Scaling the Pyrenees with friends...

Tues 12 we head off to Toulouse, where we will meet up with friends Kay, Alec, Jane and Steve from Christchurch, NZ.

Our drive takes us through huge vineyards and here we also come across acres upon acres of sunflowers. Their bright yellow faces light up the countryside as they cast a luminous golden glow across the valleys and hillsides. When I see sunflowers in the future, I will always think of France.

Rows upon rows of these docile plants, with their big heads, nod towards the sun or if it's been cloudy all day they barely lift their faces, and their big heads and petals droop sadly towards the ground. France is a big producer of sunflower seed, all of which is used for human and bird consumption and also for producing sunflower oil and meal (for animals).

Toulouse (pronounced Too-luze) is the fourth biggest city in France and is known as La Ville Rose (the pink city) due to its glow, in the late evening sun, from its red brick pseudo-Roman style buildings. We get a glimpse of this on our late afternoon walk. It also is a base for the European aerospace industry and houses the headquarters of Airbus, Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, and CNE's Toulouse Space Centre, the largest space centre in Europe. Unfortunately, we don't get enough time to explore the beauty and amazing technology this city has to offer. We have another engagement to fulfil.

Weds 13 we meet up with our kiwi friends at the Toulouse airport where we also meet up with other New Zealander's and nationalities from around the world - Australians, Americans, and English. We are all catching a special bus tour with company Sports Tours International. We are heading for Lourdes in the Pyrenees, where we will follow three stages of le Tour de France for the next few days with our excellent English guides Sam, James and Matt. We are well-cared for by these very polite and well-mannered young university graduates.

The Pyrenees is a beautiful range of mountains that forms a natural border between France and Spain, with ridges reaching as high as 3,404m. The mountain passes are important legs in le Tour de France and are included each year.

They are also older than the Alps; have a small bear population (they were hunted nearly to extinction in the 1990s); and are popular sports grounds for skiing and cross-country running.

In the lowlands of the Pyrenees, corn is a mainstay  crop and has been grown in the area since the 16th century.

Our three to four hour bus ride to Lourdes is to become just one of many bus journeys we endure and where we learn that 'hurry up and wait' is a big part of following the tour - hurry up to get on the bus... wait to get through slow traffic with hundreds of other cars and campervans that are heading in the same direction as us... hurry to buy some food at the nearest village and then find the best viewing point to watch the race... wait for the race to come through... hurry to find the bus and get on board... wait with hundreds of other cars and campervans that are heading in the same direction as us... hurry to find a place to eat when we get back to the hotel in the late evening. It all becomes part of the experience of following le Tour - waiting for hours is a good test of patience and not really a problem when you are in good company.

We are based in the Mecure Hotel right in the heart of Lourdes, a small mountain village that is full of contrasts. Lourdes is a pilgrimage for up to six million people a year who visit the Grotto of Massabielle where, in 1858, a young local girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed that a beautiful lady appeared to her in the grotto.

The lady later identified herself as 'the Immaculate Conception' and many believed her to be the Blessed Virgin Mary. The grotto with its statue of Mary 'Our lady of Lourdes' has been a shrine to the masses ever since and water from an underground spring is believed to possess healing qualities. There are around 270 hotels in Lourdes, the second greatest number of hotels per square km in France after Paris but more about this interesting little village later.

It is raining upon our arrival and we walk th streets to find somewhere to eat. There are plenty of shops, restaurants and cafes but not all are still open. It is also the eve of Bastille day which is celebrated throughout France and celebrations often follow on for several days.

Later in the evening, close to midnight, we hear the whistle of fireworks and loud, thumping bangs (loud enough to shake the windows) as they explode into beautiful patterns and colours in the night sky. I find a little partially open window on a nearby staircase and stay, crouched, for a while to watch as the sky lights up and the hotel shakes. It is hours before the partying dies down and we can finally get some sleep.

Thurs 14 is our first day following the tour. We are up early-ish to see Max and Alec off as they ride ahead of the tour up the Col du Tourmalet. Their climb up the Col du Tourmalet is approx 19km, 2115m high, with an average 7.4 gradient and a maximum of 10. Each kilometre is marked by the distance to the summit and the average gradient of the next kilometre.

It's been two months since Max has been on a bike but he gives it his best and is rewarded with some amazing views of a beautiful, mountainous countryside.

Dharyl, our little NZ mascot bear, goes up the mountain for the ride and gives moral support.


It's an endurance ride for both Max and Alec but they both complete the circuit of 72km from Lourdes to Luz Saint Sauveur in time to join the rest of our group to wait for the tour to come through.

In Luz Saint Sauveur, we find a good deal on some Le Tour spectator chairs that come individually in bright yellow official backpacks. We pay 19 euro each, another shop sells them for 29 and the official merchanise team sells them for a whopping 40 euro and doesn't believe us when we tell them ours has the official logo and is half the price! I also buy a genuine cow bell so I can ring it as the race comes through.

Just out of the village, we wait for nearly six hours for the race to come up the mountainside. We find a good spot to watch from and settle in for the day. To while away the hours, we eat baguettes and then more baguettes, try to mark the road with 'NZ' and 'ChCh', watch other cyclists come up the hill (some with baguettes sticking out of their backpacks), and cheer them. Then finally, an hour before the race comes through, the official Tour Caravan, with up to 180 vehicles, comes at speed up the hill.

Some are support cars, journalists, TV crews, and others are commercial sponsors, who help relieve any boredom and create an atmosphere of excitement for all the spectators. As they come past, freebies are thrown to the crowds and hands are thrust foreward in hope of catching at least one special treat - more if you are lucky (or desperate). These include caps, bread bags, key rings, fridge magnets, water bottles, newspapers, clappers, lollies, bandanas and much more... our favourite is a bag with little Madeleine cakes - delicieux!

Finally, the photographers on motorbikes come past at speed, and when we see the helicopters hovering overhead, we know the race leaders are not far away. We all edge our way foreward for a better view. Around the bend come the 'gendarmes' police on motorcycles, sirens blaring - next, the Race Director's car - then, a motorcycle with a TV cameraman hanging off the back - and finally, the first cyclist.



Amidst all the excitement and noise of the crowd, helicopter, support vehicles and sirens, it takes only seconds before he whizzes past, quickly followed by another, and more support vehicles. On it goes until finally the peleton (main bunch of riders) comes racing through. It's exciting to see them come at speed up the hill, a whirr of wheels in a tight bunch, but just as quickly they are gone.

Finally, a happy elated crowd slowly drifts its way back down the mountain. They join the queue of cars and campervans and wait for the long drive home again.

Frid 15 Max, Steve and Alec head off to Pau on their bikes to watch the start of the race. Unfortunately they take a wrong turn and end up riding a few extra kilometers - 54km to get there and a mere 34km to come back to Lourdes. Kay and Jane head off to Pau in the bus. I decide to stay behind to explore and photograph the village as the race finishes in Lourdes late in the afternoon and I plan to watch it come though then.

I wander around a huge concrete expanse known as the Domain that leads up to the Basilica of the Rosary (an exquisitely decorated chapel built between 1883 and 1889), where mass sermons are held (the Domain can take up to 80,000 people). I then visit the grotto and also drink some of the 'healing water' - it's a hot day anyway but I'd be quite happy if my eczema was cured.

People are constantly on the move around here - coming and going. A great many are in wheelchairs, some are in beds and others are in special carts and being towed or pushed by their carers.

All come to visit the grotto, pray, and drink the special water. While I am at the grotto, a man dressed in robes, maybe a priest, steps up to a pulpit and asks people to quieten down - it isn't really noisy to begin with but such is the reverence of this spiritual place.

A hush quickly spreads over the crowd. I watch as people line up and wait their turn to walk beneath the grotto (maybe 30-40 or so at a time), say a prayer, touch the walls and then themselves as they walk beneath the statue of Mary.

I am not the only one watching, I am standing with many others although some are on their knees deep in prayer. The quietness that envelopes the area is deeply spiritual and quite overwhelming.

Much later at night, we return to the grotto as it and the Basilica are fully lit up in the darkness. Both are an amazing sight to behold. We also visit an area where you can light a candle for loved ones, which we do - for all our family and friends back home.

Earlier, I mentioned that Lourdes was a village of contrasts - on one hand it is very spiritual and revered place of importance for the Catholic church. On the other hand it is highly commercial.

All around are shops spilling out onto the streets - easily 70-80 shops, maybe more - hawking souvenirs of Mary and Bernadette, slender detailed statues of the two, bottles of all sizes shaped like Mary to catch the special water, and much, much more - all vying for dollars from the people who make their pilgrimage here.

Hundreds upon hundreds of souvenirs can be found in these shops, some beautiful and others quite gaudy.

Each night the shops are lit up like a mini Las Vegas, open 'til late - each day they try to make money out of this very special place. Sadly, commercialism takes over.

No-one seems to go to bed early here. We are told that the volunteer carers, who come with the many disabled or old, like to party way into the early hours.

We also come across beggars on the street corners - some with children asleep in their arms and others with animals. And each night, they sit on the corners or sprawl across the pavements, hopeful for a coin.

Across from the hotel, in a small park, is a group of gypsies. Close by, in a tree, hangs all their worldly belongings - bags and clothes, all strewn over branches. The gypsies sit on big pieces of cardboard and argue noisily amongst themselves, oblivious to the attention they attract from people passing by, or looking out their hotel window from above.

The hotel manager shrugs his shoulders when I ask him about them. 'Oui, yes, they live there,' he says. 'you should just ignore them.'

Sat 16 we are up early, packed, breakfasted and ready to leave for the village of Les Cabanna where we will watch the race come past. Alec decides to ride part of the race route up the Plateau De Beille, 1780m, which leaves the rest of us to find a good spot to watch the race. It's a long four-hour journey by bus to get close to the village. Max and I find a good spot, uphill, 15km from the finish line and settle in for the afternoon. Luckily, we are in the shade for nearly all of the day. After the race comes through we head off to find our bus again and then wait for all our riders to return.

Finally, we are on our way to Toulouse, where we will spend the night at a Mecure Hotel and say our goodbyes to all the next day. The six Kiwis head out for late night drinks and then find a good pizza restaurant. When we get back to the hotel, we are a giggly six, and get stuck in the lift. It turns out that when we finally ring the panic button, we haven't even left the receptionist's floor, and when he opens our door, he wonders what all the fuss was about.

Really, though, it is just a good, fun way to end our tour - special friends getting together to enjoy a special adventure deep in the heart of France - what could be better!