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After picking up our brand new Peugeot and playing with all the pretty lights & buttons, we hit the road down to Orleans. Wacky hijinks ensued as I missed turn-offs, competed with angry French drivers, entered round-abouts from the wrong direction, drove on the wrong side a few times and had a complete freak-out at a toll booth to a toll road that took us miles away from where we were meant to be going! But after a night in the truck stop that is Orleans, we hit the road refreshed and I again took to the fight with this mirror image driving I'll be doing for the next couple of months. But eventually my left hand stopped searching for a gear stick that wasn't there and we headed for Limogues where we stayed in a hotel that was opposite the starting line for some bicycle race…. we awoke to some guy testing the mike: "Du, du, un, du, du". Then some pumping music with cheerleaders and 1000 bike riders.. so no sleep-in that morning!
Next we stocked up on some camping gear and headed to Bordeaux to set up camp for a few days. Can't say enough about the place, the camp site was beautiful (with ducks wandering right up to us as we sat in front of our tent) and the city has a modern feel and is very pretty. They even put on a Bon Voyage to a Mexican tall sailing ship for us. Weather was gorgeous (finally) and after checking out yet another epic cathedral (St Andre's) we chilled in the most picturesque park: kids playing & eating fairly floss (which Clare just had to get as well), oldies laying out the picnic blankets, couples lounging about in the grass and loads of cool little areas to explore. But that kinda pailed in comparison to the next day when we ventured out to possibly the most scenic vineyard region on earth! We ended up in a place called St. Emilion, which was like something out of a movie. The narrow cobbles streets, the old church and bell tower, the busy central square, green vineyards, blue skies and red wine! Lush!!
Then after a brief stop at Europe's biggest sand dune (which I reached a new P.B. in the way down) we went to Lourdes.
Oh, Lourdes.. you magnificently, religiously tacky place you!
I believe 83% of those little Mary statues the world manufactures gets delivered direct to Lourdes to be distributed amongst its rows and rows of neon lit stores.. along with all of your other religious needs, such as oversized rosary beads, glow in the dark Jesus on the cross and 4lt plastic bottles with a 'Lourdes' sticker on the front (so you can fill up from the row of taps which spit out 'holy' water from the spring Mary pointed out to Bernadette in the 'Grotto' or cave which made the town so famous). Yes my friends, God is on sale here.. and he's only €14.99!!
And while tacky may not be a compliment, I would still put this wacky place high on my 'must-see' list for France. It's equal parts wonderfully tacky and spectacularly beautiful! The Rosary Basilica cathedral (which is a church on top of a church on top of a church on top of the holy Grotto) is truly magnificent.. reminiscent of the Disneyland castle. And it was pretty special at night time as well, as hordes of pilgramers head past the neon stores and beggars to assemble for a procession and service held every night and wave candles around out front of the cathedral as all the sick and elderly pour in from the hospital just over the bridge. The rock walls of the Grotto underneath have been polished smooth from centuries of people running their fingers over them, trying to suck in some of that sweet, sweet religion. And high up on the Château fort de Lourdes (castle) the views of the surrounding town and the Pyrenees Mountains were quite spectacular!
Daz
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