AlmostAdventurous: Day 1 - Oloron Ste Marie to Sarrance (23.4km)

Yesterday we travelled by train from Carcassonne to Oloron Ste Marie (connections in Toulouse and Pau) and stayed in Oloron Ste Marie. We were unable to contact the hotel we wanted (Hotel Bristol) in advance and found that it was fully booked. They recommended the Hotel de la Paix where we got the last room. We walked to the old cathedral and around this cute town getting our bearings. The marker near the cathedral says it is 948km to Santiago!!

Day 1 (9/23) - Oloron Ste Marie to Sarrance (23.4 km): What a day! We knew we were poorly organized and that this route would be much different than last year's Camino Frances but not this different. Getting out of town wasn't too bad but we were still learning how/where the way would be marked. We don't have a good map (i.e. one showing the trail) and the instructions that I downloaded aren't too clear. We made a small side-step but got back on the road and found the place where the trail first leaves the road. The markings are pretty good but a bit sparse. There are red and white stripes indicating the French GR653 (usually) alongside the familiar yellow scallop shell symbol. The villages were pretty small and we found no open cafes or bars. The path was through forests and on small roads. We had a picnic lunch of baguette, soft cheese and olives and continued on. The distance ended up being a bit more than expected by 1.4km and the end-point of Sarrance was described as a "sleepy village" and that was an understatement. There should have been two small hotels and we only noticed one and it was closed. The pilgrim's hostel run by the monastery was nowhere to be found. I was very worried and while Cindy was waiting for me to find a room, found a bus stop with a schedule bus passing through in a few minutes so ran back and got Cindy, We were discussing taking the bus into Spain and two people walked by. They did not speak english but I indicated by sign language we wanted a place to sleep. They asked if we were "Pelerins" (French for Pilgrims) and we said, "oui" and they led us back to the monastery and showed us how to enter. It looked abandoned but we found someone (who spoke english) and he showed us the pelerin area. There were about 9 people counting us and several were english speakers. We are now settled in after a great shower and things are looking up! It was a very stressful experience and seemed like we might have nowhere to stay! Had a nice visit with the Canadian pilgrims and they called ahead to make reservations for us at the sam Gite d'etape where they will stay tomorrow. We wandered around looking for the refectory and found it -- dinner was interesting. There are two priests here, one is 88 years old and the "young one" must be nearly 70. Other than the priests, there were ~10 pilgrims and a local couple. Food was nothing special but the whole experience was quite nice.

We will only be walking in France for 3 days so thought things would be easier. However, speaking French and making advance reservations, even in a monastery, seem more than a bit important!