Ay! Que rico!

Time to catch up about the first few days of my trip! It has been a solid reminder of both the things I love most and not so much about travelling. I left Regina on a morning flight on Tuesday and arrived in my destination of Paris late on Wednesday afternoon - a full 24 hours of travel and stopovers. But not too much to complain about, really...no delayed flights, no screaming babies, no body cavity searches through customs. I even sat beside a pleasant guy who chatted just the right amount to pass the time but not disturb my sleep on the way over the pond.

Paris was its usual busy and sort of smelly self, but I booked a great little hostel in the heart of Montmartre, three blocks from the Sacre Coeur, and I met a few great people right away. Dinner and drinks with strangers in Paris actually does top my list of cool things to do while travelling solo :) My first day was spent wandering the Champs Elysees and visiting the busy Notre Dame Cathedral, eating crepes de Nutella and drinking cafe au lait. I even visited the Rodin Museum, topping off my cultural events for one day in Paris. Did I mention the creme brulee at the Cafe Deux Moulins? That's the cafe that Amelie Poulin worked at in the famous movie Amelie. Let me top the day off with a little bar hopping and dancing with new friends Nicolas from Quebec, Rosy from Devonshire and Jessica from Guadalajara. I cant possibly keep up the pace for the rest of the trip at my age...but I have never been accused of being a quitter ;)

So how can I possibly top that on day two? Well, as much as I like dining with strangers, meeting up with friends is even better. I took the train from Paris to Biarritz, where my Basque friend Eunate met me with open arms. What a wonderful and generous person! Along with her charming boyfriend Pablo, we toured the beautiful beach at Biarritz, getting my first taste of the warm weather and water of the Bay of Biscay. Next we sped across the border into Spain, ahem, the Navarra - don't tell her I called it Spain!! Basque first, Spanish only when necessary - to check out the big film festival in Donostia (better known as San Sebastian). Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon were there, not that I saw them. But what an amazingly beautiful and clean city. Pinchos and cerveza were next on the list of must-dos. Pinchos are similar to their more well-known southern cousins, tapas. Que rico!

So, all in all, I can't imagine my first few days going any better than that! Have I mentioned how much I love travelling? Oh yeah, and I went to Pamplona for a crazy Basque festival last night, where I got my first look at the Camino de Santiago (no, I haven't forgotten about the 800km I came here to walk!). I will spend the next couple of days with Eunate and then begin my Camino from the Basque town of Roncesvalles, rather than crossing the border once more and starting from St. Jean Pied de Port as I originally intended. That part of the trail is supposedly one of the mas duro, most difficult, of the whole trek, and my ankle is still pretty sensitive. I see no point in overduing it my first day when I am already so close to the traditional starting point of my Spanish compadres. When in Rome...