Early impressions of the Camino

I had walked only one day of the Camino Frances when the miracle of Anfield occurred (though as they are only my third favourite team, it might not be cause and effect). I have now done two and confidently expect/vaguely hope Brexit to have been abandoned by this evening.
Two days of lovely walking. It really is very green here and today we found out why as the rain fell for half the journey.
The first day involved a short walk - 7 miles or so - from St Jean to Valcarlos. It had to be a short walk as we had arrived in St Jean only that afternoon and the lady in the Pilgrim Office was very doubtful of our ability to get to Valcarlos safely before nightfall. I can only think that she thought  we looked even older and more decrepit than we actually are because we were in Valcarlos before 6.
The route was mainly on the backroads. We saw only a handful of cars and the roadside was studded with beautiful wildflowers. Any occasional house always had a lovely garden. It is a walk  I would happily do again.
The one downside was an exhausting 400 metre climb to get to Valcarlos and our accommodation. We had indulged a little because we knew that, after a long journey, we needed sleep. So we had a room, a bathroom etc in a Casa Rural. the friendly proprietor was more sanguine about Liverpool's chances than I was. I thought it was a formality and made no effort to find a bar showing the match. Instead, we had a lovely meal in a Valcarlos restaurant - 15 euros for my veg soup, confit of duck and local yoghurt, with half a bottle house red included. It was really good.
The waitress actually knew one of our choir songs, Agur Jaunak, and played it over the PA system for us.
Today the route to Roncesvalles was tougher. This was not just because of the rain - which was relatively light and stayed off for both start and finish but because of the steep incline, especially at the end. I was annoyed that, very near the summit, I lost concentration and strained my calf - I had worked hard to use a flat-footed form of motion that seemed to save me from pain. I am hoping that it will be fine tomorrow.
The peregrinos accommodation here is spectacular. A beautiful building, lovely surroundings and I just had a French woman wander in to our bunk space in her pink knickers. Oooh la la.
The other plus, in addition to the scenery, of the last two days has been meeting new people. That might well get old. Certainly, there are a lot of people doing this. I sincerely hope it thins out a bit - the auberge has had to turn away many people.

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