July 13, 2011 -- Waiting for a Train

Sitting in the garden at the pilgrim's hostel in Orisson, France.
Can you tell that I have been drinking wine?

I'm sitting in the one-room passenger rail station in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port looking through the windows at the rain pouring down outside and waiting for a train to Bayonne. That means of course, that I have given up the pilgrimage after only one day on the trail. Last night, my left leg (sciatic nerve) was hurting less, and I felt pretty confident about continuing today. However, this morning a combination of events -- the sciatic nerve problem, the heavy pack, and the miserable weather -- made me realize that the smartest thing to do was to turn back and perhaps attempt the hike another time with a lighter pack and a healthy body. However, after seeing loads of pilgrims zipping by on their bikes, I think the way for a cyclist to do this journey is on a mountain bike. I think even one of my touring bikes with wide tires would work. British Airways flies bikes for free. I will be back!

But back to the narrative.  I left the hostel after breakfast  this morning in the drizzling rain. More accurately, the clouds had descended around us, and the water was condensing right out of the air onto all object including me. As I started down the hill, I heard a voice calling "Jack!" It was a German woman whom I had met on the train coming to Saint-Jean and then run into again last night. She had also decided to turn back and wanted to walk with me. However, I was limping along at a slow pace, and I convinced her to go ahead. Besides, at that moment, I really wanted to be alone and not have a chatty person disturb my self pity.

During the 8-kilometer (5-mile) hike back down the mountain to Saint-Jean, it drizzled off and on, and the pain in my leg rose and fell, varying from feeling almost normal at times to a jolting pain with each step at others.

Now what? If my leg heals in the next several weeks and I can find a place to leave some stuff, I can see trying the hike again. After all, I still have 2-1/2 months left before my flight back to Phoenix. Today, my only goal is to get to Bayonne, get an inexpensive hotel room, get a hot shower, wash some clothes, and think about where I want to go tomorrow. I'm thinking Spain, but I'd rather be on the Mediterranean side, where the weather is drier. I'm not used to cold, drizzling rain in mid-July.

Oh, I had a strange experience with an Italian gentleman last evening. I went into the dining room of the Pilgrim's hostel at Orisson looking for a quiet place to read. A middle-aged gentleman with missing lower front teeth was sitting at a table, and he signaled for me to join him. He turned out to be the only European I have met on the whole trip so far who fit the stereotype of the anti-American European. He claimed that Americans are "second class" and "inferior to Europeans."

Naturally, when someone is that prejudiced, there is no reasoning with the person. I ended up at another table. That evening at supper, were everyone at the table was European but me, several people apologized to me for the man's behavior saying that they hoped I didn't believe all Europeans are like that. Of course, I already knew that the narrow-minded prejudiced people are a minority and that those people exist everywhere. -- Jack