Last Saturday
I went with Miguel to these amazing caves on the border of France and Spain where it is said witches gathered. It is also said that the witches were burned there alive during the inquisition. I finally was outdoors, took in the fresh air, and acted like the adventurous kid I am.
I also took a whole lot of pictures.
But first, Maria-Teresa, my second cousin, dressed up as a duck for carnival. She is the cutest thing I´ve ever seen. And she has my name.
Three generations!
Here we start. First of all, just the drive to the caves was gorgeous. A mixture of Spanish and French countryside, some of the most dramatic landscapes I´ve seen. And dotted by gorgeous old houses...
What you have to imagine here, is that in the middle of the picture were the tree line descends, that it keeps going down about 20 or 30 feet!! Like, I said, dramatic landscape...
And... pigs. piglets!!! Seriously... just walking in the middle of the highway.
here comes mommy pig.
Aw what a cute piggy family.
And now... you stand at the starting point, the beginning of the path... into the caves...
They are so huge... maybe you can get it from this pick... they´re like a tunnel, and here, when you first turn in, it bridges over you. But the actual caves extend to your right from this angle...
Lighting was a problem... But hey it´s more realistic cause it was DARK in there... and spooky.
So me and Miguel explored into the tiny side caves...
Though I kept going far beyond where Miguel wanted to go, exploring... It got so dark I had to use my camera and my cell as guiding lights... but I still couldn´t see anything. Miguel says he couldn´t hear me very well. I kept thinking it had to end, but it never did. Finally, I felt myself get scared, not of anything "real"... but of magical things. I kid you not. I do not believe in sorcery or witches, but there are something weird about those caves...
Of course in the pictures, all that showed up is rock.
And here we come out to the light, to the open part of the cave.
Here you can see how it´s a tunnel.
here the opening yawns before you... Maybe here you can see how big it is?
I´m thinking about painting this... this is the small river that created the huge tunnel. Talk about living history... What a thought.
This is what I like to call Reality vs. Poetry. Or Flash vs. No Flash. Or how the world sees it vs. how Teresa sees it.
I love that second picture. The movement of water has always been gorgeous to me, but there it is captured...
To think this drop of water can move stone... It´s really amazing to think about... Even though the photo is fuzzy.
And then we got outside and there was this GORGEOUS path... and miguel talking on the phone.
And gorgeous countryside... Hi!
Aw, Miguel´s so cute.
And me at the top of the stairs! Bwaha!
This was at the bottome of those stairs... I could´ve sat on these old benches all day and thought and written things. How gorgeous.
There was another small cave but it was all well lit and not as spooky... Miguel organizing a photo op. ;)
Then I climbed really high up a hill to get a better view... and mostly cause I like climbing things.
And then we had to go... spectacular sunset, no?
Then we ran into a cow...
Then sheep... but Miguel baaa-ed at them so loudly he scared them, so here they are running away...
I bet you thought the day was over then, huh? But oh, no it wasn´t. Then we went to France. To San Juan de la Luz, a beautiful little town in Southern France. With beautiful french houses...
And got ourselves a second spectacular sunset!
THEN... we went by the chapel there, where King Louis XIV married Marie-Therese 400 years ago... it was gorgeous and when we entered, mass was just finishing. They were singing in Euskera, the basque language, instead of French. So cool to hear.
And a HUGE old, luxurious organ...
A picture from outside...
And that´s all for that day, guys! Hope you enjoyed. I sure did. There were more things we saw but mostly at night and didn´t show up well in pictures. How lucky am I to have a cousin to show me all that´s most beautiful around here.
Au revoir!
I also took a whole lot of pictures.
But first, Maria-Teresa, my second cousin, dressed up as a duck for carnival. She is the cutest thing I´ve ever seen. And she has my name.
Three generations!
Here we start. First of all, just the drive to the caves was gorgeous. A mixture of Spanish and French countryside, some of the most dramatic landscapes I´ve seen. And dotted by gorgeous old houses...
What you have to imagine here, is that in the middle of the picture were the tree line descends, that it keeps going down about 20 or 30 feet!! Like, I said, dramatic landscape...
And... pigs. piglets!!! Seriously... just walking in the middle of the highway.
here comes mommy pig.
Aw what a cute piggy family.
And now... you stand at the starting point, the beginning of the path... into the caves...
They are so huge... maybe you can get it from this pick... they´re like a tunnel, and here, when you first turn in, it bridges over you. But the actual caves extend to your right from this angle...
Lighting was a problem... But hey it´s more realistic cause it was DARK in there... and spooky.
So me and Miguel explored into the tiny side caves...
Though I kept going far beyond where Miguel wanted to go, exploring... It got so dark I had to use my camera and my cell as guiding lights... but I still couldn´t see anything. Miguel says he couldn´t hear me very well. I kept thinking it had to end, but it never did. Finally, I felt myself get scared, not of anything "real"... but of magical things. I kid you not. I do not believe in sorcery or witches, but there are something weird about those caves...
Of course in the pictures, all that showed up is rock.
And here we come out to the light, to the open part of the cave.
Here you can see how it´s a tunnel.
here the opening yawns before you... Maybe here you can see how big it is?
I´m thinking about painting this... this is the small river that created the huge tunnel. Talk about living history... What a thought.
This is what I like to call Reality vs. Poetry. Or Flash vs. No Flash. Or how the world sees it vs. how Teresa sees it.
I love that second picture. The movement of water has always been gorgeous to me, but there it is captured...
To think this drop of water can move stone... It´s really amazing to think about... Even though the photo is fuzzy.
And then we got outside and there was this GORGEOUS path... and miguel talking on the phone.
And gorgeous countryside... Hi!
Aw, Miguel´s so cute.
And me at the top of the stairs! Bwaha!
This was at the bottome of those stairs... I could´ve sat on these old benches all day and thought and written things. How gorgeous.
There was another small cave but it was all well lit and not as spooky... Miguel organizing a photo op. ;)
Then I climbed really high up a hill to get a better view... and mostly cause I like climbing things.
And then we had to go... spectacular sunset, no?
Then we ran into a cow...
Then sheep... but Miguel baaa-ed at them so loudly he scared them, so here they are running away...
I bet you thought the day was over then, huh? But oh, no it wasn´t. Then we went to France. To San Juan de la Luz, a beautiful little town in Southern France. With beautiful french houses...
And got ourselves a second spectacular sunset!
THEN... we went by the chapel there, where King Louis XIV married Marie-Therese 400 years ago... it was gorgeous and when we entered, mass was just finishing. They were singing in Euskera, the basque language, instead of French. So cool to hear.
And a HUGE old, luxurious organ...
A picture from outside...
And that´s all for that day, guys! Hope you enjoyed. I sure did. There were more things we saw but mostly at night and didn´t show up well in pictures. How lucky am I to have a cousin to show me all that´s most beautiful around here.
Au revoir!