Hangin' in the Pyrenees

So, for those of you that don't know, our mates Rob and Emma (who have a baby - Jenny- they always were fashionable) have a great walking and adventure holiday in the Pyrenees. http://www.mountainbug.com/ How could we not come see them?

Because one of Team Stanford gets sea sick (this sounds familiar - ferry to Korea anyone?) we chose the cheapest and shortest ferry crossing - Dover to Dunkirk. Great for visiting Belgium, less good for the French Pyrenees. Still nothing that a 700 mile drive can't cure.

Interesting things that happened on our drive:

• we navigated the ring roads round Paris successfully and with our marriage in tact. This is no mean feat as the road network is like someone made the M25 out of scrabble tiles then shook the board. A lot. There is NO ring road.
• we found THE cheapest hotel chain in the world. So cheap, they didn't have a receptionist (you put your credit card in and got a room number and a door code).
• we were so cheap we ate our own breakfast cereal and made luke warm coffee from the flask of water we'd brought from Kara's parents (French cuisine at its finest)
• we did highspeed manoevring in order to avoid a family of ducks crossing the autoroute.The mother seemed very flustered and the chicks were all following her. We suspect they are all dead now. Very upsetting...
• ...but our minds were instantly diverted by the man driving along the autoroute with a rhino. Yes. A full size rhino sticking out the back of his white van. Was it real? Was it alive? We don't know. It looked real but the rational part of our brains want to believe that not even the French transport exotic animals via white van.
• stunning scenery - as you'd expect when you drive through the Dordogne
• mad drivers - as you'd expect when in France

So we finally got to Rob and Emma's and were put straight to work helping get dinner ready and serve it up to their guests. This effort has been totally rewarded by spending time with our friends and their newest team member (and getting to eat said food - fantastic) and seeing some of the Pyrenees.

Stuff we have done:

• walked round a mountain lake up to another lake then to a balancing stone. There were no paths.
• went to a refuge for hot chocolate
• did a 12km walk along their valley, passing through little quaint villages, and a pub. Beautiful sunshine, blue skies, rain. ????
• Martin took a challenge from their guests. Could he race a 62 year old Aussie woman, by the name of Rae, up the Luz Ardenne, site of a Tour De France finish? After receiving plenty advice on how to protect his virginal crack and borrowing lycra from Rob (tasty) he made it. Rae beat him, but it was a close thing. Kara provided support and had a fun few moments driving down the valley to pick them up in Rob and Em's 4WD.*

*note from Martin. This was over 1000m of ascent at an average of 7% incline. I hadn't ridden a bike for 9 months, have never cycled more than 8 miles, or ridden a racing bike. I thought I did pretty well. Rae cycles all the time and is seriously fit. Incredible woman.

So, on to our next adventures, which will be over the border in Spain...