We walked part of the most walked, busiest camino; the Camino Fancès. And we loved it!

We drove by train from Gare de Montparnasse to Orthez near the Pyrenees. A quick comfortable journey. In a few hours we were in the town on the Camino. In the Tourist Office we got the first stamp in our credencial, and then we were ready for a beer. On the terrace we immediately became acquainted with Paulien and Jos. They had been walking for weeks, starting their journey in the Netherlands. The German Hans had joined them somewhere in France. They spent the night in the Auberge Municipal. We had reserved a room at a table d’hôte just outside Orthez.
The next day, after breakfast, we really started and walked for 26 km, through hilly landscape. The light was beautiful. After about 17 km. there was a resting place. And there we saw Paulien, Jos and Hans again.

That’s how it would go throughout our journey. We walked for long stretches together, but then at breaks, or at the destination after a day trip, we ran into people we saw before.

The nice thing is that everyone is walking in the same direction, all on the camino. This makes contact very easy. You regularly walk with someone for a while to let go of each other and sometimes run into each other again later. We often sat on the terrace with other hikers or ate together. “Menu Peregrino”. Many Americans and Canadians went out for the first time since the corona. There were also people from England, Ireland, Germany, Norway…
Now we are back in the Netherlands, they are still walking. With all those nice people in mind, we’re not quite home yet.