The Events of Thursday, April 21, 2011

                Ore is the most adorable village; the church bells chime on the hour, the birds chirp away, the neighbor’s rooster crows, and goats and sheep bleat. And those were exactly the sounds that woke me up this morning. I listened to the bells chime and counted … one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. No, I just got comfortable. I forced myself to go back to sleep. Caitlin got up. The bed that I had to share with Caitlin (because we both are sick with the flu) is so soft and flexible that when she got up, I almost fell off. The mattress on her side of the bed was sticking up in the air and so I had to quickly flop into the middle of the bed and then all was well. I went back to sleep.

                While I was still asleep, Mom woke up. Now she wasn’t feeling so great, but when she opened the door of her bedroom, she saw Ben and starting laughing. And laughing. And laughing. Now, Ben is growing out his usually very short hair. So, lately he has been trying out different hairdos. Last night, we watched Meet the Robinsons. In this movie, the main character has a kind of electrified scientific hairdo. So, Ben decided to try it out. The result was a combination of Einstein and Elvis Presley and none of us could quite take him seriously today.

                Meanwhile, I was determined to be the last one up. But, I failed; Abby beat me. She, as well as Mom, had joined the sick club. So, poor Daddy made a delicious hot breakfast of eggs and sausage and only he and Ben had enough of an appetite to enjoy it. That usually amazing smell was making the rest of us nauseous. So, we ate what we could and then headed back to bed. Ben and Daddy decided to book out of here to save their own hides and started researching more strenuous hikes that would follow their masculine instinct of climbing mountains because they are there. They hopped into the car and started their journey, while the ladies got some beauty rest.

Ben- The drive took us to the Valley of Lys, where a large parking lot opened up onto a complex trail network. After a bit of guessing and backtracking, we found the trail we were supposed to take. This trail took us up a steep slope through a green forest. With lots of melting snow on the mountains above, several streams trickled across our path. After crossing a bit of snow covering a creek, we found a nice spot for lunch.

                We ate and relaxed at the bottom of a huge grassy valley. It actually snowed a little bit before the sun came out; when it did, it became the best picnic so far in Europe. Our path then led downhill for quite a way before it reached the second point of interest on our map: the Goeffre d’Enfer, or the Abyss of Hell. Quite an endearing name, don’t you think? We hiked a ways down to the viewpoint. It was an awesome display of power. In a wide crack in the mountain, a stream rushes down, forming a series of powerful waterfalls. We were standing near the middle of the largest one. I could barely hear myself think with all that water pounding on the sheer black rock and falling into a swirling pool of white water and foam. Awesome.

                As our path slowly meandered downhill from the Abyss of Hell (who knew you could go lower than hell?), we entered forests of hazel and beech trees. Green and leaves covered every surface, creating a sea of vegetation. In this was a nice patch of soft grass, perfect for a mid-afternoon snack, nap, and reading time.

                We headed back via a meandering path. It really meandered, as if all the hikers who had taken this general route made their own path. At time, six different paths cut across one switchback! Soon we were back at the car, having followed our Google translate directions to “go down the road and you will rediscover the parking lot” and were zooming back towards Ore.

                While, the men of the family were conquering the Pyrenees Mountains, the ladies were resting, reading, watching Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and nibbling on jam and toast. None of us had a fever anymore, but we still had pretty bad stomachaches. Ben and Daddy came home an hour early and we relaxed the rest of the day away with them. Just before dinner, Caitlin took her temperature again and found it had soared to 103⁰, time for more medicine for Caitlin. Daddy heated up leftover One Dish-chicken, rice, and veggies and then apple tart. Again, the quantity consumed varied greatly. We watched Amazing Grace as a family and then headed to bed. As I lay in bed drifting off, the church bells were chiming the hour, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.