24 - 30 March 2017

These last days in France were a good compilation of the last weeks. There was some sun, some rain and some hills.

On Friday I visited the most famous and highest dune of Europe, la Dune du Pilat, with a height of 110 meters. From the top I had an amazing view over the forest and the ocean! The rest of the day I cycled through the forest. When I arrived at Mimizan there was still no response of a couchsurfer, so I started looking for a place to sleep. In the end I found an abandoned house in the forest, with a fence around it, but the gate wasn't locked, so I pitched my tent in the garden.

The next day I cycled again through the forest. It was a sad day, with dark clouds and some rain, but that made it a good day to think about the future... And when I was almost at my destination I met a guy who was cycling like I do, but he was sleeping every day in his tent, except the days when he needed a shower. I don't think that is suitable for me, because I enjoy it to meet new people and talk about things.

On Sunday I cycled again through the forest, but when I cycled around a corner, just before Bayonne, I finally saw the mountains! A really amazing view. After Bayonne I could also feel that I was getting closer to the Pyrenees, because there were a lot of hills.

In the morning of Monday I reached Spain! It started with a nice route along a river, but after that I followed my phone, because it showed me a shorter route, but that was also uphill, and only uphill. So I didn't cycle a lot kilometres, because when I almost reached the top and found a cabin with an unlocked door, I decided to stay there for the night and get some energy again. While I was cooking my risotto a forester came and asked if the door was open, so I think it was even allowed to stay inside :D.

The next day I slept a little bit to long, because my phone had turned itself off, but after a breakfast I started cycling. That was nice, because the path went as steep down as it went up yesterday. After a short while I reached the habited world again and followed the road to Pamplona. When I arrived there I had still enough daylight left and decided to follow the Camino de Santiago. That was a rough path with a lot of stones and rocks. I even lost my GPS, but luckily I only had to go back about 20 metres before finding it again. This hill was also very steep and I had to walk some parts, but at the top I could see very far away. I also found a nice spot for my tent and after a dinner I watched the stars.

On Wednesday I cycled a lot downhill and from Puente la Reina I followed the Camino again, but it became very clear that that was a path for hikers. So after a steep hill I searched for the road again and followed it al the way to Logroño. It was a road for cars, but there were almost no cars, so I liked it. When I arrived in Logroño at the house of Eduardo I finally had a shower and we ate the traditional 'Morcilla'.

After seven days of cycling I was glad I could rest a day at Eduardo's house. I did some laundry and visited the centre of Logroño. In the evening Eduardo and I went to an albergue for a credential, so now I'm a real pilgrim on my way to Santiago de Compostella. After that we went to the bars with a typical tradition. For two euro you get a tapa and a small beer or wine. That was very funny and we ate some typical dishes from Spain: a sandwich with Jambon and cheese, a jacket potato, squid (!) and the last one was a good Spanish tortilla.

It was a long week, but I came pretty far. On Friday I cycled 86,7 km. On Saturday 75,7 km and I stayed at Florent's apartment in Le Penon, Seignosse. It was 85,4 km on Sunday and I sleeped on the couch of Nicolas in Hendaye. On Monday I cycled 53,2 km and 49,7 km on Tuesday. And on Wednesday I cycled 83,2 km to the apartment of Eduardo in Logroño.