day 25 – draft
Saturday, 30 April 2016
Arthez-de-Bearn  to  Navarrenx
29 km today - 677 km to date

Breakfast is do it yourself in the municipal gite.  Yesterday had some views of the pyrenees: today there is none as it is a murky low cloud day.  And shortly after I set off the rain sets in.  I am on the road today and will be nowhere near the pathway.  Then the wind picks up. I make my first way point in quite good time and so onto my stop for lunch, Mourenx. As I approach the town centre I pass an advertising hoarding for Renault cars offering a good pack(age) with some forwards either side of the car and a half-back offloading to another. Clearly I'm in rugby country.


Mourenx has an open market so most of my fruit lunch is quickly bought.  Then for some coffee.  While Mourenx has a town centre there is no real shopping that I can see.


I move on and after about 3 km both  a strong wind quickly followed by heavy rain sets in.   I am caught unaware and cannot deploy my poncho.  Getting wet and cold is not my idea of an enjoyable time and I thumb for a ride.  My luck is eventually in and  a woman with a car that has seen better days stops.  As soon as she understands where I am from she proceeds to do “the” haka while the car steers itself.


I arrive safely in Navarrenx and order the pilgrims meal at the restaurant I have been dropped outside.


Book myself in at the municipal gite and do not have an evening meal.

And so to bed.