No matter what your beliefs might be, I think it would be hard not to be moved by the torchlight procession for the evening service at Lourdes.

As we entered the gate of St Michel choral singing flooded the square from the 100’s of speakers dotted around the vast open area in front of the Basilica, known as the Sanctuary.

Seeing all this hope, desperation and organisational power of the Catholic Church is an overwhelming experience.

At La Grotte many pilgrims rubbed plastic bags full of medicines against the cave walls wearing the rocks to a smooth shiny finish. Holy water collection containers could be bought from the numerous souvenir shops that lined the entrance to the Sanctuary

Lourdes itself is a bit of a mixed bag with many of the hotels and restaurants looking a  bit run-down. I have to say that we probably had the worst meal I can remember for a very long time at the Ambassador Hotel that overlooks the Sanctuary.

It seems that many of the pilgrims now stay at the Accueil Notre Dame, a modern accommodation and hospital complex, run by the Church, and situated adjacent to the Basilica. As a result many of the hotels look like they now struggle.

We stayed for two nights here at  The Vieux Berger, a campsite about 2km from the centre of town with great views out to the Pyrenees. Elizabeth, who ran the site, made us feel very welcome and gave us lots of tips about things to do in and around the area. The site was clean and spacious, reasonably priced, and I’d highly recommend it.

On Elizabeth’s recommendation, we took a trip on the Funiculaire du Pic Du Jer.

This was constructed in 1900 and feels a little clunky as it climbs up a very steep track to the summit at 1900m. From there you can climb a bit further to get spectacular 360 degree views of the Pyrenees. There’s also a number of walks around the summit and a large complex of caves which looked interesting although we didn’t have time to visit.

After Lourdes we headed for Cauterets, a small ski village about half an hour up the valley.

I wanted to go there as I had skied there when I was at school. Not much seemed familiar which was hardly surprising as I somewhat frighteningly worked out the trip was over 40 years ago!

It’s a very pretty and clean little village and is close to Pont D’Espagne, a vast open nature park about 7km up the valley. The area is dominated by fast flowing streams and dramatic waterfalls and feels very much a walker’s paradise.

There are a number of ski lifts at both Cauterets and Pont D’Espagne. In summer the ski runs are converted to mountain bike runs and the lift systems are used to transport sightseers, riders and bikes up the hillside.

After Cauterets we wanted to head across the Pyrenees and go into Spain. There are several routes but we were keen to use one of the smaller passes rather than the main highway.

We checked at the Tourist Office that the pass was open and suitable for a campervan. Yes, was the answer but we would have to travel between 6am and 1pm as it was only open during those hours for vehicles above 3 tonnes. It’s open in the opposite direction between 1pm and 8pm and closed completely between 8pm and 6am for large vehicles as considered to be too dangerous at night.

Armed with that information we knew it was going to be an interesting drive and we weren’t disappointed. The pass is known as the Col d’Aubisque and has been frequently used as part of the Tour de France.

Judging by the number of riders, it’s clearly legendary amongst cyclists, many of which had accompanying support crews.

Neil did a great job with the driving and I looked down the vertical cliff faces about a foot to my right – notice the excellent crash barriers in the pictures, or should I say flagstones!

There’s a good watering hole at the top, where we stopped for coffee and climbed to a nearby peak to take in the view.

This is the celebration stop for bikers who relax before commencing the descent on the other side of the pass.

We spent about an hour here soaking up the atmosphere before starting our descent and drive onto Jaca, Spain