Our first night in an Albergue had been ok with mixed reviews on sleep quality. The earplugs had cut out some noise but Sue was woken at regular intervals by all of my spam emails arriving offering me vouchers from Boots, Next, Aldi and EE as I didn't have my phone on silent. Fiona and Jacqui in the next room had apparently suffered from swaying bunks! We were all up at 6pm and after a nice breakfast made our way to the tourist office to get our pilgrims' passports. As it was Anne's birthday the next day we managed to shake her off and get her a birthday buff - Camino design of course! Fortunately Fiona had passed away another exciting evening at home you tubing instructions on the multiple ways to wear a buff so we had confidence that it was a very useful present!. Jenny bought Fiona a Peregrino hat which we have all tried on, posed for a photo in and then have had to carry the bloody thing hooked to our backpacks. It is most annoying as it flaps about all over the place and so we see carrying it as a bit of a penance!

Then our Camino began. Uphill all the way to Orisson (approx 8kilometres) with a break for coffee at a cafe with a rather unfriendly and grumpy French Proprietress! The Albergue at Orisson was a lovely wooden alpine style building with an amazing Terrace and a stunning vista! It was excellent value. Just 40 euros for dinner with wine, accommodation, breakfast and lunch and our room was lovely - just for the 6 of us with wooden bunks and stunning views. We were happy! We had a nice lunch and a chilling beer and got talking to some fellow pilgrims. The first was a Canadian woman travelling with her aunt who said she was 50 but looked about 25! Fiona quickly found out she wasn't carrying her own pack and surmised from this she had taken the easy path in life! Botox was mentioned! Well we had to justify how she looked SO much younger than us! A rather loud American woman prevented any hope of an afternoon nap and so we got talking to Susie from Oz and then to another couple, Phil and Jo, and a retired Cof E vicar from Folkestone, Michael, who quickly named us the group of Catholic women plus a heathen (Jenny!) Dinner was great fun. The staff made us all stand up and introduce ourselves and say why we were doing the Camino. Some lovely stories and some brave stories with a lot of people mentioning the age 60! So not a young group but I think a lot of of people revisiting a hippy youth! The food and wine were plentiful and delicious. A good day!