13 miles today, bringing our total for the walk from Le Puy to St Jean Pied de Port to 486 miles. That is the formal end of our journey.
Okay, as explained, we are now in the Basque country. The Basque country, which spans both France and Spain, consider themselves semiautonomous; Basques first, then French or Spanish.
Last night’s gite (hostel) was run by a Basque couple who cooked us a Basque meal, told us Basque history, and sang several Basque songs. Here is a short piece of one of the songs (not really a worthy representation of the great singing)
The evening ended with a phenomenal moonrise, which was nearly full. 
Alas, the last day of hiking together had to come, so we hit the road. 
Diane led the way, pointing out the directions in both French and Basque languages. 
And in too short a time, we arrived in St Jean, where we started our first Camino four years ago. 
We will save our observations and thoughts for the next few days. For now, we will simply enjoy the moment.
Love having pictures with both of you. It’s great to see your smiles.
It brings tears to my eyes as I look up on your faces and the end of this part of the journey. I am inspired, I am amazed, and more than anything I’m so deeply proud of the two of you. I look forward to hearing the reflections and new plans! I’m glad you got a couple of pictures of the both of you as I think it’s going to be really important to look back and see your smiling faces together. Love you both deeply
Willow, you have been an amazing support for us the whole journey. Thank you, thank you! We’re waiting with anticipation to read all your great stories!
As we are enjoying the pictures of you, Natalie and the whole family!
Fantastic effort Bill and Diane. You are both an inspiration to all to get out there and just “do it”.
Very pleased to have met you both along “The Way”.
Thank you, Libby and Paul. You two, along with Chantal and Ross are inspirations to do these adventures with style! I will forever remember Paul running downhill into Sauges, after many kilometers of hiking. Your explanation? There’s beer to be had down there! Keep up your adventuring and keep us in touch!
Congratulations Bill & Diane. Long may the adventure of life continue. Great to have met this year on the way, Chantal has her hip replacement surgery tomorrow, so will be ready to go for Camino 2019! Rest up and enjoy the rest of your holiday!
Ross & Chantal! Thank you for your kind words and encouragement! We knows you have an amazing track record of adventures and we’r are looking forward to hearing of the next ones. Best wishes for a speedy recovery for Chantal and her knee surgery.
Didn’t you post somewhere that Bill was going on to Roncesvalles? I thought I read that, but I can’t find it in your posts. What’s up for today? Love you both
Congratulations on another huge journey. I’ve enjoyed reading along and I’ve even shown a few posts to my coworkers who are now extremely jealous of your “retired” lifestyle.
Hi Micah. Where they may be jealous of our lifestyle, ws are so proud of you and your accomplishments. We have enjoyed so much talking about you, and each of your sisters, to the French and now to the many others we are meeting (the “end” of the French chemin is the beginning of the most famous and more international “Camino Frances”). We love you.