Throw Momma from the train

Bus, bus, train, bus, bus, train and bus are the modes of transport that finally got us to our destination in the Pyrenees. A Socialist Movement protest had shut down the trains and the taxis were on strike protesting Uber so it was an interesting time to be in France. Jerry mentioned a five star spa at the end of our Camino but somehow we ended up at a French hamlet in an obscure location in the mountains. The appeal to come here was the Freedom Trail. The trail was developed in 1942 as an escape route into Spain for those fleeing the Nazi oppression in France, including  downed Allied airmen. This route was the longest and most difficult (but most often used) of several routes which made it difficult for the occupying forces to maintain control. More than 33,000 escaped along these routes. The guides for the route were often shepherds, farmers and hunters and more than 2000 of them were hunted down and killed. Unfortunately, we only had time to walk part of the trek. You have to admire anyone who would attempt this route understanding that they did so with very limited supplies including clothing and extremely harsh terrain and weather.

Did I mention that this was an obscure hamlet?  It may be, however today it is hosting the conference on "High Performance- Linear and Non-linear Methods for Large Scale Applications."  The brochure explains  that "both sparse linear algebra kernels together with dense linear kernels are the key". Thank goodness someone is on top of that development! 

Still snow on the peaks

 

Part of the trail.