Our luck with the weather is unchanged today. The day dawns drizzly and grey, with low clouds over St Jean. Despite an excellent night’s sleep after the efforts yesterday, and a very nice breakfast from our kind and hospitable hosts, it was a grim prospect when setting off out from under the shelter of the carport. A quick zip down to the Lidl for bread, tomatoes and avocado dip (we do live the high life), and then undulating, but relentlessly increasing climbing for the next 27 km. We saw many signs for the guidance of Camino pilgrims today, as their ‘bad weather’ route parallelled the main road, or even at times they had to use the road for short sections. It was steep, but it could have been worse, as the heavy rain that was feared did not eventuate. The fog, or perhaps more correctly, the low cloud made visibility an issue as we neared the 1000 m mark. The traffic was consistent, but not heavy, and only a comparatively few large trucks, though several of these were towing large trailers as well - luckily we didn’t get caught on a bend with these monsters. But we finally made it to the summit, and checked out the San Salvador Hermitage, which looked like a bad weather shelter for pilgrims as well, but which was locked today. The descent was as pleasant as could be in the circumstances, as the surface of the road got drier as we descended and the road was in good condition and often had a good verge to stay clear of the traffic. It was however very cold on the descent, 11 degrees by the time stopped for lunch so probably colder higher up. Near the summit of the pass is Roncesvalles, famous in history and legend for the death of Roland in 778, during the battle of Roncevaux Pass, when Charlemagne's rear guard was destroyed by Basque tribes. Since the Middle Ages, this collegiate church of Santa María de Orreaga/Roncesvalles has been a favorite resting place for Catholic pilgrims along the French Way path, the most popular variant of the Way of St. James, since it is the first place to have a rest after crossing the French Pyrenees. The church, a former pilgrim's hospice, was built at the end of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries. The oldest building is the Chapel of Sancti Spiritus, or "Charlemagne's Silo" built in Romanesque style in the 12th century. Very pleasant riding conditions as we got lower in altitude, and the traffic didn’t really build up until we got quite close to the city, which is extensive! Our biggest day in terms of climbing (1408 m) and longest distance too (79.8 km)! The forecast is for increasingly warm weather, which should be pleasant for our day here in Pamplona, before heading to the coast.