Appart'Hotel Les Marquises Lourdes

... from the French side, knowing that just on the other side was the Ordessa Canyon that we had walked 3 days early.

Back at the Hotel Chili, Sue defended her title as mini-golf champion, even though all the obsticals had been removed. After dinner, Sue checked out the ...

... They don't have the same impact only because getting to the base is a longer walk. But they are big!! Apparently it is a popular ice climbing destination. Yikes!!

         

... of those guys flying up and down these crazy roads. Everyone was very happy to see us when got back and enjoyed a nice pizza in town complete with a little kiddie room with toys. They know how to make it comfortable for parents with kids.
 
                             

... cute main town. Clearly, rock climbing is very popular in this area. In the photos, play "spot the climber."

                 

On Sunday, we checked into new home, Hotel Chili, which is all self-contained apartments. The accommodation was simple but was made up for by the giant lawn with Mini-Golf course, free range chickens, and playground within walking distance. And FREE LAUNDRY!!! Needless to say, Sue was in heaven. We played Mini-golf that night and Sue kicked Tom's butt. Embarrassing...

       

The next day, we took the kids for a lunch time hike along the GR10 to Lac du Gaube with a view of Vignemale the highest mountain in the French ...

We spent a lazy day in and around our hotel, casually visiting Luz Saint Sauveur, about 10 minutes from our hotel. We also drove up to Gavarnie, the famous Cirque in the region. There weren't much in the ways of views as the mountains were in the clouds.
 
 

This was our earliest start of our day, as Ev, Julie, and Dami needed to get to Madrid by noon, which is a 5 hour drive in the best conditions. So 6am we said our goodbyes from the parking lot across the street from our campground. Why? Because the gates don't open until 8am. They drove off while Sue, Tom, Evie ...

... everyone could pray and light candles (which we did). We filled up the little bottles we had bought with eau de Lourdes and then weren't sure what to do next since it was so cold and wet. After sitting inside the visitor center for a little while and coming up with our schedule for the day, we visited the Basilique du Rosaire and then did a little shopping in what was by far the largest and most impressive of the shops (what I dubbed "the Catholic Wal-Mart...without all the ...

... might call it... It's something the mongolians use to put around the legs of their horse so it doesn't run off too far. We used our thing too tie the horses to a rope at night, but one of them, often tried to pull it off. They thought it looked very beatifull, so we swapped... I think it was like a trofee to them... I think any equipement that looks foreign, (has bright colors or a different material then they're used to) may intrigue them... Bridles maybe? the bit ...