An Unplanned Year

From San Sebastian we headed inland and into France to Lourdes, our stop over on the way to Andorra. Yes another religious site of significance, this one, again I would have heard of through my Grandma as a young child and again know she’d be disappointed if I was driving past and didn’t visit it. I’m pretty sure she had a bottle of “Lourdes water” on her dresser, mum had (or has) one in her pantry! We now have one in our possession.

If you’re not familiar with Lourdes, in 1858 a young girl named Bernadette was gathering wood and had the first of 18 visions of a young girl, eventually determined to be Our Lady of Lourdes. The visions talked about water in a grotto; the apparition told Bernadette to drink and wash with the water. Bernadette did this with the muddy water, the next day it was running clear and remains so today.

Since then there have been multiple healing miracles attributed to this water; people travel from around the world seeking a cure here. The apparition also instructed that a chapel should be built at the grotto. They built several! (Bernadette was also the confirmation name I chose in Grade 6).

The complex from across the river. The grotto is underneath the Sanctuary.

Regardless of the religious aspects of Lourdes, it is a gorgeous town with the Pyrenees as a backdrop.

After visiting the grotto, associated chapels and the grounds we headed for the Château Fort Musée Pyrénéen, with a bite for lunch on the way. It is clearly not peak Pilgrimage season yet as the town is very quiet!

The castle was atop a giant rock on top of a hill.

Thankfully there was an option to take an elevator to the main entrance!! (We walked down). The castle was really interesting, focussing on life in the local area and in the castle over the past 500 years.  It also gave some great views from the top!

It was just a lovely, sunny day.

We set off early the next day for Andorra, initially on a motorway before swapping to country roads through some lovely valleys and villages. Some houses were so cute, but absolutely ripe for reno. As we got closer to Andorra, we started to see snow at the side of the road.

Then we saw entire mountains covered in snow.

Then, after getting to Andorra, it started to snow. Just a little, but it still snowed!

We stopped in Andorra la Valle to grab some groceries and made our way further into Andorra (almost to Spain) and then turned off the main road to go to our hotel for the next 3 nights.

The road our hotel is on, Col de la Gallina, has been used in Vuelta Espana 6 times in the last 13 years. Evidence of this is left behind on the road.

19 switchbacks later, we made it. Now to settle in and prepare for minus 4 temperatures overnight! We’re happy for it to snow now we’re here, but it’s not forecast. 🤞

There was no snow overnight and we woke to a cold, but sunny morning.

After some trip planning we went for a walk up the road until we reached the section still covered in ice. There was enough snow to make a mini snowman.

Then we walked back down the hill again until we found some slate picnic tables and benches an sat to enjoy the sun. Kevin went down to collect our lunch things and we had a little picnic on the side of the mountain, enjoying the peace and quiet, sunshine and birds circling.

The rest of the afternoon was perfect for a nap!

Our second day in Andorra was another lazy day. We consider them pre-determined rest days! We had breakfast, we walked down the road a bit and followed a red fox for a little bit before he scampered away. We booked some accommodation for Italy, ate our lunch at a picnic table in the sun again and just took in the view and serenity whilst admiring the Griffons flying overhead.

More naps, a bit of bag rearranging and we’re good to go tomorrow morning.