Day 7 - Bagneres de Luchon to Lourdes

Day 7 - Bagneres de Luchon to Lourdes 

Tuesday 27/06/2023

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Best mountain views and sight seeing but time to leave


Slept really well thanks to the cooler temperatures and we all had a sleep in seeing as we had a shorter day planned today despite aiming for all of the most famous Tour de France routes in the area. As an aside, why do most French campsite toilets have no seats? There must be a logical explanation.

After a nutritious breakfast of chocolate pastries, we continued our journey West along the mountains. 

We rode the Col de Aspin (~1500m) which was very misty as we reached the top, but we managed to sneak a couple of photos in and take a break. The road up whilst spectacular was pretty narrow and I had to duck under a large camper van's mirror who came over completely onto my side....

Our next pass was the col du Tourmalet. This was a completely superb road with just the best views. We went through the clouds and the ski resort and ascended to the top at 2200m. We were above the clouds which we could see down below. Towards the summit we were stopped as officials were painting the road with all the Tour de France markings as the race comes here in around a week. We had to ride over the fresh paint so hopefully didn't spoil the markings.

The sun was out and it was a joyous stop, taking in the cooler temperatures and the views of all the snow capped mountains around us and the blanket of cloud beneath us. Lots of cyclists and motorcyclists enjoying the roads. I am in awe of those who can do such an ascent on a push bike - many can young, old, male and female. Impressive.

We reluctantly rode back down the pass on a fast but twisty road and made our way to the next stop at Cirque de Gavarnie. We couldn't make it much further than the village of Gavernie so we stopped for lunch at a roadside cafe. Great atmosphere and so nice resting in the sun when it's not burning hot.

From here we went to Carterets and Pont d’Espagne. Great thermal Spa location on the way up with waterfalls in every direction yet a distinct smell of rotten eggs from the sulphur in the hot springs. 

Continuing up to Pont d'Espagne was another special road with waterfalls, great bends but also some mist which made us slow down and spoilt some of the views. Nevertheless, amazing fast flowing water and a very lovely bridge was there to be admired.

Coming back down, we had to re-trace some of our route and got stuck at one point as there was a rock slide and the road was shut for a while. After filling-up with fuel we entered Lourdes. We rode through the very busy town centre and Konrad led us to a campsite in the woods but just a 20 minute walk from town.

Leon and I walked into town to check everything out. We entered the holy site and actually it was really pleasant. We walked in to some of the churches / chapels and took lots of photos. We stood in the short queue to the grotto (where the Virgin Mary was said to have appeared) and touched the wet rock walls, like the other pilgrims. Lots of people were very moved, some on their knees. It was actually quite a nice and friendly atmosphere and I'm glad we went there. We drank and washed our faces in the holy waters and I filled-up a bottle for my mum.

We had a good walk around the town and eventually stopped for a meal and a glass of wine (with Ave Maria still ringing-out in the background). In the meantime, Konrad went for a hike and had a meal and a beer in the restaurant at the campsite.

We bought another bottle of wine from a Catholic shop (couldn't find a supermarket that was open) and took the uphill hike back to the campsite.

Great day of riding, views and sight seeing. Really love this area and would love to come back and explore for longer. Tomorrow we turn North and attempt to cover a big chunk of the road back home. We're avoiding motorways so it will take a while, but hopefully we might see the odd nice thing along the way.



Mileage: 1576 (Andy) 1223 (Konrad and Leon)
Beers / Drinks: 40 (+ 4 bottles of wine)
Fines: 0 (possibly 2 in the post)
Bribes: 0 (£45 tolls)
Ass pain: 5/10 
Mechanical issues: 1 Puncture, 1 lost toolbox cover, 1 lost front wheel weight
Accidents: 0
Wetness: 1/10 
Coldness: 2/10
Theft count: 0 (ignoring tolls)

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