Blogs from Midi-Pyrénées, France, Europe

Our wedding anniversary today. 28 years. I think we have been on holiday for at least 25 of the anniversaries 😊 which makes celebrating easy. Today we were heading for a campsite with a restaurant so Bob suggested we would eat there for dinner but I had been checking the reviews which reported the campsite restaurant was only open July and August so that snookered that idea. Another hot day and a little alarmingly when I was reading about the campsite the pool appeared to be closed on Saturday. Not 100% sure about that as the campsite in French said Samedi but the English version said Sunday which is tomorrow. Inexplicable that it could be closed any day at the weekend but it seemed likely that it would be one day or the other. We had ... read more

A Change in Plans Sometime during the day at Chateauneuf, we received an e-mail from the restaurant we were going to be having lunch at when we arrived in Toulouse, informing us of some major street and parking closures in the center. The parking structure we were going to use and the central metro stop were all closed for the day, and would make getting to and from the restaurant difficult. Well, it was also going to make getting to and from our hotel almost impossible and getting around the city even more difficult. That e-mail changed entirely the direction of our travels. The next three days were to be Perpignan (near the Spanish boarder), Toulouse and Pau. We needed to make some decisions, so we decided to not go to Perpignan or Toulouse and instead ... read more

Days three and four Day three began sloooowly, but early. The worlds loudest rooster seems to be stationed outside our window. That was lovely especially when another rooster started playing call and response...... After a late leisurely brekkie we headed up the road to the parc prehistorique. It was awesome, perfect weather, perfect views, loads to do, being attacked by man eating butterflies, seeing all the wildlife and dodging wasps (I may not have mentioned but I got stung on the neck......) Despite Seth's desperation to get home to unearth his new fossils from his gift shop purchase I bought everything in the supermarket on the way back, except fly catcher things, something I now regret, having said how few flies there were that seems to have been their call to arms and there are now ... read more

Computer zei : Aankomst 14:00u, hoogte 960m, 32°, 58 km, verbruik 14,7 l /100km, gemiddeld 26 km/u, reisduur 2:13 uur. Pittige rit over de Col d'Aspin. Loudenvielle is een klein plaatsje in de Hautes Pyrénées met een Carrefour supermarkt, wat restaurants en wellness. Getuige de enorme bijna lege openbare parkings verwachten ze hier in het ski-seizoen redelijk wat volk. Nu vliegen er enkel een paar parapentes tussen de bergen. We passeerden een mooi bergmeer hier vlak bij, maar misten de enige stopplaats voor een foto. Rechtsomkeer met 7m is hier niet zo vanzelfsprekend. We staan uiteindelijk op een Wellness Sport Camping waarvoor de opgegeven coordinaten niet klopten en dus bijkomend zoekwerk opleverde. De voorziene Aire de camping car van Loudenvielle was zo modern automatisch dat je er met een Belgisch GSM nummer +32 niet kon registreren, ... read more

Lourdes– vrijdag 13 mei en zaterdag 14 mei. Computer zei : Aankomst 12:15u, hoogte 422m, 22°, 74 km, verbruik 7,8 l /100km, gemiddeld 35 km/u, reisduur 2:06 uur. Korte rit van het hooggelegen Laruns afdalend naar Lourdes. Het plaatsje in de Pyreneeën dat we van in onze jeugd slechts kenden uit de verhalen en de fotoboeken van onze ouders en grootouders die hier hun allereerste reis op hotel naar het buitenland meemaakten. Voor een bedevaart en onder begeleiding van een Proost mocht dat dan al in vorige eeuw. Na de devotie en de kaarsjesprocessie werden de uitstappen naar de rondliggende Cols dan ook mooi meegenomen. De Madonna van Lourdes had dat zo gewild zei onze onderpastoor goedkeurend. Onze bedoeling was dan ook om nu ook eens boven op de Col d'Aubisque en de Col de Soulor ... read more