Day 16 Santiago and planning the return

Monte do Gozo to Santiago de Compestela

8.35 (total 555.96)

Getting back to Bayonne is proving difficult. We enquired at Tourist Information and they told us that we cannot take bikes on trains. We then went to the station where we were told we can take bikes on regional trains only. And there are limited spaces for bikes on some trains so reservations need to be made. Already we have talked about alternatives such as flying home as we have spotted that bikes can be sent on from Santiago for €49. We have also talked about heading to Santander for the ferry.

We decided to try and head back tomorrow (Friday) so that we had a buffer of a day should we need it, and so we could be back in Bayonne with time to spare. In the event this proves not possible as there are no spaces for the bikes on the part of the journey that we need to reserve bike spaces. Jose at the station does manage to make the reservations for Saturday but as there is no connecting train from Santiago on Saturday we have to set off on Friday night. By doing this we can get to Irun / Hendaye on the Spanish / French border by late Saturday night. Phone calls home (and then to Liz in France) suggest that there is a train from Hendaye to Bayonne about 7:00 on Sunday morning but this is not certain. If all this works then we will be in Bayonne for 8:00 Sunday morning in time to meet up with the Bike Express at 9:30. Not a lot of room for error.

The schedule is

Santiago cathedral

Friday 17:20 Santiago to Ourence

Saturday 8.42 to arrive Leon 12:45

Saturday 14:45 to arrive Palencia 16:10

Saturday 16:52 to arrive Irun 21:08

Saturday find our way from Irun to Hendaye

Sunday about 7:00 to Bayonne

We book tickets as far as Palencia knowing that there is much that can go wrong.

The rest of the day is spent in Santiago but frankly, I am disappointed. The cathedral is imposing but the whole place is full of tourists and feels brash after spending two weeks in rural areas in the company of pilgrims. I am happy sitting in the cathedral and watching the square as it pulses with life. I take a tour of the cathedral including visiting the relics of St James but then I go back to Monte do Gozo to wash clothes. After that I sit with Chris and Pedro in the cafe watching the Tour de France.