En Vacances

Bordeaux is the capital city of the Aquitaine region of France. Aquitaine has a long Atlantic coast to the west and borders Spain to the south. Aquitaine is made up of 5 departments - Dordogne, Gironde (where Bordeaux is located), Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, and Pyrenees-Atlantiques.

This trip is the first time we have been outside Gironde. We drove south from Bordeaux, through Landes, to the Valle d'Aspe in the Pyrenees. We are about 30 km from the Spanish border.

The drive time was about 4 hours but we took most of the day. We stopped for lunch in Dax, which is in Landes. Dax is the spa capital of France because of its thermal waters. The restorative powers of the thermal waters and mud was supposedly discovered by a Roman legionnaire who was stationed in Dax. He attempted to drown his dog, who was suffering from rheumatism, before leaving for battle. On his return, what did he find - a completely rejuvenated (and muddy) dog.

Oh puppy - the mud can't save you now

Le Fontaine Chaud - the water is 64 degrees Celsius

 The water was too hot for the kids to put their hands in

This guy needed a bit of help getting around, I guess he hasn't made it to the thermal waters yet

Dax Cathedral