We traveled to Lourdes today,  to visit the shrine of St Bernadette, our Lady of Lourdes.  She saw an apparition of Mary in the mid 1800s,  saying “I am the immaculate conception”,  and a spring appeared there with healing waters.   Many believed in the healing powers,  and still some come out take holy water away to cure illnesses.   This is where the misconception of Mary being conceived immaculately is from, but the Catholic church today does not teach that anymore.    Perhaps Bernadette misheard Mary, and she actually said,  I conceived immaculately…. not I was.

Our drive was beautiful too. Lourdes is close to the Pyrenees and our views today were spectacular!

Bordeaux for a bit of French cuisine next.  Our Hotel, Indigo.  We have a 2 BR suite sharing with Kathy, and it actually has a wall and door between them!  But the toilet is off her room and the shower is off our room!?

On our first afternoon,  we took  a brief walk around the old city center. 

The weather didn’t last,  so we went to dinner in the rain.  We had a typical French meal of the day,  One  each, starter,  main and dessert, and 4 options to choose from in each category.  

Emmett had these

Our full day in Bordeaux has crazy weather again,  sunny and beautiful one minute and rain showers the next,  for 30 seconds!  But it didn’t stop our exploration.   The tram here is quick,  easy,  cheap,  efficient,  and took us almost everywhere.  First to the Marchè de Capuchin (market)

We went a little farther to the cathedral of St Andre and the beautiful big square where it is located

Inside

A few more sights around the city.   It is a UNESCO site, and a station along the French Camino de Santiago

Some is the gates to the old city and sites around old part

Kathy and I visited the Darwin Eco-systems center, (a kind of artist colony, mixed use warehouse area) and La Citè du Vin.

We had a great sandwich there and shopped a bit

The architecture of the Museum of wine,  La Citè du Vin, was intriguing,  so we went there just for the view and a glass of wine… and to rest my feet!

Our wonderful Classic French meal for dinner at La Tupiña. White asparagus starter,  chateaubriand, with fois Gras, vegetables, REAL French fries,  fried in Duck fat ( amazing) and a pasta dish.   Berry ice creams and creme Brulee for dessert.   Delicious

A side trip today to Pamplona, so we could walk where the bulls run!  It is part of the Festival of San Fermin yearly.

We did a tour of the ring and learned about the bulls and maradores

And the fun starts

Here is a series showing the route along the narrow streets and a video above it showing the action at that place

What a fun day.  Some sites around Pamplona

Our lodging in San Sebastián is another AirBnb.  It is a 10 minute bus ride from the old town,  so in a little quieter neighborhood,  in a large apartment complex.   We certainly have experienced a lot of different types of lodging!  This 1 has a nice view of the park, but was a puzzle to get into,  with email and video instructions on how to park,  where to get the key, etc!  It is functional but certainly not the beauty and grace of last night’s paradore!

The old town on San Sebastián was burned entirely in 1813 by the British and Portugese fighting there!  So it has been completely rebuilt since then and looks totally different from other old towns we have visited,  but still interesting!  And it is a vibrant, bustling scene at night.   People like to at the various pintxo bars,  have a couple of their specialities,  and move on to another.   We might try a couple or 3 today!  Last night we were happy to stay at 1 restaurant and soak it all in!

Along the bay today!

Lovely dancers

In Bilbao for lunch after our visit to the Guggenheim, we had our first pintxos lunch.   Like tapas, these are small dishes, served differently on different places. Here,  we just pointed out our choice and they count toothpicks afterward to figure your charge!  They were delicious!  Lunch for 4 people with sparking water or sodas was only 36€ !

Our first dinner in San Sebastián has to be of course a Michelin mention at least!  And pintxos, of course!  The guys are in charge of picking out dining and they are doing a fantastic job!  This is last night,  in the old town,  at Ganbara.  13 food items between the 4 of us,  wild mushrooms,  crab tarts, gambas (shrimp in garlic olive oil) wonderful battered asparagus and shrimp….  it was all delicious!  As much as we could eat,  we were all full!  With drinks,  just 123€

Our travel day from Santillana del Mar to San Sebastián –  Donastio gave us the perfect opportunity to visit Bilbao and the Guggenheim museum there and have lunch.   It is an amazing place to visit,  even if modern art isn’t your thing!   The architecture alone is spectacular!

The coolest exhibit in the Guggenheim is this infinity mirrored room by Yayoi Kusama.  Here is the description
https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/exhibition/infinity-mirrored-room

In Bilbao for lunch after our visit to the Guggenheim, we had our first pintxos lunch.   Like tapas, these are small dishes, served differently on different places. Here,  we just pointed out our choice and they count toothpicks afterward to figure your charge!  They were delicious!  Lunch for 4 people with sparking water or sodas was only 36€ !  If course,  gelato after for dessert!  This place made beautiful roses in the cone!

The cave we visited is very near the little Spanish village of Santillana del Mar, in Cantabria.  It is very picturesque and a tourist attraction of sorts,  in its own right!  We are staying in one of Spain’s Paradores, a network of old historic buildings,  now a hotel.  Paradore de Santillana Gil Blas occupies the old Barreda-Bracho house, a baroque mansion from the 17th century built in the style of the homes of mountain noblemen. of the time.

Our Paradore Santillana Gil Blas, on the main square, our room and our view

The village in the evening,  after the tourists leave is lovely

Ancient cave paintings from 16000 years ago have been found in many locations in Northern Spain.   We got to visit one that has been totally protected by building an exact replica.   The cave of Altamira

The cave has been recreated in its exact form in a nearby building with a museum of ancient civilizations.   Both are very well done

We had to Try the sideria, the Cider place with the great seafood stew!  Lobster, crabs,  prawns,  shrimp,  and clams!  We ordered The grilled veggies, which came as a tower!  They were wonderful too! 

Walking the quiet shopping streets,  visiting the Marina and old town,  out to the bastion of Santa Catalina,  our visit to Gijon is leisurely today.   We have no travel or sightseeing agenda, and the sun is shining!   

The 1990 Elogio del Horizonte (‘In Praise of the Horizon’) is a bold, sea-facing concrete sculpture by Basque artist Eduardo Chillida that has become a symbol of the city.

On this side of the city is a church six stands where the very first chuck in the city once stood.   The Playa de San Lorenzo is the large crescent beach , beautiful views of the surroundings, and at the point,  the Bastian of Santa Catalina where the elogia stands

We walked to see the city parks and the Playa de San Lorenzo,  the beach boardwalk.  What great living spaces here!

The beach

The church of San Lorenzo