I caught a plane Gatwick to Bordeuax, then train to Hendaye (if possible fly to Biaritz, its nearer to Hendaye) and camped the night on a site by the beach. I used Sitytrail for the whole route, excellent! The route to St Jean Pied du Port was a bit strenous, a couple of high routes to get over, quite a few people walked my way as well. En route, big shopping centre, miles from anywhere at Col d'lbardin, really took me by suprise!Then you will cross La Rhune railway line, onto Sare and Ainhoa, good campsites at both. Brilliant and cheap campsite at St Etienne de Baigorry. By the time you get to St Jean you will be well tuned in to everyday hiking, it took me 6 days to get there and by now I felt lean and strong!
At this point you I'm sure will notice, like me, that most people will now walk south on the Camino into Spain, whilst a few people like me and you will keep on the GR10. From now on you will notice that there are not many people around! You will also notice that villages are further apart and that you are now hiking really in big open spaces. Look out for Cafe Pedro, great coffee and Basque Tart! I stopped at Larrau as I found myself with a hernia! Walked on to Lescun over three days, big country, big sky, lovely villages and thr mountains seem to get bigger every day. Eventually, days later you will get to Luz St Sauveur. you now have a choice. Go to Gavarnie and then to St Lary Soulan, or go from Luz St Sauveur directly to St Lary Soulan. I didn't do the loop to Gavarnie, I reget that now.
Please look up the other GR10 route description on the site, an entry just posted to mit. Really good and accurate.
I did have rest days, about one day per week, but by now I was really feeling exhausted, but in a good way. I plodded on and on, the Arieage area was lovely but I didn't see a soul for three days! It them became what felt like a never ending route. For me the first feeling of getting near the end was when I walked under the motorway from France to Spain, a few days later and my feet were in the Mediterranean. Its a really long way, I was lucky, at that time I was in the mood and up for it, the challenge in many ways was nothing like I had ever done before or would do again.
On the second to last day SityTrail camne into its own. I had to hike through thick fog for about 10 km, lost the route more than once so just let my app guide me. As I verred from the path, it bleeped, when I was back on the path it bleeped again, a real lifesaver!
I camped one night in Banyuls Sur Mere and then caught a bus to Perpignan. It cost me 1 euro for about a 40 mile bus ride, one of the financial benefits of being old! I just turned up at the train station and caught the next TVG, about 85 euros, to Paris. My first time on one, travelled at 305km an hour for what seem more than 2 hours. Stayed in Paris one night (slept on a seat in the waiting area of Charles De Gaulle airport) then caught a TVG to Calais, (about 45 Euros) then boat, (£25) then train (£15.50) from Dover to Portsmouth.
I hesitated for about 4 years before I had the nerve to hike this route, so glad I did it!