We had two adventures today: A trip to Pic du Midi and then another to Girque de Gavarnie.
On the way we stopped in at the church at Lourdes looking for a miracle but there was none to be had. In fact just getting a bite to eat in Lourdes was a problem.
There was service going on when we got there (about 10 AM Monday) and I hope some of these poor saps got a miracle.
Again, Lourdes has a few bums with dogs. Maybe they too are waiting for a miracle.
We blasted off for the Pic du Midi without conversion or cure.
PART ONE: Pic du Midi
The Pic du Midi is an astronomical observatory on top of a very tall mountain. About 10,000 feet elevation. You need to take two cable cars to get there. The first one goes about half way and then you transfer to the second.
This is a shot of the car leaving the ground location.
And this is leaving the midway location. You can see the top in the distance.
Lots of electronic equipment at the top - for radio, televsision, internet I imagine.
A couple shots of the surrounding moutains.
And a couple videos
The happy retardees.
A shot from the cable car going down showing the size of the construction.
A shot of the valley on the way down.
Another video which I have named: Frank's idea of what hell might be like
Being trapped in a cable car for eternity with screaming kids and adults shooshing them (is that how you spell that?).
When we got to the bottom we had a great (cheap) lunch and met this little doggie. She was very greatful for a couple pieces of french bread.
On the way out I saw this giant of a guy and this little woman. The picture was snapped just as he turned to the left but I guarantee you his belly could hold an entire goat. My caption is: "You want to get on top tonight...ha...right!!!"
Send me your best caption.
PART TWO: Cirque de Gavarnie
This is what Wikipedia says about Cirque de Gavarnie
The Cirque de Gavarnie is a cirque in the central Pyrenees, in south-western France. The cirque is 800 m wide (on the deepest point) and about 3000 m wide at the top. It is located within the commune of Gavarnie, the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, and the Pyrenees National Park.
It is a very spectacular piece of nature.
Here are some of my photos:
In the above photo in the middle on the left side (about 1/3 from the left) you can see the waterfall. Below is a zoomed shot so it won't be that clear. The waterfall is the highest in France.
Terribla en France. We tried to get this guy to take our picture with the waterfall in the back ground. I don't know what it was but his finger would not trigger the camera (Samsung phone). I showed him how to do it and so I ended up with many pictures of Terri but he could not get the camera to work, I watched him doing it and he was doing nothing wrong. Very strange. Perhaps he was an alien and his chemical makeup prevented the camera from working.
So at the end of it all I discovered a very tasy beer: A Leffe. Not one you could drink a whole bunch of but deffinately one you could drink one of and enjoy.
Finally: the grumpiest woman in France. And I know I know - this is not very nice of me to make fun of some old woman in a bag. I accept that I am not the nicest person to ever live. So sue me!
Ooops..almost forgot..got a real nice photo from a professional photographer. Guillaume Piolle is his name and I thank him for his photo.
One final video.