Our Seat car, Izzy, has taken us over 5,000 kilometers so far. Tomorrow we have to turn her in as we are headed to Scotland and Ireland on Tuesday. The past 30 days have been amazing. Our last few stops brought us through Southern France and into the small country of Andorra.
We spent the night in Bayonne, France. It was a small city on the river with cute shops, restaurants and a gothic cathedral. We walked around the city and took in the sites.
Next stop was Lourdes, France. It’s one of the 1,000 places to see before you die and we found out why as soon as we pulled in the city. There are hotels, glitzy signs, tourist shops and cafes like you have never seen before.
The draw for the city is the Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes (St. Bernadette). The legend goes that in 1858 a young girl named Bernadette had several “visits” from virgin Mary telling her that water would come from the rock and she should drink it. Since then, the catholic church has recognized her as a Saint and built a HUGE complex around the area where the “visits” appeared. Over a million people a year take a pilgrimage to this sacred site for healing. During our visit to the complex there was a ceremony and procession of people that came from all ove
r the world to be healed by the water from the grotto. There are hundreds of people in wheelchairs, walkers and even a gurney. It was very interesting to witness. We would definitely recommend a visit to Lourdes, France.
From Lourdes, we started our drive to the small country of Andorra. On the way we drove through the French city of Fiox, which has a beautiful castle on top of the hill. We stopped for an hour, hiked the long trail up to the castle and toured the very well preserved structure. During our visit Robert & I got to try shooting a cross bow. We both loved the castle and really enjoying the experience.
We finally arrived in Andorra to breathtaking views. We rented an apartment in the mountain village of el Tarter. We cooked dinner and enjoyed the view from our balcony.
The next day Robert wanted to take a hike. I agreed since he said it was rated “easy.” We started off on the very steep trail and continued walking uphill for 1.5 hours. We were not sure we were going to make it but then we came upon the lake. After such a tough climb we were so glad to enjoy a calm lunch at the lakeside.
Our Andorra adventure is coming to an end and we leave tomorrow morning for Barcelona. We’ll be saying goodbye to Izzy… but hello Scotland and a new rental car!