Urdos to Confranc Estacion

Last night the weather forecast for today was dire which made it easy for me to decide to take the far less challenging cycle route over the Somport Pass and into Spain.
The morning turned out dry and overcast and I had a moment of regret. It didn’t last long and the views from the road as the clouds lifted were gorgeous. I would have seen far less if I’d been coping with rocky ascents in woodland. I took a couple of diversions including one to the Lac d’Anglus where I had an early picnic lunch ie croissant from breakfast.
I reached the summit of the pass around 2pm, over 14 or so kilometres you really don’t notice the steady climb. The sun came out and I stopped for a coffee in the National Park centre. A 100m further on I crossed into Spain and the Pyrenees became the Pirineos.
After walking on the road for several hours it felt good to join the official Camino route which for the final 8 kilometres into Confranc Estacion was entirely off road. The blip is the view I had descending towards Confranc. The Camino in Spain is so much better waymarked and the infrastructure on this route is impressive, steps, the occasional handrail and pedestrian only bridges.
The sheep were guarded by a large Pyrenean dog, which I gave a wide berth and once it realised I wasn’t a wolf or a bear it lost interest.