How to get a quart into a pint pot!

The last week has been rather busy gathering final bits and pieces together that I think I might need and tying up loose ends before I leave, not to mention making sure I have contact details for anyone and everyone who I may need to contact, including suppliers of kitchen sinks.  The planning and anticipation are all part of the fun of the trip for me, but I'm glad it's almost done.  The biggest challenge so far has been how to get all this into a manageable rucksack with a weight I can realistically carry for 500 miles. 

Hmmm!

Well, after lots of rubbing of chins, sitting on the bed and thinking, weighing and reweighing, I've actually removed very little.  Luckily though, Graham is coming with me for the first bit of the walk, as far as St Jean Pied de Port, and what has been removed has largely ended up in his rucksack just in case I find mine is actually a bit light and I could carry more - I can have it back when he leaves!  Ha ha!  The trouble is, I'm not sure what the weather will do, how my body will hold up etc. etc. and I'm such a novice I've no idea what will be needed and what superfluous.  And I'm a bit of a sucker for contingency planning.  I've no doubt that Graham will end up bringing stuff back with him when he leaves me after the first week of walking, and that I'll be sending more stuff back a couple of weeks further on when the kilometres continue to take their toll.  Anyway, the pack is full and miraculously most of the stuff from the bed is now here....

At last it's almost time to leave, the planes are flying again and my kind neighbours laid on a lovely get-together to send me on my way.  This time tomorrow I should be fast asleep in St Jean de Luz, looking forward to a quiet day enjoying the lovely town before starting THE WALK on Tuesday.  I'm excited but also a bit apprehensive - this is by far the biggest physical thing I've ever done.  But don't we have to push the boundaries from time to time.

Oh, I almost forgot - just so you know where I'm heading, I've added the itinerary as a link on the right hand side of the blog page, and here's the view from Google Earth: