Best Western Continental Pau

... nothing much new awaits. Meanwhile, the prospect of your own bed begins to appeal...
So, there we are: mission accomplished. Above all, I have to say that I for one am mighty relieved that we have managed without any mishaps. Always a worry, whenever you leave home. There were moments - say, in the hills of deepest Albania - where I did wonder what the hell we would do if we broke down. Fortunately, this wasn't a problem.
Overall highs: without a ...

... the same statuettes and bottles in which to collect your holy water. It was difficult to feel any empathy with the people there when it seems to us to be little more than a huge sales opportunity for the church. Difficult to like but interesting to visit!

Mike could recognize very little of Pau as expected. It seemed a lot bigger, but it was interesting to revisit the were Mike spent a miserable and lonely month all those years ago

... down and back up the Col de

Soulor (1464m), which you will honestly hardly notice! The swoopy descent to Argeles-Gazost

is great and the pretty town provides a good opportunity to stop for some lunch. Unfortunately

from here we meet out first busy road which takes us up the gorge to Luz-St Sauveur. Next up

is the Col De Tourmalet (2115m), a mountain climb which ...

WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID: After a group dipping of our toes in the Atlantic, we depart at 09.00am and head up the coast road for a while before turning inland on a selection of beautifully quiet roads.

Today we pass through the Basque heartland with distinctive burgundy and white buildings, bullrings and pelot courts. Unfortunately we will not have much time for sightseeing as we undulate our way over the Col De St ...

So, nearly ready for the off! Thankfully, false alarm about arrival of guests to take over house in absence means we have one more day in which to prepare... much needed!
We will just about get there - I think.
Round about now it occurs to us we really ought to have assembled scooter on trailer and gone for little spin to test strapping arrangement, etc... just to make sure it all holds up. Oh well, the road will be a good test of all that... I guess.

... stayed for the end of the mass and then went back to our hotel to call it a night.
The next day we went to the church again. It was not nearly as crowded as the night before but still over a thousand people in or about the area. The church is pretty breathtaking. The town itself is nothing too flash so the church really stands out. We tour the area and head over to the grotto to drink some healing water ...

... afternoon with my friends in a café, and then onto a boulangerie. Après, I had my hair coiffed downtown and now it feels much better. The president of the universite closed everything down completely until Monday. He was nervous the non-greve-ing students and the greve-ing students were gonna start a brawl... quelle chance. Alors, come Monday we shall see. My time here is dwindling ...

... food more than Rizzo the Rat. Even the cafeteria food. They give you a lot, and it's super cheap. £2.80 for a huge plate of cous-cous with meatballs, yogurt, and a roll. Can't get enough of it. *For the record, I would never crack such a stupid joke while residing in the states. But being that I have the Atlantic ocean as well as the passage of time on my side, I can safely count on everyone forgetting that I ever said this by the time I return to home.

... lucrative tourist attraction and source of revenue for la France. Some of my friends and I finally picked out a Saturday to visit Lourdes. After a pleasant tour of le chateau fort which was more or less unrelated to Saint Bernadette, we entered le centre ville, we laid our eyes upon the heart of the city: an endless, endless, endless line of religious-themed souvenir shops, one after the other after the other, each one just barely distinguishable ...

... in love. I only ate two because I didn't want to look like a slob, but as I slept that night I dreamt only about crepes. I think my dream was mostly just a reenactment of what had just happpened to me. When I woke up this morning I ate four. I have no clue how many I could have eaten. I honestly consider this "multi crepes party griddle" to be one of the greatest accomplishments of humankind. Its invention gives me more pride for my species than our ...