Chapter 5

CAUTERETS.

Hôtel de la Poste, Pierrefitte--The Gorge--Its majestic beauty--The resemblance to the Llanberis Pass--Mrs. Blunt becomes poetical--Zinc mines--Le Pont de Médiabat--Entering the town--The Rue Richelieu and Hôtel du Parc--Winter's seal upon them still--Thermes des Oeufs--Thermes de César--The Casino and Esplanade des Oeufs--A good dinner and the menu--The start for the Col de Riou--The Grange de la Reine Hortense--The pines--Miss Blunt's "Exhortation to the First Snow"--The dogs and their gambols--Defeated, but not discouraged--To the Cérizey Cascade--The baths of La Raillère, Petit St. Sauveur, and Le Pré--Cascade de Lutour--The Marcadau Gorge--Scenery--Pic de Gaube--At the Cérizey Cascade--The Pont d'Espagne and Lac de Gaube--Pont de Benqués--Lutour valley--Various excursions up same--The "Parc"--Allées de Cambasque--The Peguère--The "Pagoda" villa-- Promenade du Mamelon Vert--The road's up again--Blows and blasts--The bishop's arrival--Enthusiasm, pomposity, and benedictions--The pilgrims at large--They start on an excursion--The market and Hôtel de Ville--The grocer's opinion--Pyrenean dogs and their treatment--The dog-fancier--Smiles and temper--Bargaining displaced--No dog after all!