Kyriad Pau Lons

Considered having one last night on the road, cracking our bottle or 9.99 Lidl champers (premier cru!). In the end, we opt to do the big dash & head for home. You reach that point where you just feel ready. Tedious... especially as the winds that blight SE France are blowing in full glory! However, the point has come, we decide, where there ...

A brief stop over so that Mike could revisit Pau where he spent a month on a French exchange more than 50 years ago!
First we thought we should have a look at Lourdes as it was very near. It was difficult for us as dedicated athiests to understand the place. It is full of pilgrims but there did not seem to be any sense of joy. The buildings...

WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID:

This second day of riding is a big day that travels over the most feared cols in the Pyrenees,

but it is also some of the most spectacular riding. Firstly we have a nice gentle warm up to

Laruns, base camp to the stunningly beautiful Col D’Aubisque (1709m). The cafe on the top

pro...

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 wi...

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 ar...

After spending the morning in Carcassonne we decide to high tail it to Lourdes. For those of you who don't know Lourdes is where St. Bernadette was visited by the Madonna and was told to build this magnificent church on top of the grotto where the visions occurred. The waters from the grotto are believed to have healing powers and millions of pe...

South of France, who knew it would be this good?

Recently stayed at a B&B called Château du Bascou (www.chateaudubascou.com) they have their own vineyards and we took a cooking course there which was great fun...learning every which we took cook a duck...Gascon style. Even duck scratchings. Be warned in fact as all they eat down there...

A couple years ago I read a book titled Miracle Detective by Randall Sullivan which explored the various incidents of Virgin Mary apparition sightings that have been validated by the Catholic Church throughout history. C'est à dire, thousands of people have claimed to have seen the Holy Mother in the clouds, in the hedges, on a slice of French t...

I realized that despite the overwhelming amount of entries about the places we've traveled, I haven't written much about where we live. Aussurucq is a very isolated village of about 260 people deep in the southwest corner of France. It is a very Basque town, with most people having learned Basque before French. This can make for some difficultie...

Tuesday, May 23, 2006 Today I completed my first-ever overnight road bicycling trip. Touring, cyclo-tourism, bicycle camping, what have you, is a great way to experience the sights and sounds of the places you visit. As a longtime backpacker, ardent traveler, and lifelong cyclist, bicycle touring seemed the ideal way to mix the first-hand, intim...