I was up very late again last night (0230) booking today's accommodation in Tarbes - a Premiere Classe hotel on the South West edge of the city at 39 Euros.

Weather forecast for today was 32c and cloudy. I knew today's route to Tarbes via Lourdes wouldn't be too long (71km in the end) so decided to be a tourist in the morning and visit the big Chateau in Pau. I opted for the guided tour, which was great (see photos), but when the tour finished as scheduled at 1pm the baggage storage room was locked for lunch until 2pm. As my panniers were in there, I wasn't too pleased, and the only thing I could do was have lunch and come back. So at 2pm I set off for Lourdes. The route there followed the River Ousse across flat fields, with the wall of the Pyrenees straight ahead. Lourdes itself was a lot bigger than I expected. I had grown up knowing the story of St Bernadette, and always imagined Lourdes was a village, but it's quite a big town, unfortunately full of tacky shops, but the grotto itself (see photo on this page) was stunning in its design, and exuded a strange sense of peace. I walked in with my bike while an open-air mass was on, and was told by a nun that the bike wasn't welcome. Oh well.

After a quick coffee I was off Northwards via Azereix, where I headed East, arriving at my destination in the middle of a light industrial park just South of the N21 dual carriageway. This was the strangest hotel I had stayed in yet - it seemed to be made of portakabins stacked 3 high, with the stairs stuck on the outside - but all the facilities were ok. There was no restaurant however, so I went to the adjacent Campanile for dinner.