Le Bourbon Pau

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 isn't much to be gained by staying out any longer. Feels good to be back on 'home' turf - but, as familiar ground ...

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 were magnificent and impressive,but the surrounding streets were full of very tacky souvenir shops all ...

... over 10,000 ft. A lazy afternoon followed by another delightful meal and a good night's sleep. Ahh, the mountains.

               

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.
 
 

... into our hotel by 3. I drove back down to Lourdes to pick up Eva who had taken the train from Paris that morning. After a delightful dinner at our hotel in the tiny town of Viscos, which turns out to be the best restaurant in Luz Saint Sauveur, we snuggled into our beds for a good night sleep.

   

Pau to Toulouse So we had plenty of time to kill in the town as we were told our host wouldn't be home until roughly 5:30 and were there around half 2 - 3. An aimless wonder around town took us to the castle and then to a bar for a drink. We sat, drank and chatted for a while to chill out and pass some time. Then we thought we would be slightly proactive and go and find there house of our hosts so we would know where to go later - and then there was a park ...

... little Italien restaurant with interior decor and menu presentation that reminded me of Carlos O'Kelly's or any other middle-class restaurant in the states. After about two and a half hours in the restaraunt complaining about a martini that tasted like pizza, we walked around and found some medieval/gothic church. Can't remember the name. Then the girls got a craving for ...

... rhetoric on my monitor at all times. What is it, ethos, pathos, and fritos? Something like that?* I went with my host family last night to a fundraising sale at the local Catholic church sponsored by the paroisse. The profits from the donated items sold would be used to support the fight against poverty. I'd been wanting to hit up a thrift store or a garage sale since I arrived. My Penguin polos and Papa John's slow pitch soft ball league T-shirt ...

... Madryn and Buenos Aires Cecile, French, met in Ushuaia, Argentina David, French, met in Ushuaia, Argentina Lesley, Am**ican, met in Punta Arenas, Chile Torsten, G**man, met in Torres del Paine, Chile Franck, French, met in Chiloe ...

... of curiosity. It forces me to be accountable to myself too, as high ...