The startling amount of beautiful cathedrals in Europe is absolutely mind boggling. After being on a road trip for a couple weeks, it’s commonplace now seeing big cathedrals in each village we pass through. Most of them are open for one to visit. The bells you hear sometimes hourly, will be definitely missed when I go back to America. Even very small villages, where you barely blink and you are leaving them ring out. The bigger cities have several. There are more than one hundred Cathedrals throughout Spain and France boasts of one hundred and ten. Most of these are one thousand years old. It is one of the easiest tourists activity to visit them. Many are free to walk around. We recently visited Lourdes, France where the Sanctuary Notre Dame Lourdes is. It is a pilgrimage place for healing and sanctuary.

As we are traveling through Southern France into Spain by way of the Pyrenees we can’t help but visit as many as possible. They are too beautiful to just pass by. It has been eye-opening with the history of the Romans, French, Spanish, and British. They seemed to invade each other many times over and borders were handed back and forth. Each time a country took over, they either tore down something or built another structure. Sometimes both. Mostly, I have learnt about the culture. I loved learning about the Basque culture, and how today teachers are keeping the Basque language alive by passing it down to the next generations. They are passionate in keeping it alive. In Pamplona for example, all the signs are first in Spanish, then Basque. I find it quite interesting that it is not related at all. It is a completely different non-romantic language.

The Pyrenees are stunning and we drove over them via the Col du Pourtalet. It is the border between Spain and France. There are many places to stop and buy food and drink there. We found a seasonal Fromagerie at the top. Unfortunately, it was closed since we were there late in October. It is a popular hiking area and also during Winter there are many ski resorts.

On the other side, into Spain we stopped to stay at a small village Bed and Breakfast called Hotel La Casueña. What a lovely place to stay on a lake in the Pyrenees. The couple who run it, Marian and Miguel are gracious hosts who look after your every need. They even have a 5-star restaurant and cook breakfast and dinners. It was wonderful. Being in the mountains during Autumn was a colorful show and hearing the bells on the cows and sheep nearby felt like I was in a Heidi novel. We have met so many people, Spanish, French, Basque, and some British. There are many who are expats and finding a new way of life in another country.

We are now back in France and are traveling back to Munich via train. We will visit with my son’s family for a week before flying back to the States. The end is near of this traveling adventure. I have enjoyed every minute of it. Even when the sweet voice of google directions tells us to go the wrong way!

Until next time, à bientôt