

didn't take long for us to start feeling like this cow...

The first day is basically crossing over a mountain range... the one that separates France from Spain. This part of the walk is b e a u t i f u l, but also extremely steep. As we munched on our second-breakfast of bananas with chocolate PB2 and apples, and later on our lunch of rice cakes with veggie pate, Gatorade and figs, we became increasingly worried about making it to Roncesvalles (the first stop in Spain) by nightfall. We had a slight moment of panic when we realized we'd only walked 4 km and it was already 3pm! Our emergency plan was to sleep in some huts we saw etched on the map about halfway to our destination. Thank God for our next Camino Angels... two Australian couples who started the day with us... and passed us very early in the afternoon. They told us they were planning to stop at the small albergue about halfway up the mountain for the night. They told us it was advance reservation only, but by the time we made it to the entrance, one of the guys had confirmed that there were empty beds and strongly encouraged us to stay there for the night. (He must have seen the exhaustion and desperation in our sad, sad eyes.) After a brief chat with the albergue owners at their restaurant up the road (including stories about how they helped Martin Sheen scout locations while he was filming The Way), we settled into Refuge Kayola in Orisson.

our aussie angels below.... we had come so far, but not far enough!

The albergue was very cozy with some amazing views. We skipped out on the communal meal in the restaurant and cooked some lentils and rice flavored with veggie bouillon, Nutritional Yeast (aka. "nooch") and... a Korean condiment known as go chu jang! We found it in the fridge of the albergue... leading us to Camino Lesson #3: Always check the kitchen to see what is available/has been left behind by previous pilgrims. You may be surprised with some treasures! We were also lucky that the kitchen was well-equipped with pots and pans.

the most satisfying bowl of lentils of our lives

One of the best aspects of Camino life is the community that is built among the pilgrims. Our Aussie friends asked about our vegan diet, and our initial worries that being vegan would isolate us were immediately alleviated. They were very respectful and interested (and of course they checked in with us over the following days to make sure we were getting enough to eat). It was really sweet!

Vegan Camino Essentials: What We Packed

Let's take a quick moment to talk about something important: What food/cooking items to bring from home!

Everyone's tastes and cooking habits are different, but when it comes to being vegan (and, in my case, gluten-free) on the Camino, there are some things that you can do without or find along the way, and there are other things that are essential to survival (or at least basic happiness).

After a lot of online research and educated guesses, this is what we ended up packing:

From left to right: 
In the baggie in front: Truvia (a brand of stevia-based sweetener), some powdered greens & protein mixes, tea
Dried fruit (apricots, dates and figs)
Nutritional yeast (in a bag, and more in the tupperware jar with the green lid)
Chocolate soy milk
PB2 and PB2 Chocolate (powdered peanut butter) (2 more jars on the right)
A travel bottle of olive oil (leftover from A's airplane salad)
Almonds
2 Tubes of vegan pate
In the green travel bottle: TVP (textured vegetable protein)
Soy milk powder
Rice cakes
Corn cakes
A small kitchen knife with a plastic case
In the tupperware jar with the purple lid: homemade Gatorade/electrolyte juice powder


Our general rule for bringing something was that it had to have a high nutrient/calorie content compared to its weight. Most of these items can also be purchased in Spain, and easily replenished (ex: the dried fruit and nuts, as well as rice/corn cakes).

Some thoughts on our essentials: 
- The PB2 was AMAZING. It's just peanuts that have had the oil pressed out, leaving a fine, protein-dense powder. And, most importantly, it's lightweight! Each jar weighs 6.5 ounces and reconstitutes (with a little bit of water) to the amount you would get from an 18 ounce jar. AMAZING. And wonderful for making an apple or a sandwich a little more filling. (Our personal thought was that the regular PB2 is pretty bland on its own, but you can't tell when you're eating it on something else.)

- The TVP was great for making our dinners more filling, and again, is something that is lightweight and goes a long way when reconstituted.

- The soy milk powder was... disappointing. Firstly, because it was GROSS. Very chalky. Secondly, it was not super necessary. We realized that we were burning so much energy that we could easily go through a 1 liter bottle of soy milk (or more) per day. Also, soy milk is super easy to find.

- The kitchen knife was really great because it didn't take up much space, and there were a lot of times when we needed it to cut bread or peel fruit on the road, and even some times when we found ourselves in an albergue kitchen that had no cooking utensils at all.

- The Gatorade powder was not essential, but it definitely came in handy for mid-afternoon energy boosts, and for giving unsavory well-water a better flavor.

Typically, we would pick up fresh fruits, vegs and bread for the day when we entered a new town, and a bag of rice, pasta or lentils when we needed it. We tried not to carry more than we would use in the next day or two, because the food weight really added up.

Paris to St. Jean Pied de Port, France

Finally, the day arrived! We took an early train from Paris to our starting point on the Camino, the quiet town of St. Jean Pied de Port, France, in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains.

arriving at the train station

After registering for our Pilgrim Passports and finding an albergue (we stayed at the municipal albergue; very cozy and welcoming), we listened to the grumbling in our bellies and set out to find a place to eat. Since we were in a tiny town in Basque Country, we were apprehensive about what we might find, but we finally decided that we could make do with a restaurant called Cafe Ttipia. Boy, did we get lucky! Turns out, our waitress had a vegan niece, so she new exactly what to offer us on the menu. We ended up with an amazing spread of typical (vegan) Basque food: 2 garden salads, a plate of fire-roasted red peppers (called "piquillos"), a massive bowl of french fries (excusez-moi, frites), fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a basket of bread. Seriously, we could not have gotten luckier!

Cafe Ttipia in St. Jean Pied de Port, France

This experience taught us Lesson #1 for traveling well on the Camino: Always ask! In this case, we got exactly what we needed and more from our server: She customized the salads for us (no cheese) and saved us tons of time trying to read the French/Basque/Spanish menu and figure out what we could eat. In future situations, we would save time by immediately learning that the restaurant had nothing on the menu for us. Well, that's helpful too! Better than reading the menu for 10 minutes and letting the "hanger" set it. Communication is key.

little did we know we'd be climbing that beautiful beast the next morning.

After our awesome dinner, we took a little time to enjoy the serenity that is St. Jean Pied de Port, then headed back to our hostel for an early night in. It was there that we met someone who would turn out to be an almost constant Camino friend, along with his travel companion who we met later on. Camino friendships are so special!

Stopover in Paris

After our respective travels visiting friends in various European cities, we met up in Paris to begin the Camino journey!

Here is an immediate disclaimer: this post will not do Paris justice! Our stay was barely 3 days, and we got a little overwhelmed by the massive size of the city, the very long list of sites we wanted to see, a bunch of random pre-Camino logistics, and our very unpleasant (read: dirty and weird) hostel. All in all, though, I'm so glad we went, since I had never been to Paris before, and I'm proud of how much we saw in such a short trip! We both vow to go back someday for a proper Parisian holiday, when we have a few more Euros in our pockets and a few more days to enjoy this beautiful city.

Day 1 in Paris started with getting locked out of our hostel (did we mention they closed from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for no good reason?), so we didn't have much time to plan out our day before we set to the streets.  It was drizzly, so we made a beeline for the Louvre, one of the few indoor activities on our wishlist. It was the perfect way to pass a rainy afternoon!

From there we wandered into a vegan bakery, Vegan Folies. They mostly had delicious-looking cupcakes, but we asked if they had any gluten-free options. Turns out, they had a cheesecake with a chestnut flour crust. It was delectable! We also indulged in some Bionade fizzy juices... Elderberry and Litchi! What a lovely reprieve from the rain and cold.

Chestnut-crust chocolate cheesecake and bionade fizzy juices at Vegan Folies.

That evening we got lost trying to find the Eiffel Tower (don't ask us how...to our credit the Parisians we asked for directions were also confused about where the large well-lit tower was!). Finally, we arrived and had a dinner picnic amidst a slew of drunken teenagers, couples making out, late-night joggers, and a bride and groom taking wedding photos. Gotta say, it was a pretty magical place!
Our picnic was simple: baguettes and corn cakes with vegan pate, hummus, and carrots.

Our best shot with le eiffel tower

Day 2 in Paris included some errands, and some wandering, but most importantly, an epic visit to The Loving Hut. It's an international chain, but if you ever find yourself in a city with a Loving Hut, do yourself a favor and visit. The menu is customized to the cuisine of the area, with a little Asian twist. We pigged out!

Spring rolls, veggies and rice noodles

Savory soup!

Vegan, Neapolitan banana split... YUMMO

Cardamom rose lattes... yes please.

There was a lot we missed, gastronomically and culturally, but all in all Paris was a great stepping stone to the start of the Camino...........

Time Flies!

Well, it's been a year since we began and completed* our Camino journey. It was an unforgettable experience, one that we both regularly reflect on. Originally the plan was to update the blog as we went, but it became clear pretty early on that that wasn't going to happen. We didn't have regular access to internet, and even when we did, there wasn't a lot of energy left to sit and write.

However, in honor of our Camino anniversary, we are going to start where we left off and share our notes from every day of our trip. Sorry it took a year to get going again, but hopefully this blog can still assist and inspire other pilgrims.

-m&a-

[* We learned from many wise folk along the Way that the journey never really ends!]