On the road again

We had mixed feelings as we left Puy l’Eveque. We really enjoyed our time there and were able to welcome and host visits from both friends and family. Here is Fran’s French teacher Joseline at a farewell dinner we hosted.

We headed south towards Andorra stopping en route at Ax les Thermes, where we opted to spend our first night. It is a spa town and Fran enjoyed warming her feet in the therapeutic waters. The next day we headed towards Barcelona, driving through the majestic Pyrenees - the views were absolutely awesome, and we noted that one car had recently run off the road, as he was in the ditch and being assisted by the Spanish police. We were so high we felt like eagles soaring above the clouds. But if we thought that was high, there was more to come, as we opted to climb up to the dizzying heights of Montserrat monastery (right) before descending to Barcelona at the coast.

Barcelona is a fabulous city with so much to see and do. We enjoyed the hop on hop off bus but did not get off as the queues were long, so enjoyed three different routes -north and west, south and the beaches. Our accommodation was a 25 minute stroll from town and so we did lots of walking. Really enjoyed seeing both the outside and the inside of La Sagrada Familla (left) - what an amazing architectural construction. We also enjoyed a flamenco music and dance show, walking through the Barri Gothic (the old streets), the liveliness of La Rambla with its street performers (below) and some delicious paella.

The trip north back to France allowed some fabulous views of the Costa Brava (left). We had considered staying there, but opted instead for the pretty coastal town of Collioure (below) on the Cote Vermeille. We arrived on a Saturday night and even though it was not officially high season it was incredibly busy. The trouble with places like Collioure which are so picturesque is that they attract heaps of tourists - like us!. We spent a really enjoyable three nights there. However on the last morning, parking for breakfast, Adrian misjudged the kerb and ripped a chunk of rubber from the front right tyre which we only discovered about an hour later when we stopped to look at a beach. We were lucky enough to find a Citroen dealer but, of course, they had shut for siesta and were nor due back for 1.5 hours. So … we went for a swim. The sad tale ends with us having to buy two new tyres as they didn’t have one to match the other front tyre and the spare was only for temporary use.

Then on to Carcassonne, a medieval walled town 65 km from the coast. As we were heading east, it did mean that we had to backtrack, but it was worth it. It is particularly stunning at night although once again choc full of tourist shops and tourists. We walked the ramparts and then headed east towards Provence, through part the of the Camargue (unimpressive) and the Pont du Gard. Another stunning world landmark built by the Romans thousands of years ago, and used then as an aqueduct.

We headed to our little cottage in Entrecasteaux, primarily to collect the keys from one of our American landlord’s neighbours. Despite providing the time that we would be there, they had opted to go away for a holiday. The door was opened by a woman who looked at us with a puzzled expression when we started asking for keys. She and her sister, one from Germany (Mary) and one from Switzerland (Elvie) were staying there and knew nothing about the arrangements. After a phone call, all was resolved as the neighbours had left the keys in their house. They were amazed to hear of our travels and that we were coming back to stay for two months at the beginning of October. After sharing a cool drink and conversation involving English, French and German words we bid our farewells and drove around the corner to the town square where our cottage is situated. There, right outside our front door (as our landlord had mentioned) was Mme Corti, our next door neighbour and some other locals. When we explained that we were renting the house they picked up their chairs and took off!
They must have thought that we were very strange as we disappeared inside the cottage with stacks of luggage, unpacked it and sorted it (in an attempt to travel with half of our clothes etc) and left about an hour later, around 6:30 pm, still with luggage. Fran explained to Madame that we would return and that we were off to Vienna, Croatia and then Corsica. That night we drove as far as Frejus on the coast, leaving ourselves an easy 60 km trip to Nice airport.

Adrian and Fran after a hard day's sightseeing