Odd

Today was one of those days you think will stick in your memory for a good while. We woke up to a perfect blue sky and although it wasn't warm it looked like it had the potential to heat up later.
After breakfast we set off with our bikes in the back of the car to a place just outside Lourdes where we could pick up the Voie Vert. It's a disused railway track which has been made into a cycle way. Within a few minutes we were cycling under a clear blue sky surrounded by the mountains of the Pyrenees. Perfect.
The track took us through pretty French towns and villages and over and under a sparkling turquoise river. That was the first odd thing of the day, rivers are not usually that colour!! It was beautiful. Our ride was about 30km in total so we got back feeling very pleased with ourselves.
In the afternoon we drove over the Col de Tourmalet. This a famous Tour de France ride which goes up almost 7 000 feet. That's over twice the height of Snowdon!! It was exciting to be on this famous road. Igor has watched many of his cycling heroes cycle this route when watching the Tour on TV over many years. There were lots of cyclists riding up there today but we're nowhere near that good. We were happy just to get up there in the car.
The next odd thing was a flock of llamas by the side of the road. We'd seen sheep and cows but we weren't expecting llamas!! As we parked our car by the side of the road to take some pictures Igor laughed and said 'you don't usually see Yetis in the Pyrenees either, that's odd!!'. He drives a Skoda Yeti, very funny!!
On the way back we drove through a small town which had posters advertising the 'Fetes des Marionnaires'. There were handmade life sized dolls all over the place. A couple sitting outside the cafe eating bread, a woman going into a fruit and vegetable shop, a whole family on a balcony, a boy on a scooter and one playing football. They were everywhere. I took a lot of shots but this one was my favourite. A little girl sitting outside a house waiting for the school bus. Very, very odd but lovely all the same.