2023 Sep 15-16 Refuge Orisson

 

Arriving at Refuge Orisson felt like a huge accomplishment. We had underestimated the time and energy it would take to walk there. It was nearing sundown and we were hungry. A light rain had started to move people in from the large outdoor mountain-view terrace. Inside, a waitress served a delicious looking meal to a pilgrim. That’s when we learned. The kitchen had JUST closed. Boo to the Hoo Hoo Hoo. It would not reopen until the scheduled communal dinner later that night. Thankfully, their staff knew the hungry look in our eyes. One look at us and we can't disguise, we got hungry eyes. They offered a "non-restaurant" meal. It was perfect! Plus, it was served with love from the heart. Then Martha discovered that there was a non-pilgrim visitor from St. Jean Pied-de-Port. She was the kind restaurant owner who had helped serve us dinner two nights previous when their place got super busy. A mild Hug-fest and a pic ensued.

We managed to check in and were assigned our room. It would be our first shared dorm of the Camino. There were lots of do's and don'ts to get used to. We unpacked and tried reconciling the unfamiliar. We, along with our new roommates kept scuttling in and out of the room. We all looked at each other kindly yet suspiciously. Are you the symphonic snorer? Are you the one who will keep their lights on? Are you the one who will clang the door every time you go to the bathroom? Camino Confession: I only clanged it twice. The third time was already time to get up. 

Right around 7pm we were summoned to dinner. As we were still in semi-shock, we were the last ones to get there so we ended up at separate, yet adjoining, tables. The owner(?) announced that the tradition is that all pilgrims introduce themselves and share why they are walking the Camino. There were some reasons based on sad stories, there were some that were spiritual, and there were plenty that were purely recreational in nature. Martha, an unintentional pilgrim, became emotional. Women do that. Listening to her, I became emotional. Women will do that to you. In summation: Women. In further summation: Will do that to you.

Us pilgrims that night were quite diverse in country of origin. Here is Martha at her table with people from Taiwan, Australia, the U.S., Argentina, South Korea, and Mexico/US. Only the name Carolina comes to mind as she is the one who asked Martha to translate for her - she was walking in honor of a Virgin who was the protector of pilgrims from Argentina. 

The assigned beds were in the lower level of a two-story multi-room dorm perched on a hill. The roof was the floor of the terrace mentioned previously. The window faced empty mountain air and out into the lush landscape. Eight persons were to be on four bunk beds. Right outside the room door, there were lockers with keys, charging outlets, and back near the entrance were two shared shower stalls with water that would only come out for five minutes by inserting a coin issued to each pilgrim at check-in. That’s right, five minutes. G’luck!

This is the place where we first saw how the guests must remove shoes and place them and any trekking poles in designated areas - made perfect sense. This is also where SOME pilgrims didn't have the right charging cables for the limited USB ports. Thanks Paul from Philadelphia for helping SOME pilgrim by borrowing the right cable from a different roommate for that SOME pilgrim. Now that's Pilgrimocity at its micro-finest.

Hang 'em high. After purveying the room and its occupants it became necessary to provide essential foot aroma therapy for all those who didn't know that they were born less fortunate - or simply had never learned how to faint before. Or, maybe it was really only necessary to relieve the immense soreness of the feet after only one day of walking. As for me, I'd like to faintly think it was both.

    

    

        

                         

The Sun Also Rises is the first novel by the American writer Ernest Hemingway. It portrays American and British expatriates who travel along the Camino de Santiago from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona and watch the running of the bulls and the bullfights (Wikipedia).

Obviously Ernie left out a lot of other details, but his famous novel's title definitely was inspired somewhere. I'll take a guess...

Orisson: The Sun Also Rises

mario@mmddestinos.com

Next: Orisson - Roncesvalles