Last of the Pyrenees and into Spain

03.09
 

Spent the morning writing the blog with a very slow internet and in the afternoon went for a long walk through town and along the valley.  Pam found a friend!
 

04.09

 

We have decided to leave the higher levels of the Pyrenees as it is a little chilly in the mornings and evenings.  We headed north east into the ‘Ariege’(accent over the e)  region through St-Girons and Foix to the small village of Montgaillard.  Have found a beautiful camp site, ( La Roucateille 14 euros) small with a large private pitch and clean facilities.  Once camp was established I went for a run with Pam biking, along a quiet road surrounded by the Pyrennees.  We have actually ended up further north than we started the day but have an easier run down to Barcelona (200k).

05.09

Off for a bike ride this morning into the lower reaches of the Pyrenees.  We took a small backroad from Montgaillard through Soula to the 10^th Century ‘Chateau Roquefixade’. 

 The majority of the ride for the first 4k was uphill and it was a tough 34k round trip.  Added to this was a steep climb up to the ruins of the Chateau.   Well worth it though for the fantastic scenery and views from the top.  Back to camp for a huge spag bol to recharge the batteries.

6.09

 

Onward towards Spain today!!  We thought a couple of hours drive and a leisurely afternoon! Not so!  We had a lovely drive back into the higher Pyrenees, and  crossed the border into Spain at Bourg-Madam.  We took the tunnel prior to ‘Col de Puymorens’ (13 euros) to save on some of the mountain climbing and turned off before the second tunnel, ‘Tunnel del Cadi’ as it appeared longer and probably more expensive!  We therefore had a spectacular drive over the ‘Collada de Toses’, through the various skifields and down into Ribas de Fraser and Ripoll where we thought about spending the night as it was getting late.  We carried on however and hit a four lane highway going all the way to Barcelona with no signs for camping. 
 After an hour or so we took a punt and exited to Girona, a fatal move as it was highly industrialised!  Carried on to Vic and eventually found a Decathlon sports store and shopping mall where a very helpful shop assistant told us of a camp 20k away in Taradell.   Finally got to camping ‘La Vall’  and a hot shower!

7.09

 

Only an 85k drive this morning to get to Barcelona!  An incredibly easy drive as the uncrowded motorways took us all the way to our chosen camp right on the beach and only 15k from the city centre.  The camp is called ‘Camping 3 Estrellas',  there is a bus stop outside the gate and  it’s only 20 minutes to town. We have the choice of the sea or the pool, it’s quiet, shady and very chilled.  All this for only 16 euros using our ASCI Camping Card which is a must if you are camping long term!  Spent the rest of the day swimming and relaxing.

8.09



Antoni Gaudi

Barcelona here we come!  We got up early and caught the L94 bus into town (book of ten tickets 10 euros) and met Richard and Ingrid for a coffee.  We purchased a 2 day pass for the hop on/hop off bus (31 euros per person with audio) and set off for a tour of the city,  taking in all the major sights and incredible architecture  which included Gaudi’s ‘La Pedrera’, ‘La Sagrada Familia’ and also Park Guell.   We passed the Olympic Stadium and the outside Diving Pool,  Barcelona Football Club , The Old Barcelona Bull Ring,  The Port, The Gothic Quarter, The Old Town and ‘La Rambla’ to name a few. 

  There was a ‘red route and a ‘blue route’ so we did them both (4.5hours).  A great  way to see the city!
 

La Pedrera

We had a fantantic day and went home content with our orientation and a general idea of the places we want to re-revisit tomorrow.  Can’t say how fantastic it is to have a swim in the sea after a long hot day in the sun, staying in the camp is wonderful! 

We discovered an awesome path with lanes for biking, running and roller blading running along the full length of the beach (10k), Pam biked and Col ran!  

09.08

 

La Rambla
 

Up early again!  It’s tough! but a must to take advantage of the cool temperature.  Back into town for a long walk from the Bull Ring, through the National Palace with it’s wonderful morning panorama of the city and ‘La Sagrada Familia’ dominating the vista. 


Up into the Olympic Park for a look at the Stadium used for the 1992 Olympics, (looking a little dated now and surprised to see rugby posts in the middle of the athletics field).  Saw the Olympic Diving Pool which is ‘open air’ and has an amazing city backdrop.  Back on the bus to the Port and a walk up ‘La Rambla, a 1.5k walk through the middle of the city with it’s many stalls of flowers, birds, jewellery, paintings, Cafe and ‘La Boqueria’ Food Market.  All very lively and colourful!

Next was ‘La Sagrada Familia’ and it’s utterly bizarre and outrageous architecture, we loved it and were totally awestruck!  It’s been in construction now for over 100 years and still a long way to go.  Gaudi (1852-1926) knew it would never be completed in his lifestime and said ‘that his client had all the time in the world’ to wait! 


 We followed on with a trip to ‘Park Guell’ which was Gaudi’s home for 20 years.  In these equally awesome gardens, Gaudi turned his hand to landscape gardening in his own bizarre fashion.  We spent over two and a half hours wandering around the gardens and visiting his house.
 
 A last look at the many ‘Modernista Mansions’ and we were spent!  Back to camp and a swim!  We rode our bikes 6k along the pathway to Richard and Ingrid’s Hotel for a beer;  the return trip was a little tricky as it was dark and we’d had a couple! 

10.09

Up early for a fantastic bike ride on the bike path to the end of the beach (22k return).

Back for a late breakfast and swims.  In the evening cycled 6k to 'El Quinza' Restaurant and met Richard and Ingrid for the most delicious meal of tapas (octopus, small fish, mussels and an unknown which may have been squid) and seafood paella.  Got home late and sat on the beach where some hippie was playing the bongos.  He got rapturous applause when he stopped and didn’t re-start!!



11.09  Return to France
 

Heading back to France today for a 3.5 hour drive to the ‘Cote Vermeille’ and Collioure near the Spanish Border. We were hoping to see the Salvador Dali Museum which we were told was in Figueres, but when we got to Figueres found out it was 50k earlier!!  Just as well as when we got to our planned camp ‘Les Criques de Porteils’ there was only one site left which we grabbed!

 

 

 We walked to Collioure along the coastline pathway for about 40 mins to find a small, beautiful fortified town that reminds us of some of the Greek fishing villages. 



 We strolled along the narrow, winding streets with the soft pastel coloured houses, cafes and restaurants.  Collioure found fame in the early 20^th Century when it inspired artists such as Henri Matisse and Picasso.

12.09

Pam’s birthday and a storm has arrived , rain during the night and extremely strong winds coming in from the sea.  We changed pitches so we could stay another day and have sea views.  Spent the day taking it easy inside a ‘rocking van’ (the wind!!!)

Walked into town in the early evening and met Richard and Ingrid for drinks overlooking the sea and dinner in an intimate fish restaurant with a great ambiance.  A fabulous evening with lots of laughs!  Got slightly lost walking the 2k home in the dark!

13.09

Still blowing a gale!  Walked back into town for coffee and goodbyes to Richard and Ingrid who go back to Simorre today.  Walked along the seafront to Port-Vendres, a small port and harbour lined with small restaurants, had lunch on a seat overlooking the harbour.

 

      

The Pyrenees

29.08

Well we did it!  We finally extradited ourselves from the

evil clutches of Simorre and it’s temptations of food and drink!  Had a last coffee with Richard and Ingrid and drove the 115k to the Pyrenees passing  through Tarbes, Lourdes, and Pierrefitte-Nestalas to the little ski town of Luz-St-Sauveur.  Despite a slight hangover we didn’t stop at Lourdes for a quick fix.

 

We are 8k into the famous “Col du Tourmalet” the highest road pass in the Pyrenees that will take us through to Spain.  It is the famous route used in the “Tour de France” races.  We’ve found a nice little camp called “International Camp” with a pool about 1k before the Luz village.  We’re now back to having the camps mostly to ourselves as school has restarted and most everyone is back at work. 

30.08

Got our walking shoes on today and hiked a three hour circular route around the foothills of Luz-St-Sauveur in the Hautes-Pyrenees  A delightful ski town with hillside villages and ski stations on each side of the valley.  

 
31.08

Frank and Bron

An hours walk this morning along the hillside to Sazos before Frank and Bron (who we met in Paris) arrived for lunch in a small cafe in Luz-St-Sauveur.  Frank is in training for his ‘Raid Pyreneen’ which has him riding from Hendaye on the Atlantic coast to Cerbere on the Med along the backbone of the Pyrenees.  The distance is 810kms in 9 days, climbing over 28 Cols  the highest being  Col du Tourmalet at 2115m.  An incredible achievment as it’s 16000m of constant climbing!

01.09

A beautiful day so we decided to continue on and have our own assault on the mountains!

We crossed the Col du Tourmalet (2115m) passing the statue of the 'Geant du Tourmalet', who recognises the feats of ‘all giants’ who make it to the top.

 

Fantastic views over the mountain range and the winding road we had climbed but rather chilly, watched several groups of cyclists celebrate their arrival at the top.

Had our first encounter with a marmot on the downward side, like a large cuddly guinea pig.  Down through the ski village of ‘La Mongie’ with it’s huge cable car taking passengers to the ‘Pic du Midi’, the highest peak around at 2872m. It has an observatory and lookout platform.  We passed Frank at this point on his training ride heading over ‘Tourmalet’ (he’s mad), most people would be happy to do it once!!!

The alpine scenery is like a scene out of ‘The Sound of Music’ for those old enough to remember, with endless green fields, pine trees, pale cows, goats,
horses and marmots all with a magnificent backdrop of distant bare peaks.

Fantastic, we love it up here!

The next Col was ‘Col d’Aspin’(1489m) equally majestic with fantastic views all around.

We stopped for a late lunch at the beautiful small ski village of ‘Arreau’, a river runs through it’s center and many small ponds have been created throughout the village planted with colourful flowers. 

Onward through Borderes Louron and the third Col, the ‘Col de Peyresourde’(1569m) into our camp at Bagneres-de-Luchon, another 19^th Century ski town.

Lefty performed well over all the mountain ranges and we are not too leg tired!!

A quick orientation  before dinner and bed.
 

02.09

Had a bike ride to the local tourist office to gather information about the sights and spied the ‘telecabine’ working and taking people and bikes up the 1800m ascent to ‘Superbagneres’.  Thought we needed a workout first so biked the first 7k uphill towards the mountain and then had a fun descent back to the telecabine for our trip to the skifields.

Paid 9 euros each for return ticket and had an exciting trip up the mountain arriving at the skifields and a hotel that was used in a ‘Bond Movie’ (trying to establish which one!)

Hiked for an hour or so upward passing several pale cows and their calves for endless views towards Spain which is very close.

 

We then decided not to return by lift and took a bike trail 18k down the mountain side.

Probably a little rough for our poor bikes but they lasted the journey as we did!! Good fun!