The most useful sign I've come across.

Day 9 Wednesday 5th May
St Jean Pied de Port to Hosta 12 miles

I had a real treat in store. A french friend from 40 years ago (the older sister of my French correspondant from schooldays) who now lives just 4km from St Jean Pied de Port came to collect my bag at breakfast
time and would then collect me from Hosta when I finished. I set out in the heavy rain but with light feet and the walking was easy - for the first couple of hours. I was following the Pilgrim route to begin with so it was also easy to find the path. The familiar red and White signs of the Grandes Randonnees made an appearance. My favourite is the red and white cross which tells you where not to go, stopping mistakes even if you've missed the main signs.




Once off the GR route it was a different matter. So wet it was difficult to read the map and the paths were difficult to find. I ended up on a path parallel to mine but lower down the valley. No problem, you'd think. Wrong. It stopped. A cul de sac. I knew exactly where I was thanks to the GPS on the iPhone but without retracing my steps for at least 3 miles I didn't know how to get out of there. On a dry day I could have scrambled up the slope to the correct path. On this very wet day that was really tricky as the slope had become very slippery. Anyway, eventually I arrived in Hosta dripping wet and waited for Kimi to collect me and take me back for a bath (bliss) a meal and a chance to dry my maps, clothes, money etc and have a very sound sleep.