HRP Day 1 - Hendaye to Bera

I had planned to start the hike 4 days ago but delayed things because the forecast was very wet. However, over the last 4 days the new forecast has got gradually worse and it is now almost as bad as when I delayed things. Today should be wet from time to time and tomorrow looks horrible, with heavy rain from dawn till dusk. As a result, I've changed my destination tonight to Bera, in Spain, where I've been able to book a hotel, the Hostal Zalain. 

Today is a Sunday and that has made the planning a bit tight. The earliest train gets me to the Hendaye just before 11.00 and the reception in the hotel closes early, so I can't mess around at the start. Straight out of the station and heading east, looking for the GR10's red and white stripes. I soon picked them out and started following them. There are a few marginal (almost spurious) differences between the GR10 and the HRP at the start; I just followed the GR10 to save navigation time.

Getting out of Hendaye and into the countryside went smoothly and I was soon hiking in rolling hills and heading towards la Rhune, a well known Basque hill. There were lots of short, sharp ups and downs before I took a tunnel under the motorway and found myself on a more sustained climb. The gray weather and scenery were almost Scottish, but the rain held off and I soon arrived at the Col d'Ibardin on the border. At this point, I left the HRP and headed down to Bera on a Spanish hiking trail. 

The Town Hall (on the right) in Bera

In Bera, I passed the town hall and saw a moving memorial to the Spanish civil war (the families of Francists were expelled from the village and the memorial denoted this by metal footprints in the village square). I picked out the start of tomorrow's hike before heading to the hotel, which was actually a couple of kilometers out of town. English was my language of communication in the hotel - the patronne huffily didn't speak any English, but her staff were eager to help. My room was modest, but it had everything I needed and only cost 25 euros.

Later on I went out for a meal at a bar called Zubiondo where French worked better for communication. There was a nice family atmosphere and I watched pelote basque on the TV as I ate.