Hotel Alba Lourdes

... music that was headlining the first night of the town's "Festival of the Lamp chop" (that is actual translation...this is sheep-herding country...and they did have a lamp chop tasting area). Needless to say, it was tres rural :)

                                 
 

Tom drove Eva to the train station in Lordes and after lunch we all went for a hike to the base of the Cirque de Gavarnie. Impressive!! The walls are 1,000 meters up, 50% taller than El ...

... 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.
 
 

Lourdes was our next stop and the commercialisation of it all quite shocked me. So many tacky shops all profiteering from religion seemed so wrong. But hey we picked up our little bottles (about 10...we had so many requests!) paid the corresponding 10 euro and headed off to the grotto to fill them. Lourdes asks alot of questions about your faith. You line up to go into the Grotto with 1000 other ...

... visa; 30days Malaysia no visa; 3 months Singapore no visa; 14or30days; need onward/return ticket Indonesia visa on arrival; 25USD; 30days; need onward/return ticket Australia ETA; 20AUD; multiple entries under 3months; valid 1year New Zealand no visa; 3months Chile tourist card on arrival; 3months Argentina no visa; 90days Uruguay ...

Go to the Summary Page ___________________________ (Voir la version française) Is the first question « why leaving? » or « why going? » The luxury of leisure travel is that these two questions are relevant. Keeping in mind that I have the immense priviledges of choosing to leave, deciding where to go, and knowing I ...