Distance traveled: 12.6 km 

This was our final shorter day for a while. We had heard that the one albergue in the town we had originally planned to end in was full, so we opted for a half day rather than a really long (30 km) day. After having breakfast together, most of the group started off. Adam and I lingered for a haircut and shoe shopping, respectively. While waiting for the stores to open, we had another coffee in a pretty fancy cafe in which I felt amusingly out of place in my walking clothes (though no one gave us a second glance). I still wasn’t quite used to spending all of my time in a rotation of three outfits! Although I initially viewed it as a bit of an indulgence, I had brought a jean shirt-dress in order to have something other than athletic gear to wear, and I was really glad to have it (as it was also very comfortable to sleep in and gave me more flexibility in terms of washing my walking outfits). Coming from Paris, where a joke is that you get fully dressed up to take out the trash (it’s true), it was quite an adjustment to spend time in only casual gear, particularly in the evenings when we were out “in public”!

Wearing Tevas made an immediate difference in my level of physical comfort (though, given that I wore the sandals with socks, they added to my “I’m not in Paris anymore!” fashion moment). My toes finally weren’t rubbing against anything as I walked.

Despite this, I found the three-hour walk to Navarrete rather tedious. I’m not sure what caused my bad mood. It was warm but not unbearably hot, and the path was pretty pleasant. Once I got out of town (where the signage could have been a bit clearer), there was a long path through a public park that ultimately led to a larger park situated around a lake.

I did run into Pam, the woman with whom I’d arrived in Roncesvalles on day one; I hadn’t seen her since then! She and her son were walking together again, and she was in good spirits despite having had some physical setbacks of her own during the past week. I didn’t see her again after this, but I was really glad to see her one more time.

The path also took us next to what appeared to be an official government vineyard of some sort. Each row of vines was labeled with its grape type – tempranillo (the main grape used in Rioja), garnacha (aka grenache), and many others I’d never heard of. I wish I could have asked someone what this place was and what they were doing!

Navarette was a cute little town, and it was a great place to spend the night. It’s home to a church with a truly astonishing interior. The picture below doesn’t do it justice. You can insert a coin to illuminate the wall behind the altar; it’s entirely gold-plated.

Since we had more than the usual amount of time to kill in the afternoon, Agnes organized a little happy hour for us in the albergue. We drank pre-mixed tinto de verano, which is similar to sangria. I think somehow this was the only time we ended up doing this, but it was a great way to head into the evening!

We eventually transitioned to the town’s main square for dinner and got to eat outside, which was really lovely. I also had the pleasure of reuniting with Alma, my friend from the first night in Saint Jean, and William, who’d been one of my bunk mates in Roncesvalles. The two of them had been walking together since Pamplona at a slower pace but had done a longer day that had allowed them to catch up to us. It happened to be William’s birthday, so we had a nice festive spirit among us.

It’s a good thing we had such a good evening, because the rest of the night was horrible – probably the worst one of the Camino for all of us. I think there were about 12 people sleeping in our room, and one of them turned out to have sleep apnea. His snoring was shockingly loud and disruptive. He was the only one not awake! While my earplugs had generally served to block out snoring sufficiently up to this point, they failed completely on this occasion, and it was a very long night indeed.