Mega-Vacation Day 8 - Lourdes to Tours

Day 8 (Lourdes to Tours):
The final day! Booo...
So for the first time all trip, I was able to sleep in (until 9, when I was awakened by the housekeeper attempting to get into the room and then succeeding in getting her key stuck in the door, rather amusing since this was the only key owned by the hotel that has access to all the rooms). The plan today was to finally head up into some mountains - while MT was off doing Catholic things with some Spanish-speaking priests, Hansky and I took a "funiculaire" (cable car) up 1000 feet to Pic du Jer, where we hiked around a bit and got some great views of Lourdes down below, as well as some of the close foothills. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and the higher Pyrenees to the south were barely visible. Booo...I guess I'll just have to come back. :)
Once back in town, we killed time for several hours while we waited for MT by eating a slow lunch, wandering the holy site area again, and getting some work done/watching some crazy YouTube videos on my computer at the hotel lobby. Around 4:15, the three of us trekked up the hill back to the train station, where finally I caught a glimpse of the wonderful Pyrenees through the clouds!
Worst news of the day: so I managed to get a long, thick string of fabric (from a rug in the hotel) stuck in the wheel of my rolling suitcase, rendering the rolling function useless and adding about twice as much friction. What. A. Pain.
The train ride home was on the awesome high-speed TGV, which still took 5 hours but was direct and rather painless. Again, I worked my magic and managed to "forget" to fill out my calendar for the Eurail Pass and when the conductor came by to check, he made no comment. So now I have TWO free days to use some other day for unlimited train travel! Woo-hoo!
And so this trip ended just like all others do...planning the next one. Where will I go next???!! Well, Lausanne, Switzerland in two weeks with MT (I booked this a while ago). What else? Well, maybe I should start thinking about this whole school thing again, as we start leg 2 of classes tomorrow at the Institute!
Hope you enjoyed the lengthy story of our 8-day mega-trip. A lovely time overall and I am so glad to have been able to see so much of France and Italy, especially by train, which is great.
So long for now!
-Andrew