Glentress - Old Blue and New Blue

With just one rain free day forecast for this week this was an opportunity to get out somewhere nice on the bike. Parked in Peebles and had a coffee at the theatre near the car park. The blue route had some detours on it but was in pretty good shape. Very much enjoy the climb. Descent OK - even the blue feels a bit hairy for me at times. Also checked out the new taster courses and there are a new set of routes of which I tried the blue. Slow and not very good lunch at the Peel Cafe.

Not much sign of the World Championships although I guess the new routes may have been linked to that.

SOL 5 - Devilla

A very wet morning ! Pretty much continuous rain so I was well wrapped up with waterproof trousers and top. Blue course at a SOL level event always proves challenging. This was really tough. Focussed on navigation which was difficult and made 1 big error with everything else going just about OK but never terribly easily. The result was very poor the somewhat improved navigation not making up for the slow pace. 

Northern Ireland Trip

A ferry across to NI on Friday to take Maxwell to hospital on Monday for his stent replacement operation. Some delays due to high winds but overall a smooth and pleasant journey. With the central heating broken at 54 Moira Drive I was staying for 4 nights at the Bangor Premier Inn.

Ran the Bangor Park Run on saturday morning with a time about a minute off my course best from earlier in the year. Visited Maxwell at Oakmont but decided it would be a bit much for him to head out. Spent the day clearing old papers at 54 Moira Drive to take home. Financial stuff and a fair bit of family history.

Lunch at RUYC with Maxwell and Liz on Sunday. 

Hospital trip on Monday went pretty smoothly. Needed to stay with Maxwell most of the morning as they went through all the prep stages. The Op itself was quick and Maxwell was in pretty good shape when he was released around 3.30 pm.

Boat home on Tuesday morning.

Manor Water Hill Race

Straight back to racing after the holiday. Cold temperatures but clear blue skies for the longest race I've done in quite a while. Challenging terrain under foot - 9 miles long and around 670 m of climb. I was pretty slow but content with the effort with plenty of people behind me. Race time around 1 hr 50 mins.

 

Lourdes Holiday - Day 12 - London - KitKat Club

Eurostar back to London and went for a swim at Pancras Square. In the evening went to see Cabaret - KitKat Club. We had prime seats for the show with dinner and champagne. The food was pretty good, the champagne went down very well, icecream and brownies at the interval. A very nice finish to the holiday.

Friday morning was the LNER train back to Edinburgh. All the train journeys went to time and were very pleasant - the only complaint being the queuing and waiting around for the Eurostar.

 

Lourdes Holiday Day 11 - Paris

An early train at 7 am from Lourdes to Paris passed surprisingly quickly arriving in Paris just after midday. We got an early checkin at the hotel - Mercure on Rue de la Gaite - and headed for a wander around Montparnasse Cemetery and a rather disappointing garden associated with the astrophysics institute.

In the evening it was a night of jazz at La Bal Blomet watching Baptiste Trotignon perform Brexit Music - a collection of jazz takes on classic British rock & pop songs. I quite enjoyed it - Cherry wasn't so sure.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 10 - Riverside Walk

Final day in Lourdes and we went for a walk along the river. Not entirely successful today with our original planned route having a closed gate, a section on a narrow road and a dull final section. 

Dinner out in town in the evening before packing. Both of us nursing a rather large number of insect bites.

Reviewing our stay in Lourdes - whilst it was nice to not drive anywhere the public transport was a little limiting on our activities as was the very hot weather. Next time I think a hire car probably a good idea.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 9 - Lac du Lourdes

A bus out to the lake and a pleasant 6 km circuit which was generally well back from the lakeside. A very nice meal at the lakeside cafe before getting another bus back to town.

 In the evening we headed out to watch the 9 pm candlelit procession. Yet again a huge crowd out with lots of wheelchairs and various groups.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 8 - Swim & Hill / Draw

In the morning we went for a swim at the local pool which is around 10 mins walk from the flat. Around 30 mins of swim in the nice 25 m pool. Bought some very nice tarts & sandwich at the nearby bakery before heading home.

In the afternoon we split up to do some serious hiking and to do some sketching. Colin headed up Beout with a summit at 791 m at the edge of Lourdes. It was a very nice walk with a strenous climb up the back of the hill.

In the evening we headed out into town for dinner. Our first choice Italian was only doing pizzas so we ended up at the first reasonable looking place we could find. A nice outdoor seat and view at Riviera Sol. The food was pretty average.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 6 - Cauterets

A roughly 1 hour bus journey from Lourdes to Cauterets deep in the Pyrenees. For the first time in France we felt some chill in the air - at least initially on arrival. We grabbed a coffee and pastry before following our noses towards the sun and a walk. It worked out surprisingly well finding by chance a really nice route. It was a fairly gentle uphill that brought us to La Raillaire an disused former spa with hot sulphur waters.

We passed a small collection of shops and cafes which we decided would be our lunch stop later in the day before heading up a woodland path near a series of waterfalls.

Lunch at La Cascade was good. Salads, trout, pasta and ice creams. We headed back down to catch the 3 pm bus back to Lourdes.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 5 - Castle & Pic du Jer

In the morning we walked to the Castle arriving a little too early so stopping for a quick coffee beforehand. Took the lift up to the castle for some great views and a very well organised route around the Pyrenean Museum, Castle and Botanic gardens. Really interesting and enjoyable visit. The small garden was excellent. Interesting scale models of local rural architectural styles.

 We walked onwards from there to the market to grab some takeaway food before walking on to get the cable car up to the Pic du Jer. A small walk remained to the summit at 951 m. Great views all round. Clear skies.

A bus back home from the foot of the hill in searing heat. 

Lourdes Holiday - Day 4 - Market, Bernadette and Churches

First trip of the day was to the Lourdes covered market which is open every day from around 6 - 2 pm. We got a good selection of fruit, veg, cheese, meat and fish. 

After a break we followed the Route of Bernadette around various places she lived or was linked to.

After lunch and another break we headed to the main religious area of the two with its three large churches. A very long procession took place around 5 pm with lots of sick and disabled and their supporters. Two of the churches pictured - the brutalist underground church and the more traditional Basilique Notre Dame de Rosaire.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 3 - train to Lourdes

We got the 10 am TGV from Montparnasse. A massive 16 coach double decker which would split in two further down the line. We arrived at 3 pm and just had a short wander through town in the evening doing enough shopping for our dinner.

The apartment was a fairly smart two bedroom apartment that looks pretty grotty from the outside but sports pretty decent views to the castle and Pyrenees.

 

Lourdes Holiday - Day 2 - Paris

We wandered over the Coal Drops Yard for breakfast at Lina Stores before heading good and early for the Eurostar at St Pancras. As previously the train journey was very nice but is marred by the airport style queues, security and waiting about.

In Paris we wandered across town to the Bateau Mouches via the Eiffel Tour from Montparnasse. Quite pleasant and relaxed parts of town we wandered through.

We had a dinner cruise on the Bateau Mouches starting at 8 pm and finishing 10.45 pm. A decent quality 3 course meal with champagne and a bottle of wine. Both quite sozzled by the end. Enjoyable boat trip with interesting enough night time views.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 1 - London

We got the 9.30 LNER train to London with first class seats. A nice little breakfast and then our own sandwiches for lunch before arriving at around 13.55. Easy check in at the Kings Cross Premier Inn before getting the quick train from St Pancras to Stratford International.

A short walk enjoying the gardens of the Olympic Park....

 ... and heading up ArcelorMittal Orbit - a sculpture made for the London 2012 Olympics with a slide down from the top. We skipped the slide and enjoyed the views from the top and a walk down (lift up).

After that we went to the London Aquatic Centre for the pool built for the London Olympics. 30 mins swim in a nice big pool.

Dinner at The Real Greek - nice greek mezze - then walk to the Abba concert. An enjoyable concert. Technically very impressive but somewhat soulless and overly produced music for the most part.