The warm winds of the Pyrenees

Awoke this morning to a slightly cloudier day but no less beautiful that yesterday - we blitzed the van again whilst we have electric, water etc - one can’t believe how much gets brought in our shoes, no matter how careful we are - mind you, Tom‘s not known for removing his shoes and socks when he comes in and out. Alan was outside, I had all the windows and door open making the most of the fresh wind that was blowing - I happened to put my head outside and almost at the same time we thought,

who put the hot air blower on - well, it‘s man made this time - Alan reckons it’s the warmth being blown across the Pyrenees from Spain, or maybe Africa. Neither of us had ever experienced anything like it before - the wind continued to pick up and even though we were sat out in the sun, the pace of it kept on coming until you couldn’t leave anything on the table or it would have blown away. Then, at the same pace as it had arrived, it eased away until it was as still as still could be. Very strange but a lovely experience.

We walked up to the local shop - as it is a Sunday, they open til around 12.30 then everything is closed for the day - Tom had had a pretty long walk yesterday, so we decided against the long walk up to the old Town. We had seen it from a distance yesterday so that would have to suffice. A quiet relaxing day - but we did use our gas barbecue for the first time - pork chops for tea. Wow, what a beast it is. Cooked in no time and cleaned up a treat - thanks again to Ellie and Alan - great recommendation. Will be using that little baby again soon. This area is steeped in history and we did a lot of reading and research today. Lourdes is close by - but it seems it is the second only to Paris and the third most important site of the international Roman Catholic pilgrimage after Rome and the Holy Land. It was in 1858 that Lourdes rose to prominence due to the visions of Bernadette Soubirous at the grotto of Massabielle, just outside Lourdes. Apparently some 6 million pilgrims make their way there every year. I would have been happy to take a trip there but bearing in mind the information to hand about the vastness of numbers, it is probably best not to. A decision has been with the help of someone who knows the area well, that we try Saint Jean Pied de Port, which is the start of the Camino way - something we aspire one day to do. So how exciting is that!

MISTLETOE

Something I have been meaning to chat about here is Mistletoe. Now when we arrived into France from Calais I said to Alan, ”Look at all the birds nests!!!” The trees seemed to be teaming with them - no leaves, nothing, other than what I thought were birds nests. “That‘s not nests, that’s Mistletoe! It’s a parasite” says my hubby. Now, the nearest I have ever been to Mistletoe is at the hands of my Mum. A great one for tradition, she has always and still does, have Mistletoe in the house at Christmas. The real McCoy, don’t you know - no plastic mistletoe for my mother! Well, what with animals etc and the fact the whole plant are supposed to be toxic, I’ve never been that attached to it, but mother has raised four children and none of us have ever suffered at the hands of it. Anyway, I took a real fascination to this plant probably due to my familiarity with it at the hands of my mum and learnt that it is indeed a parasite and when you read about it, which you now must, it’s like something out of a sci-fi film. It doesn’t mind which tree is uses as a ‘host’ - there are apparently around 200 shrubs and trees it can take a fancy to - and in some cases it kills the tree! So it germinates, uses the circulatory system of the host tree to thrive. The reason I mention it is because it is everywhere. The site we sit in right now is surrounding by trees and I reckon almost of all them are infected. Who knew!?!? Sorry this is a stock photo!

Anyway, off to pastures new tomorrow. Sleep well, nighty night