May 9, 2023 - Day 9 - To Puente la Reina - 15.0 miles - +1636’ - -1891’

Becky wanted to sleep in a little yet Sally and I wanted to get a quick start. We packed our packs as completely as possible the night before so we could slip out of the room without disturbing Becky or Nicko. Nicko had the fourth bed in our room of two bunk beds. 

We taped Sally’s feet in the common room, had a cup of tea and headed out about 6:30am. It was barely light, but the street lights lit our way as we walked through the city. We were a little off the trail but soon found it and followed the metal sea shells imbedded in the concrete

of the sidewalk as we wound through the city. In the process, we ran into Patty and Emma from Texas. Emma is a 16 yr old junior doing high school at home via computer. I walked with her for about half an hour and found her bright, motivated, goal oriented and hardworking. Her and I had a great time comparing her educational experiences with my teaching. We both played lacrosse so we compared notes. She wants to be a pilot among other things and I thought of Melissa as I talked to her. Yesterday, Melissa told me the story of how she came to be a pilot, working in the local hanger to earn flight time, hiding her tip money from her parents to pay for college, how she was the only female in her flight school class in the late 80’w and how she became a United pilot by age 23. Later in the day I texted Melissa to be on the lookout for Emma on the way. She would be an inspiration to Emma. 

The profile of the rout today is a symmetric 2D pyramid in shape. For about 7.5 miles we gradually go up. At the top of the ridge is the famous Perigrino sculpture. Then it is down, all the way to Puente la Reina, a town with a very famous bridge. 15 miles today, with an added 3/4 mile past town to our albergue. 

The sky remained overcast all day, with a slight wind and it rained on us for about half an hour, hard enough to merit pack covers, umbrellas and raincoats. 

As usual, many, many people passed us today allowing us to meet nearly everyone on this portion of the route. At the top we took pictures in front of the statues, then headed down.  For the first mile or so it was steep, then the slope abated. At the first town we stopped at the albergue and bought lunch. Three pieces of what the Spanish call tortillas, but it is an elegant potato quiche. Three pieces of bread. A piece of cheesecake, a coke. All for €15. 

The rain started after lunch and soon we were walking with Alexandria and Renaughty (sp?) from Germany. We have seen and enjoyed them everyday. Very sweet, demure, quiet but fun. 

At one point during the rain we took shelter under the covered walkways of a church (how pilgrim is that!!) until it passed. When the rain stopped we finished the last 2 miles down to the river and into the outskirts of town. An albergue/bar is the first place one approaches entering town. Sally was done. She could have walked the last mile to our albergue, but the chance of injury with fatigue increases and enough is enough (15+ miles). She had the man behind the bar call a taxi for her. I continued through town, stopping at the grocery store to buy food for dinner. When I climbed the steep gravel road to the albergue I was the last one of us three there. Showers, rest, preparing a cold dinner (no kitchen facilities-three bags of salad, ham and cheese pastries, milk and sodas. I tried to write in my blog but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. However, I did get caught up with the grands once a day postcards. 

The bridge over the river is ancient and famous. So much so, it is pictured on the back of the €10 bill. 

We were in a room with ten other people, yet the room was quiet and if someone snored, I missed it. 

Metal Camino markers leading us out of town

Route out of town. We are heading for that ridge line. 

Poppy’s are in full colorful bloom and lining the margins of the wheat and barley fields and the roads. 

Pilgrim packs stashed outside a wayside store while owners buy coffee and pastries

Looking back to Pamplona from near the top of the ridge

Us struggling just like pilgrims of old as we travel to Santiago to worship the remains of Saint James. 

The complete exhibit of the pilgrims statue

Poppies infiltrating the fields of wheat

Continuous stunning views as we walk

Wildflowers line the path all day long

Alexandria, Sally and Renaughty

The bridge built in the 11th century (!!) to help pilgrims cross the river safely

Our albergue is an old cattle shed converted into an albergue. 100 beds. 

May 8, 2023 - Day 8 - To Pamplona - 12.6 miles - +1523” - -1279’

Up at 5:30am with the goal of being on our way by 6:30am.  Sally is taking a taxi for the first half of today’s 14 mile walk to give her body a bit of a rest.  

The plan: Sally takes a taxi at 9:30am 7.5 miles up the road to the town of Zabaldika, arriving about 9:45am. Becky and I start hiking at 6:30am and arrive about the same time. The night before we pick a place to meet. The “town” has six buildings, 2 on the east side of the highway where the trail is, 4 on the west side. I point out a spot on the east side where a stub road from the highway intersects the trail as the place to meet. 

The reality: At 6:30am Becky is nowhere near ready to leave. The later we start walking the longer Sally has to wait at the meeting point. I finally start walking at 7:10am. Becky doesn’t start until 7:45am. Mindful of not making Sally wait too long, I walk the 7.5 miles without a break, enjoying walking by myself for the first half and then engrossed in a conversation with a man named Mark and his wife Jackie from San Francisco for the second half. I arrive at what I thought was our rendezvous point about 9:55am-no Sally. I don’t know that Becky has left half an hour behind me nor that she stopped for an hour to eat at a cafe with Melissa. Could it be that Sally is up on the west side of the highway at the church?  Do I leave this spot to look and thereby risk missing the arrival of Becky?  I take my phone off airplane mode incase Sally does the same and try calling her. Voicemail. I wait an hour, calling every five minutes. Finally I go up to the church, a climb of about 100 vertical feet up on a hill. No Sally, but I meet an Austrailian friend and ask about Sally. No-haven’t seen her. Where is she?  I ask him to tell her I am down at the spot we designated if he finds her. I go back down hoping to intercept Becky. Finally at 11:00am Becky shows up, walking with Melissa. No Sally. We decide to go back up to the church, the only other place I figure she can be. Halfway up the hill my phone rings, an Austrailian number is calling. It is Sally. She is half a mile ahead on the route where the trail intersects a road in a roadside park. Melissa and Becky continue to the church, I head back down and meet the Austrailian at the rendezvous point, looking for me. Together we walk the half mile and finally meet up with Sally. She has been here for more than 2 hours waiting for me. The taxi dropped her at the road/trail junction, half a mile out of the town. Convenient if you are hiking on but not so if you are trying to meet in the town. Becky and Melissa will hike together on a side trail from the church that connects and meet us at the albergue in Pamplona. Miscommunication or rather the lack of. We don’t have SIM cards in our phones so we can’t communicate when separated. We buy them today in Pamplona as planned, but it sure would have been nice to have them today!

It is a couple miles to the outskirts of Pamplona, then about 3 miles to the city center where our room is. Along the way we stop at an Orange store and get SIM cards for our phones. €25 for 25Gb and unlimited talk for two months. While I am in the store getting our phones taken care of Sally hangs on the street and intercepts Becky and Melissa as they come by so we can get Becky’s phone taken care of too. 

During our 2 mile walk thru the city we stop once at a grocery and buy oranges, bananas and cherries and again at a bakery for muffins. The route takes us thru a castle and by the church and Melissa who has been here before shows us where the running of the bulls takes place. We walk through the main square and part with Melissa-she has a hotel room half a block from the albergue we will use (Aloha Albergue). 

Showers, charging devices and resting for an hour then text Melissa and meet her for dinner. Her and I share our locations so we can meet up in the city square. So nice to be back on line with all its advantages!!

Melissa bought all four of us dinner. Cheese platter, fries, salad, tapas. Afterward we walked up to the cathedral to get our Credentials stamped and watched some type of religious goings on inside. We walk to where the running of the bulls start before returning to our room and calling it a night. Good day?  Absolutely. Bring on tomorrow. 

Bridge entrance to Pamplona

Bridge in Pamplona

Wall entrance to Pamplona

Melissa walks streets in Pamplona to her hotel

Running of the bulls statue

The pen that holds the bulls before they are released

Holes where they secure fences to direct route of the bulls

Common rom in our albergue. 

May 7, 2023 - Day 7 - To Zubiri - 13.3 miles - +1288’ - -1765’

Fancy breakfast this morning. With my grocery shopping of yesterday and a kitchen,I planned an omelette and yogurt for this morning. I got up in time to get it prepared and still get out the door by 7:30am. 

Omelet was delicious. So was the fruity yogurt I laced with Muesli. Sally had her pack prepared for transport and i was ready. Becky wanted more time to prepare and was comfortable with us leaving. We dropped Sally’s pack off at the pickup point in the hotel lobby and we’re out the door a little before eight. We had 13.5 miles to cover. The sky was overcast when we started but soon cleared to beautiful blue. We spent a lot of time on dirt backroads walking between fields of cows, sheep and short, stout horses. The route undulates up and down over low ridges and through fields. We also were surrounded by our new friends, passing each other as we randomly stopped to eat or visit a coffee shop. Usually during the day I end up walking next to someone I don’t know and we end up in a deeply personal discussion of philosophy, ethics or family history. Today it was Jay and Beth, a retired Lutheran minister and his wife. We covered about 3 miles while learning about each other and sorting out ideas. It is really quite remarkable how open people are. Everyone feels safe; physically and emotionally. Many that i have talked to are trying to work something out. What will I do in retirement? Now that I have been forced to quit my job of 30 years, what will I redefine myself as? I want to do something to make the world a better place but what will it look like? What will I do when I complete high school and college?  It is fun to share and explore ideas with this group of amazing people. 

When in the Orisson Alberge, our first night out, we shared our room with 3 other women, Sandra a 55ish yr old clerk from the Netherlands, Judith a 40s something doctor, also from the Netherlands and Melissa, a 58 year old United Airlines pilot. All three impressive people. We have been leapfrogging them daily, getting to know them better as the days progress. It is one of the intangible benefits of walking the Camino-the world wide connections you get to establish and nurture. We need to have Putin, Biden, Zelensky and Xi walk the entire Camino together. Many world problems would instantly disappear. 

We walked into Zubiri late, about 4:00pm, by crossing over an arched stone bridge. My confirming email said we were in an Albergue just across the bridge on the right. We found it, our reservation checked out but two things were amiss. First, Becky blew past us hours ago and should have been here-and wasn’t . Second, Sally’s shipped bag wasn't here. 

We worked with the receptionist, a young woman getting registered and all when Becky, who were quite worried about walked by on the street. We flagged her in. She wanted to know what we were doing here, she had checked into a different albergue. How could that be? She said they had a reservation from us since January. Had we made this reservation so long ago we forgot we had made it? We cancelled the work the clerk was completing in this albergue and headed down the street to the albergue where Becky had already signed in. We got ourselves registered but the problem of Sally’s pack remained. It wasn’t at this albergue either. 

It is Sunday. In Spain nearly everything is closed on Sunday. It was now nearing 5:00pm. Sally called the hotel back in Roncesvallis. They picked up and gave her the baggage shuttle service’s number. No one answered. Now it was after five. No one answered. Not the hotel. Not the shuttle service. Sally started explaining that there wasn’t really anything in the pack that we needed. What?? We have been carting around a pack of useless items?  She backed off on that idea. You have to appreciate her positive outlook on a very negative event. 

We gave up for the night and went to the only bar/restaurant in town to get something to eat. Outside Warren and Mary Ann, a sprightly 75 yr old couple we have been enjoying told us to try the municipal albergue in town. I hoofed it down the street to the lobby. At first the attendant thought I wanted a room and kept telling me nothing was available. Finally, he understood I was looking for a pack. He said “Sally?”  I said yes!  He pulled Sally’s pack from behind the counter. Woo hoo!!

Now. Why wasn’t it delivered to our hostel?  I checked the tag Sally had attached. All it said was Zubiri. No mention of an albergue. The driver dropped at the municipal albergue rather than drive around with it in his van. 

I trotted back to the bar/restaurant. We all had a good laugh about Sally’s mislabeling of her pack, now that it was found.

Sally and Becky had a beer to celebrate. I headed back to our albergue and cooked dinner-curly noodles, melted cheese and broccoli.organizing for an early start in the morning and it was time to sleep. 

We are in a room with four bunks. Pat from Australia was our roommate. He had been pounding beers all afternoon, but claimed to be able to hold his alcohol. This proved true as he was pleasant all evening. 

May 6, 2023 - Day 6 - Crossing the Pyrenees- 10.5 miles - +2505’

Let’s get the bad decisions part of the title out of the way. We have Sally’s pack transported by a service each day. We stuff it with all the things we won’t need while walking and I just carry water, food first aid gear and such. Yesterday’s weather, today’s forecast and the morning sun lulled is into poor packing. As we left the albergue and the wind was blowing a good 25 miles an hour with gusts to 40 we realized we sent all our warm clothing in the transported pack. Not a fleece nor puffy among us. It was comfortable, low 60’s or high 50’s, but the thin cloud cover blocking the sun and the wind made me realize our mistake. 

The route is entirely treeless-just green luscious meadows used for sheep, horses and cattle. This is Basque Country. How can there be no trees?  We are only between 2300’ and 4700’. Ahhhh. Grazing sheep for thousands of years keeps the mountains treeless. Beautiful, but nothing to block the wind nor sun. Luckily for us, the weather did not deteriorate as we climbed 2500’ and 9 miles for 5 hours to the crest of the range and then started our descent into Roncesvallis. A few people have been caught on this section of the route unprepared as we were and have died of exposure. We were lucky today, with gorgeous views, mild temperatures and good people to walk with. The strong winds at times were terrific to walk against, but subsided by about 11:00am. 

We had conferred with our roommates about what time to get up and chose 6:15am. Breakfast was served at 7:00 sharp and was concluded at 7:30 sharp. They want us up and out so they can prepare for the next crowd coming today. We packed up and carried our packs outside. It was warm. I was in shorts and T-shirt and comfortable. Inside breakfast was baguettes, butter, jam and orange juice with choice of tea, coffee or hot chocolate.  Sally and I were ready to go at 7:20, but Becky was not yet packed. She is a very fast walker, so Sally left about 7:25 and I waited out front while Becky finished packing upstairs. 20 minutes later she still had not come down. I went up to check on her and she was quite a ways from being finished. She told me to go and she would follow. I started up the road at 7:45. As it turned out, Becky didn’t leave until 8:15. She prepared her pack to be transported and started hiking in a t-shirt with a water bottle and a sandwich attached to her belt. So glad the weather held!

The road wound up a ridge through brilliant green fields. I set a good pace for a while and passed quite a few of our new acquaintances as I gained on Sally’s 20 minute head start. I soon caught her. She was enjoying the company of Grista so I settled in next to a woman from the Netherlands that had shared our room last night and talked with her for 20 minutes as we walked. Nice lady. I decided I should wait for Sally as I had the food and water and sunscreen. 

Becky caught up with us at a grassy view point. We chatted a minute, then she was off. 

About 4 miles up an enterprising capitalist parks a food truck in a dug out area of the hillside and sells hard boiled eggs, bread products, fruit and fluids. Everyone stops to get something. His prices were very cheap, especially considering the remoteness of the location and lack of competition. We stopped and Sally had a Coke and an egg.  At five miles the trail leaves the road and climbs steeply up for 0.4 miles to connect with another road where it levels off and enters a forest of deciduous trees that the sheep didn’t kill. We passed into Spain, took a photo at the border.  Now the sun was out, the wind was blocked and the forest was bright and cheery with verdant trimmed grass (sheep?) as a carpet. It was very inviting. I had gotten ahead of Sally. She was talking up a student from England and I had moved ahead. It was now 11:45. The grass and sun and trees made an idillic place for lunch so I stopped. Sally some arrived and we enjoyed bread, cheese. A very bruised banana and cookies for lunch. 

An hour later we were on top of the pass and looking 1650 feet down into Roncesvallis, our destination for the night. We started down the road, vowing to stop often so as to not kill or knees on the descent. 

All went well as we followed the one lane road and occasional shortcuts between its winding path. We reached the chapel a mile from Roncesvallis, then continued the last mile on a wide path next to a small stream into town. We walked past the albergue. As we did we asked one of the volunteers if there was beds available. You see, we have been making reservations ahead because ther are so many people walking the Way that accommodations are stretched to the max in each town. We prefer the albergues where you get to mingle with people rather than hotel rooms that isolate you. But the municipal albergues don’t accept reservations so it is a crap shoot as to whether there will be any beds available when you arrive in town. He said he thought there were and we found out later that some people we enter Roncesvallis with had gotten bedsat the albergue. 

We were staying in the hotel for the night. Becky had hurried over the Pyrenees and had been at the hotel for a couple hours before we arrived. We went to reception and checked in, got our credentials stamped and made our way to our apartment, a two bedroom affair with a kitchen, Becky was there, showered, clothes washed and full of stories from her day. 

We wanted to cook our meals and with a kitchen that was possible. Tomorrow is Sunday, meaning everything will be closed. Roncesvalles is more a collection of religious buildings and a hotel rather than a town. The nearest grocery store is 1.45 miles away. They were open between 5 & 7 pm. It was 3:30pm. Time for a shower, a look around the area and then hoofing it with empty pack down to the store. Becky and I walked down to the grocery, bought enough food for tonight and all day tomorrow and Monday morning. We were back to the apartment by 6:00. Sally was out meeting and talking  with her new Camino friends. Becky went to join her. I concocted a dinner of spiral noodles with a packet of dry chicken soup mix, onions and red peppers sautéed in the fluids from a can of pickled tuna, pickled tuna and peas. I thought it would be terrible lol, but it was really good! (Pickled tuna and chicken soup?  Really?)

Sally and Becky didn’t return until after 7 and I was very reticent to present my dinner to them. They had the same reaction I had-delicious!

After dinner Sally wanted to go check out the albergue.  It was supposed to be amazing, and she wanted to say goodbye to Jane, an English woman she befriended in Orisson. 

Jane was out in front of the hotel when we stepped out door. She had a gift of an earring for Sally. She gave us a tour of the 240 bed albergue. It was as beautiful as it was impressive. 

We wandered back to our apartment, checked out availability of beds a few days up the Way and then climbed into bed. What an amazing day!!

Albergue with dawn sun

The route up thru the Pyrenees 

The green fields of the mountains

Food truck half way up the mountains

Is on the road up over the top

Sign post and me

Our lunch spot. It just called to be sat on. 

At top before the big descent

Roncesvallis albergue

Top floor of albergue 

May 5, 2023 - Day 5 - Onward to Orisson - 4.8 miles - +2031 feet

Up at 6:30am in our spacious apartment. Towel spread across night stand for breakfast table. Hard boiled eggs and some Mueslix. Stuff Sally’s pack with stuff not needed for the day and tag attached for transport service. Down the stairs and onto the street. Picture taken by the landlady and we are down the hill, through the gate and on the road. 

We are in a steady river of people, never less than 10 in sight, as high as 20. We pass some and are passed by some. Today is all up hill. Gradually at first, steep for the last 2.5 miles. 

Beautiful scenery. As we climb the view expands and soon we can see back down to St. Jean. 

According to the FarOut map, we arrive at the Orisson Refuge. But it is a private residence. The actual Refuge is another 0.5 miles up the hill. 

We follow the road to find the refuge. It is tucked away on the side of the road. Stone building. Food service and dining room on first floor. Rooms with bunks on the top floor. Spent the afternoon talking with the hundreds of people passing through or staying the night, showering, washing clothes. Dinner was soup, pork and vegetables with a pastry for desert served to all 36 of us at once in the dining room. I sat across from Grista from Germany, a very quiet and demur woman with two children, one in Nashville teaching at the university and another near her home in Munich. Sally had a lively conversation with two “kids” from California. Food was great and plenty of it. After the meal everyone took turns standing, stating their name and why they were walking the Camino. Very impressive group of people. 

We retired to our dorm room that we shared. 6 bunks. Sally, Becky and I plus three other women, two from the Netherlands and a woman airline captain from Minnesota who carried herself with such poise, grace and kindness you couldn’t help but feel her presence in the room. Amazing day. 

Ready to start walking. Our starting point in St. Jean-Pied-de-Pont, just outside our hotel. 

Starting point 

One last look back at St. Jean as we walk out of town. 

Our destination for the day, Orisson. 2300’ of vertical gain in 4.5 miles 

Sally climbing up the road with all the other pilgrims. 

A couple miles out of town. St Jean in the valley below. 

Getting way up there. St. Jean below. 

Orisson Alberge. Our place for the night. 

Dinner in the dining room. Italians, Germans. South Koreans. Finnish. Dutch. Brazilian. Canadian. English. American. French. Norwegian. and more. 

May 4, 2023 - Day 4 - Last Day of Staging - on to St. Jean - Getting Our Credentials

Breakfast of hard boiled eggs (prepared in a tiny hot pot yesterday), bananas and bread, packed up and out the door by 7:25am. One final photo in front of the hotel and then a familiar walk to the bus depot. 

Our 7:45am bus was right on time. We boarded, scanned out tickets and settled in for the 40 minute ride. This battery powered bus was beautiful. The inside was as sleek and modern as the outside. And quiet! About 15 stops later we got off across the street from the train station. A quick walk and we were in the station searching out our track. As we wandered thw small station staring up at the information boards a beautiful train woman (everyone in France is beautiful) told us we would be riding on her train on track D. It was scheduled to leave at 8:52. It was already at the station and we boarded about 8:40. It was a single car, more like a huge bus on railroad tracks. As the train filled to capacity it was hard to miss the fact that everyone was a Camino hiker. All had backpacks. The overhead luggage shelves were filled with backpacks. The hour long ride was down a river valley filled with small farms, woods and beautiful scenery. 

At the St. Jean station we followed the crowd theough a residential area and then through the surrounding wall into the old city to the Perigrino Office. Becky had been following a Camino Facebook group that kept emphasizing the massive crowds starting on the Camino, over 400 per day, so we were braced for a long line at the office. There were about 20 people forming a line outside, with a dozen inside.  Sally and Becky stopped to buy trekking poles at a shop while I got in line. They finished their transaction and walked up hill to the office just as it was my turn to step inside. 

The small office (12x20) had five people sitting at a row of tables helping pilgrims get oriented and handing out and stamping credentials. These are volunteers. The three in the middle spoke 3 to 4 languages and had a placard in front of them listing the languages. The guy on the left spoke only French. The guy on the right spoke German and French. We ended up with Almut, a very kind German woman. We started the interview by thanking her profusely for doing this work. She said she is only there for a week, yet yesterday they worked from 7:30am until 10:00pm. At 8:00pm they had 40 people who did not have a place to sleep in St. Jean and scrambled to find housing for them. Anyway, we got our Credentials and our first stamp and were soon back out. We moved to the grassy yard next to the office and ate a snack and planned our day. We took a walk to the post office and back, then went to our rooms for the night, which were not open until 3pm. Becky and I made a run across town to the grocery for lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch. Once back, we sat by the river that flows through town and ate lunch, then cruised the town and finally got into our room. 

Our room was a top floor, very nicely finished, very large room. Sally and Becky took naps while I wrote and read. We returned to the yes next to the office to eat our salad for dinner, walked to the starting point of the Camino and then returned to our room. The host boiled our 6 eggs for our breakfast in the common area and we retired to our room. Tomorrow we start walking!!

Interior of battery powered bus in Biarritz

Train station in Bayonne

Arriving!

Line at the Perigrino office to get Credentials 

Crowd inside Perigrino office


Getting our initial stamp in or credentials from Ulmut, a German volunteer working 13 hour days at the office to accommodate the 400 pilgrims a day. 

Unmet got a short break. We got an “usy”. 


St. Jean Pied de Pont Main Street in old city

At the entrance to the walled city of St. Jean. 

A quick jet lag nap in St. Jean after getting credentials and lunch

Salad for dinner in the yard next to the Perigrino office. 

May 1, 2023 - Day 1 - Flight from Seattle to London, Bus from Heathrow to Gatwick, flight to Biarritz, France, stay at Hotel Palmito.

Yesterday, we drove to PDX to pick up our awesome Camino hiking partner, Becky. We misjudged her arrival time and we were passing through Woodland when she touched down, coming from Phoenix via LA. The drive down and back was uneventful. We shared gear and trip ideas, had soup for dinner and called it a night about 10:00pm. 
In the morning, I had a few things to get done around the place, locking up and putting things away. 
Bill and Pat arrived as planned at 9:00 am sharp. We loaded into their beast and we were on our way to Sea-Tac for our 1:35pm flight to London. TSA was a breeze, then off to South Gates. There we found our flight was delayed until 2:11pm. We ate the lunch we packed, chicken breast sandwiches, apple slices, cheese and carrot sticks. 
Our flight attendants were great. You could tell they enjoyed working together and with the passengers. Becky made friends with Kevin. 
We squiggled a bit on landing in London, made our way through customs, then headed to the bus station for our ride to Gatwick. We found a ticket vending machine and were a bit startled at the price, 81£ ($103) for the 3 of us for a one hour bus ride. We had about ten minutes to find our bus stop and asked a airport worker who pointed us to the correct spot, station 11. When the bus pulled up we asked the driver if his was the correct bus. He looked at our receipt and audibly gasped at the price we had paid. He said it would have been cheaper to take a taxi. 
The ride was through heavy traffic. At Gatwick we used the restroom then went thru TSA and found a few chairs on the balcony where we could spend the next 4 hours watching the crowds of people come through and snoozing. 
Our EastJet flight said they would post what gate we were at come 3:05 and our tickets said the gate would close at 3:15. We staged ourselves in front of the big screen located at the entrance to the gates at 3:03, ready to sprint down which ever gateway our plane was waiting. At 3:05:23 they posted gate 14 and we scurried away. When we arrived just a few minutes later they we checking passports for boarding. Once past the check-in we sat for 20 minutes waiting to be allowed to walk on the plane. We were in row 2, right up in front of the plane. We watched the flight crew do their thing. 
Climbing to cruising altitude the engines made a terrible racket, but the flight crew showed no notice so I ignored it. Once up, the engines were throttled back and the noise ceased. 
Sally got up to us the toilet and found that someone had been sick in there and had left a mess. She reported it to the crew. They told her a women on the flight was very ill. We immediately put our masks on for the remained of the flight and opened and pointed the air vents directly at us. _Please!!! We don’t want to get sick. 
Once in the ground in Biarritz, France we took a taxi to our hotel. By now we were really dragging. It was 7:00pm, or 10:00am back home. We had been up for 28 hours, traveling for 25 of them. We took a short rest, then headed out to explore this seaside town on the Bay of Biscay, just a few miles north of the Spanish border. We checked out the water front just as the sun was setting. It is beautiful, reminiscent of the Portugal coast yet not as high of cliffs. It was stunning. Sally and I ate the last of our sandwiches from home and Becky had Spanish food right across the narrow street (pedestrian only) from our hotel. We were in bed by about 10:00. Tired as we were, sleep came hard as it was 1:00 in the afternoon “body time”, but sleep we did. Tomorrow we explore the city and run errands.