France revisited....

We travelled on to Biarritz where we managed to find a Maccas in the suburbs and a very nice camping spot for the night. We played cards and stayed awake until midnight when the Maccas closed planning the next stage of our trip. I was exhausted but could not get to sleep, consequently Ross woke up, did a small amount of shopping at the nearby Intermarche, while I struggled to rouse myself from slumber. By the time I woke, the day was bright and sunny and Ross was keen to get moving, but not before French toast and blueberry jam! A (very) quick shower and we were on our way, but first we made a pit-stop (literally) at the mechanics across the road and managed to have our sliding step repaired. (It had been damaged by a huge tree root in the campground in Lisbon.)

We travelled uneventfully through countryside with magnificent views of the Pyrenees all the way to Lourdes. I marvelled at their awesome beauty and enjoyed taking photos of the snow-capped peaks. It must be cold up there as it was a warm and sunny 16C down here! Things took a turn for the worse when we reached Lourdes. We were following the signs to “La Grotte”, when I missed a turn and we drove on across the river until we could find a spot to turn around. Ross navigated through one-way, narrow streets until we reached the turn we’d missed.

Through the almost deserted village of Lourdes, we drove down to a carpark on the river. I grabbed my cape as soon as I felt the breeze, and I was glad I did because it was quite cold walking along the river to the grotto. It’s obviously a very special place to many people, with a very interesting history. It was only in the mid 1800s that the little girl Bernadette, who lived nearby, saw an apparition of Mary while she was gathering firewood. Over the next five months, she saw her 15 more times, and then never saw her again. Apparently, she was told to build a chapel on this spot, and build a chapel they did, an enormous, gold-lined cathedral right beside the river and actually on top of the grotto where the spring water still flows. I touched the water dripping down from the roof of the cave, but I didn’t drink it. It’s supposed to heal many things but I think old age isn’t one of them!

After our blustery walk and not having eaten since breakfast, we let our trusty GPS take us to McDonalds for a burger as all the patisseries in the village were closed. After several hairy wrong turns and one-way streets, we arrived at our destination- an empty building! Bloody GPS!

We decided to head out of town and find the Maccas ourselves which we did.  I ordered a huge bacon and blue cheese burger with wedges which was the yummiest meal I’ve ever had at Maccas, and Ross had chicken strips, chicken nuggets and cheese balls which I helped him devour. Stuffed, we decided to change our planned route- again- and head for Toulouse.

The GPS suggested an Aire de Camping-Cars (overnight place for motorhomes to park) so I dutifully followed it through winding, indescribably narrow and bumpy lanes, which just kept going and going and ended up getting us nowhere.  I was beyond having kittens. Ross was very tired and we both started laughing hysterically at the ludicrousness of our situation. All I wanted to do was to avoid situations like this and here I was smack in the middle of it! All Ross wanted to do was to dins a place to park for the night!

We pulled over to the side of the road with warning lights flashing, as everyone does, and located another Maccas on the GPS. The only problem was we had to renegotiate every street we had driven in on, but in the opposite direction, until we found the Maccas in a Campanile Hotel carpark. We walked in to locate the toilets and ended up sitting down in front of a log fire enjoying a McFlurry, and the ambience of this very different McDonalds, decorated like a large chateau or hunting-lodge; definitely not like any other Maccas we’ve seen, and unlike all of the others, quite and peaceful.  Cultured Toulousians must have other restaurants to frequent unlike the people of Zamora where it must have been the only decent eating-place in town.

Just as we were preparing to retire for the night, a huge storm hit rocking the camper and pelting rain every which way. The wind has subsided but the rain continues unabated. Let’s hope it blows itself out and it ‘s fine and sunny tomorrow as we are heading of to see the Millau Viaduct. PS The temperature has dropped to 6C!

After coffee, cereal and shower, we set off. It wasn’t raining, but that very soon changed. The beautiful French countryside surrounded us on all sides, and we drove through some cute little villages, which had had snowfalls last night, and the snow was still on the ground in patches, and on the tiled roofs of the village houses. Just beautiful! It was a cool 2C outside so we didn’t stop until we reached “l’Aire du Viaduc de Millau” after paying 11.60 euro for the privilege of seeing the bridge. I suppose they have to pay for it somehow. We pulled into the parking lot and proceeded to rug up, and I mean rug up- it was bitterly cold and raining! Ross decided to return to the warmth of the camper while I intrepidly trudged up the path to the top viewing point on my own; there was no one else in sight. Let me tell you-it was totally worth it. It stopped raining, and the views were “magnifique”, even without the bridge!

I managed to take a few photos before my hands began to freeze, and I hightailed it back to the warmth of our camper, where I thawed out with a hot coffee and ham and melted cheese bagel.

After checking with the tourist office, we decided to head south to Montpellier as our only alternative was to go over the bridge, drive for a few kilometres before turning around and paying another 11.60 euro to go back over the bridge and head north again.

We saw a sign for a Total petrol station, which also had a knife and fork and a parking area, so we decided to call it a day.  So here we are in Aire du Caylar enjoying a coffee and the warmth of a huge cafeteria, with a huge selection of meals including the best array of desserts I have seen so far. Fill a plate for 4 euro! I’m going to wait until later and try a little of everything! It’s a 24 hour cafeteria so a midnight snack sounds good!