Day #2 May 18, 2018 Orisson, France to Roncesvalles, Spain

Thursday evening there were 40 plus pilgrims in Orisson. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and then we were asked to share our name, country of origin and the reasons we were walking the Camino. The entire globe was represented. Taiwan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, England, France, Italy, Sweden, The Netherlands, and the US. Our group was comprised of men and women, short and tall, overweight and underweight, young (20 something) and old (70 something), couples and singles, gay and straight, and many many eye colors, hair colors and skin colors and religions/philosophies. We experienced varying degrees of exhaustion caused by the hike to Orisson from Saint Jean Pied-de-Port. And our next challenge was to complete crossing the Pyrenees on Friday. Thursday we hiked just 8 km but we increased our elevation to 800m rapidly. Friday’s hike consists of 18km with a rise to 1400m. The tricky part is coming down into Roncesvalles. This was a physically difficult day. There were struggles and injuries right alongside the incredible beauty. The quietude was interrupted by birdsong, cow bells and sheep bleating occasionally. The quietude was also interrupted with people’s panting and groaning. For some people it was easy but not for most. Most struggled. Most had a lockjaw determination to accomplish this leg of the journey. Day #2 is tough. Guess what? We all made it. The physically fit 20 year olds and the not so fit 78 year old and everyone in between made it to Roncesvalles. It took some people all morning. It took some people all day. It did not matter. None of it mattered – not gender, age, nationality, race, religion, physical condition or anything else that separates us. We all made it. So why is that important you might wonder? It’s important because every step on this pilgrim path is a prayer for peace. We all took our steps.