Awoke with hopes that today would bring good fortune our way. We were not disappointed. A quick coffee and goodbye at our Gite and we were off to explore Navarranx, a walled city. Since we had two options for our travel today, really long or really short, we opted to go short (18 kilometers) which gave us a chance to leave later. A proper coffee and some patisserie goodies were a good start. We then continued our walking tour of the town from the day before. This place was really cool with some underground tunnels which we chose to traverse until we met some bats which made us retreat (haha). We collected some food from a couple different places including one with "produits du terrior" (products of the territory). A super chill morning and we set off. We stopped once briefly about midway at a so-called "shelter" and had a snack and short rest. Continued until we almost got to Aroue when we found an acceptable pique-nique spot. Finally found Aroue shortly thereafter. This is where things got interesting. Yesterday, we had decided to eschew the earmarked Gite where we heard many Pelerin were going and tried to book a small place. When the tourist office called they were told it was "complete" although the owner said we could stay at his house! We were told to get someone to call him when we arrived at town at the communal Gite and he would come pick us up. Our friend Sophie was there and she called for us. After a bit of a wait, Evelyn showed up. She then drove us a bit of a distance. We didn't know where we were going but ended up some 20 kilometers away in the quaint village of Laas. They have a wonderful home directly across from a beautiful church. After we arrived we washed and went for a walk to explore the village. Here we found the Domaine De Laas which contains an old Chateau and these amazing gardens that front the River D'Oloron. This place was very beautiful and picturesque along the winding river. After a rest our hosts served us a tremendous dinner of vegetable and duck soup, "Poulet de Basque" an amazing chicken dish with rice and a delicious tart with custard. Although Guy and Evelyn speak less English than we speak French, we had a great time conversing with them and learning about each other and our families. Our adventure has really taken us way off the beaten path and we have had a very good day!
Gite La Tortue (?) Guy Phillipe, and his wife Evelyn are reason enough to recommend his Gite
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