Day 1 - Gratefulness and Practical Matters of getting there

Blog 2 - trains, planes, and buses
A lot of natural resources expended to get to the start of our trip. We began about 40 hours ago and have since Taxied to the airport, flown to Paris, taken two flights inside France to Barritz, taken two buses, and now await the last two trains to arrive at St Jean Pied du Port - the traditional start of the the Camino de Santiago. The irony of all of this modern travel to walk a 1000 year old 500 mile pilgrimage is not lost on me. We could have certainly strapped on our packs and simply hiked back to California.
We are very privileged that we have the time and resources to take what most people would consider a once-in-a-lifetime type of trip. As I sit here drinking my second cappuccino in the cafe across from the train station, I realize that, while relatively inexpensive, even the ability to enjoy a second cup of coffee in a sit-down establishment without fretting about our budget is a 1%er activity.
I hope I can consider to feel grateful for my good fortune while thinking about ways in which I can share my wealth with others.

cappuccinos and Bluetooth keyboard

On the less philosophical side, in case anyone who is reading this actually wants some advice about the Camino, here's what I've learned. We debated a lot about how to get to St. Jean. Our first choice was where to fly into. Paris had relatively cheap and direct flights from Seattle - given our choice to fly to Biarritz, several other European airports may have worked just as well. One option from Paris would have also been train - they ran regularly but ultimately took about 6 hours - seems like given the time we were arriving, getting to St. Jean that day was questionable - we would probably end up in Bayonne or Biarritz anyway, so we decided to fly - a choice that was almost costly as we had a connecting flight through Lyon France that we almost missed. In hindsight, I might have opted for the train. In addition, we chose to stay in an Air BNB in Biarritz. Biarritz is a cute sea-side town that would have been nicer on a sunny, less wind-stormy day. It would have been easier (once again in hindsight ) to catch a bus from the Biarritz airport to Bayonne OR to have gotten organized transport to St. Jean (something I read in my guidebook this morning). All-in-all, nothing wrong with our plans but I might do it a bit differently if I had to start from France again (including walking from Notre Dame!).

made it to start!

My post didn't go out at breakfast as my WIFI dropped and we were about to miss our train. I now sit on my last section mass transit (I hope). The short mountain train from Bayonne to St. Jean is winding through the quaint Basque countryside, filled with streams, cottages, and sheep. Hopefully the weather won't keep us from our 8k hike up the Pyrennees (sp?) and our first Camino accommodation - where I hope to find more WIFI and make this post.