Tuesday 1^st July (The old gits 62 today)

My suspicions were raised when I spotted a few ‘weekenders’ still on the site, then a kid zoomed past me on a bike, then another on a skateboard. When we later went into Benasque it transpired that it was a two day fiesta for St Marcial. I had been hoping that when they eventually ran out of Apostles they’d give Judas another chance. Celebrating a betrayer such as this might have led to a fiesta characterised by things such as mass adultery and debauchery. Who ever he is St Marcial was successful in filling up the church for the morning service, people were congregating in the square dressed in traditional dress. A band was setting up under a covered stage and a bar was also being assembled.

Benasque is an attractive town, a mixture of old and new, dominated by its ski, climbing and walking outfitters, there are also plenty of reasonably priced bars and restaurants,

After lunch we returned to the site to relax by the pool. Later in the afternoon a French guy started telling us about his walk across the Pyrenees from coast to coast. He was writing a book about his trek as he was completing it “the difficult way, the way of the wolf”. He explained that it was not the wild beast he was referring to but a wolf who is different from the rest of the pack?? He was walking/climbing 10 – 12 hours a day, his diet included a pound of chocolate and he was hoping to complete it in less than 40 days.

I guessed that he was ‘the wolf’ and to some degree he had been missing human contact as he wanted to tell us all about himself, almost arrogant. His incessant chatter and high self esteem made me feel uncomfortable and I concluded that his wolf like isolation wasn’t entirely self imposed. As we were leaving the pool he asked what had been happening in the world the last 20 days. I wanted to tell him about the Sunni uprising in Iraq, the establishment of a Caliphate and Camerons dispute with Juncker and the EU but Barbara got in before me “Suarez has gone and bitten someone again”. He obviously didn’t know who Suarez was but what an excellent piece of ‘doorstep’ communication to freeze him with.

Later that evening we cycled the two miles back into town for a meal, not once did I have to pedal on the way there but boy did I pedal back.

Benasque

Benasque folk in traditional dress.

Benasque,