First came the sunshine, then came the rain!

We woke up this morning to a bit of an overcast day but warm so we got a wiggle on with brekkie and walked into the town of Gerde. There seems to be a theme here with dogs I’ve noticed - might be because I have dogs myself, but it has struck us as we walk around in France. The French like big dogs and they also provide them with huge yards - really well fenced off too. But my goodness, as you walk by, they fly at their particular fence, letting you know, this is my place, and you ain’t coming in! Well, today we walk by and the most gorgeous German Shepherd Puppy comes bounding up to HIS fence and greeted us. Typical one ear up and one ear down type of guy and we fell in love with him. He had to be around 6 months old and he was a corker. Come back here in 12 months, and you’ll be glad to walk by that particular property in short shrift and in one piece!

It was nice long walk into town and we found another river and it wasn’t the Gave! Whoop whoop It is the River Adour - how romantic. It took a while to find the old town but is is always worth it if you have the time and much easier if you are on foot, as we are. We shopped for our daily baguette - “Dear God“ I hear my hips cry “Not another one!” We also found their church. So gorgeous - again photographs on Social Media. This church had chandeliers everywhere and they were beautiful. Again, those painted walls which seem part of the tradition here in this part of France. I can only think they were painted in one colour, and then must have been stencilled over - quite a ancient method I would imagine - there are gold fluer-de lys - I don’t know the names of all the patterns there must be but there are a myriad of them and they are as stunning as the gold and alabaster figures to which they are the backdrop. The only problem is for me, they don’t photograph very well so I shall have to keep that imprinted in my head. We left there and wandered the shops for a while. I picked up a souvenir - the first and probably the last - we wanted something practical that showed we have visited this stunningly beautiful area of the Pyrenees - and I found it in the form of a bottle opener for the kitchen wall - why is it all roads lead back to alcohol and fun times! Who knows. Found a sweet little bar for a coffee as time was marching on and we wanted a break and it was such a friendly sociable little hub, we decided to ask if our doggie was allowed inside so we could stay and eat. Yes he was - bingo! In we go and settle on some food washed down with a beer - well, there were two ladies on duty here and, one in particular fell in love with Tom. He was suitably mollycoddled with a drink and cuddles and she toddles off and gets her iPhone to show me pictures of her collie - a girl. She did not speak one word of English and although my French is improving through spending time here - not many in this area speak English like they do in Spain - it is not fluent by any stretch - we knew exactly what we were saying to each other, I’m sure, through enthusiasm for the breed. We had a lovely lunch and left what must have been two hours later, taking in the sights and sounds and a very pretty town in the mid Pyrenees. We crossed the River en route back to our site and it was warm, a few clouds but we sat outside for around an hour - I suppose by this time it was around 4pm when I suddenly realised the sky had clouded over so said I would go back in the van with Tom. Alan followed me after he’d finished tinkering in his beloved garage - it’s a great space! With that, we heard spots of rain on the top of the van and the wind picked up and became quite gusty. It never stopped - we watched an episode of Vera during the evening and this is where I say nighty night, and hope for some sunshine tomorrow.