Image Hostel Saint-Jean From March 2003 until May 2014, we converted an old medieval town house at the foot of the Pyrenees into a pilgrim hostel. There, along with about 150 fellow volunteers, we received more than 28,000 pilgrims from all over the world. That was a great experience! Our former hostel was in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. It was (and is) a typical Basque house: thick walls, beautiful wooden floors, a grand staircase, and in the traditional colours: red and white. It is one of the oldest houses in Saint-Jean. We restored the façade in 2009: the plaster was removed, so that the old timber became visible again.Gradually, we realized that this hostel was 'finished' and we got the idea to create one last new hostel on the Camino. By a miraculous coincidence it happened that our best Basque friends, Joxelu and Jakline, wanted to takeover the hostel in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. They are doing so under the name of Beilari. This is Basque and means 'pilgrim'. By yet another strange coincidence we found our new house in the hamlet of Le Chemin (= the way!), in the municipality of Anthien, near Vézelay. We took our 'old' name with us: 'L'Esprit du Chemin' in ... Le Chemin. *** Photo albumHostel: 2003 - 2014 (by: Klaas Mors and many other photographers) Une halte sur le chemin (2011)Commissioned by French broadcaster KTO, Chloë made a programme about welcoming pilgrims in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the last French stop before crossing the Pyrenees. The video on the right shows the footage shot in our hostel (French). Video (2012)Bets Evers made this video in our hostel.