Atoms over Andorra

It's time to leave Lourdes but before we do, we go and take a look at the Grotte that this place was built on (and the grot that it makes its money on). The grotto itself is open 24/7 and is free, as is the water you can take home in Virgin Mary shaped plastic bottles, and should you wish, the baths that will wash away your sins and ailments.  Given that this place has only been going 150 years, and that the church only ratified the miracle in 1933, it's amazing at how classic the basilica and all the surrounding buildings look. The grotto itself is only unusual for the crowds  around it and the queue to visit it. The stone walls on the way in have been worn smooth by people passing by and touching them. An entire city built on the vision of a malnourished 14 year old... No wonder its so tacky. Anyway, after breakfast, we're off to Biarritz in cloudless clear skies. The roads are stunning and although we get lost a couple of times and end up with an impromptu lunch at

Lourdes is 'Special' in the words of the hotel receptionist. She meant it in the same way that Steve Martin's  Ruprecht was special. It's a weird place full of people who believe passionately that a visit to a small hole in a cliff face and a sprinkle of water will cure them of what ails them. It's so frustrating and endearing and annoying to see them here in their thousands - Lourdes has 6 million pilgrims a year and only Paris has more hotel rooms in France. And of course all of them are spending unfeasibly large sums of money in souvenirs. It's by nature then, full of those closer to the end of their lives than the beginning. And that means appalling driving. They are really terrible drivers around here. Which is a pity because the roads are magnificent. The morning was taken up with some beautiful twisties and brilliant passes. But the highlight of the day was a visit to the Pau Arnos race circuit. We just showed up and they were quite happy for us

Up at 6.30 and the weather was... Lovely! Thank goodness. So after a decent breakfast I packed up the car and made my way on practically deserted roads to a place near Sort. The roads were magnificent. Like alpine roads, only with no traffic to speak of. One in particular was just amazing. The A1604 is possibly the best road I have ever driven. 48k of twisties, constant bends, elevation changes, blind crests and virtually no one else on the road. I think it's now just about my favourite road. I could have spent all day doing it. There's a link to a video  here . (Be warned, it's 12 minutes long and will make you feel queasy, but it is spectacular.) More equally lovely roads followed, and at about 12.30 I finally met up with the other two Atoms and we set off for lunch together, after which followed a series of lovely passes and good advice from bikers when we stopped.  It turned out that they had had pretty much the same weather as I'd been experiencing, so they

The rain hasn't stopped its torrential downpouring all night. And in fact doesn't stop until about 2pm. I've decided to stay in Pamplona today and give the weather a chance  to cheer up a bit by tomorrow. So today is a sightseeing day with an exploration of this ancient walled town. I have never been anywhere with such a preponderance of bars. They are everywhere and exist it seems mostly just do business with the locals 51 weeks a year and make all their cash in the bull run week. The weather has been so bad that the Rio Arga has broken its banks for the first time since anyone can remember and is flooding the low lying areas of the town below the walls. Some of the cars in the car park are underwater and others have been swept away. Looks like the right decision to stay put. If you look at these two pictures, you can see how much the river rose... After a walk around the city walls with views that I imagine would be spectacular if there wasn't the grey cloud clo

Started the day watching a pod of about 200 dolphins swimming alongside the ship. Something to write home about, but not worth a picture as they were a bit far away. Still very life affirming to see something like that. I thought I'd get bored on a ship for this long but its a nice relaxing start to the holiday and I've chatted to some very interesting people, including a guy called Lucky who seems to have done just about everything including getting his name from an incident when a lion came into his room in the bush, wandered around and over him and then left... Lucky indeed. Also chatted to couple of young tearaways who were seriously into cars, one of them being a drifting fiend who grew up in Camden off Queens Crescent Two hours to go now, and its passed very easily. Next stop Santander and then on to Pamplona... ...except that its pissing down and freezing cold! Good thing I decided to stop in Pamplona as I couldn't have gone much further. I'm soaked to

Finally, the day of departure, take two. After a morning of removing two days worth of clothing from my luggage and tidying the flat, I set off for the coast. Three points of interest, the first being the two most stupid questions I have ever been asked about the Atom... "Are you allowed to drive that?" answered by, "Well, I'm old enough", and "What is it supposed to be then?" Answered by, "It's not supposed to be anything - it's an Ariel Atom".  God, that kid was dumber than dumb. Second point, there was a cop with a radar gun on the A3. As I sailed past at 50 in a 50 he actually gave me the thumbs up... amazing for a radar slinger. And the third, of course, it rained. Torrentialy. I got soaked on the way to Portsmouth, but it was lovely and sunny for the last 20 minutes, so I managed to dry out. Getting onto the ferry was pretty straightforward, and having dropped off my luggage in a four berth cabin which was barely big enough f