Having arrived on the TGV the night before to be greeted by torrential rain, we were a little disapointed to have travelled so far south of Manchester and found somewhere so wet. Still, when we awoke, it was sunny with few clouds, which was a relief - Karen had threatened me regarding the consequences of 2 weeks of camping in the rain, even if the rain was french, and I was justifiably worried. Now, the GR10 officially starts at Hendaye Casino on the beach, so after some sniggering about which pitch we had camped on, that was to be our 1st port of call, even if it did meen we had to walk half a mile there and then back right past the campsite. If we started scrimping this early-on, who knows what would happen, missing bits out here and there along the way, jumping over tough looking sections (as long as they were no longer than about 5 foot). Anyway, we went to the beach, where it rained on us again. Come to think about it, I think it rain on the way there as well. We wet our feet in the Atlantic (since neither of us was going to ceremoniously lose large sums of money in the casino) and set off.
Within 15 minutes we were lost in Hendaye - and it had rained on us again. I don't think we had even gone a mile yet. Once we found the railway bridge to go under, the navigation became easier and we were able to follow the red and white dashes that mark French Grand Randonées. We walked among low rolling hills and picturesque buildings for the 1st couple of miles until Biriatou, from where we started to rise to the Col d'Osin.
From the Col d'Osin we caught our 1st glimpse of La Rhune, near which we were to spend the night at the Col du Grand Escargas. About halfway there we passed through the Col d'Ibardin, a somewhat unexpectedly thronging street of tourist shops - it is the most westerly paved pass through the Pyrenees, where ice creams beckoned. We descended from the Col d'Ibardin into a cool wooded valley meandering along the river until we reached Inzola and started the last climb of the day to the Col du Grand Escargas. From here, facing East we were treated to the northern flank of La Rhune turning blood red as the sun sank into the Atlantic.