Andorra and Barcelona - Happy Christmas!

Hello everyone

 

Our time in Andorra was short and sweet, and although there was snow on the mountains, there wasn’t enough to ski on. A busy road winds its way through the valley floor, with small towns clinging to the mountain sides. The capital Andorra le Vell was extremely busy with shoppers taking advantage of the tax-free prices. We were stopped by the police on exiting (as anticipated), and waved through once they had established we didn’t have boxes of cigarettes stashed aboard!

 

Our first impression of Spain was its vastness and colour- the earth ranges from pale ochre to deep brick red. Although there was snow on the high ground, everywhere looked dry and there were still some leaves on the trees. The weather has been cool especially at night, which is a problem as our blown-air heating has just stopped working!

 

We made our way southwards along the Costa Brava and are now on a large campsite a bus ride away from Barcelona along with many other British folk spending their winters here.

 

 

 

We’ve been into Barcelona (on the leisurely bus) to visit the Sagrada Familia – a most spectacular place although it’s still under construction – only the Nativity façade is complete – and the interior is bathed in light from the stained glass windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a look at Gaudi's work at Casa Batilo and Casa Mila 'La Pedera'.  We plan to visit the remaining sights over the coming week or so.

 

 

 

 

Our Christmas decorations are now up in the van, and we’ve done our shopping with enough food to last us a month. The weather is beautiful – sunny skies and daytime temperatures of 20°C!

 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year

 Will post again in 2015 - love to all

Southern France

Hello everyone

 

Pont du Gard is a beautiful Roman aqueduct built in 90AD and is remarkably intact. The water channel at the top is still covered in places, and at 49m tall it is believed to be the highest aqueduct the Romans built.

 

 

From here we headed south to Arles with its Roman amphitheatre – still in use today as a bull fighting ring.

Next, we drove south to the Camargue which is a huge wetland area renowned for its wildlife.

We were richly rewarded; black bulls with huge horns raised here for the local bullfighting, the white horses used to herd them, cattle egrets, herons, beavers in the roadside dykes and the beautiful pink flamingos feeding in the brackish shallows.

We travelled through Montpellier and northwards via the Dourbie Gorge – the deepest gorge in France and a beautiful drive - to go and have a look at the Millau viaduct. It’s an impressive sight and looks quite delicate high above the Tarn valley. We had the Visitor’s Centre to ourselves as we learned about its 400 million € construction.

 

From here we drove through Grand Causses and over the Mountains of Lacaune with recent snow throughout, before dropping down into Carcassonne. The citadel, set in the old medieval town La Cité, is a magical sight. We arrived late afternoon, and again had the place pretty much to ourselves as we mooched around.

 

We’ve just crossed the border into Andorra and filled up with diesel at 82 pence a litre!

Will post again next week - love to all

Pisa, Monaco, and a few days in Provence

Hello everyone

We arrived in Pisa to warm sunshine after a night of torrential rain and a tremendous thunderstorm. The Leaning Tower of Pisa stands next to the Cathedral within a green quadrangle with the Baptistery at the opposite end. The Cemetery building makes up the foursome.

 

The leaning tower really does look as though it could topple over – the top section leans a lot less than the lower section, and the marble carvings are beautiful. The large cathedral has a gold mosaic fresco above the altar and an intricately carved marble pulpit. The baptistery is vast inside with a similar, but smaller pulpit – there’s no visible font though.

 

Leaving Pisa, we took the motorway along the Bay of Genoa towards France. On leaving the motorway, we were stopped by French police, who asked to see inside our van – we reckon business was slow, and they were keen for a chat about our travels!

Monaco is a tiny place, and Monte Carlo was very busy with people, fast super cars and huge super yachts. There was no opportunity to park the van though, so after a leisurely drive through, we continued towards Nice where we enjoyed the sunset from the promenade.

 

We drove through Provence – a scenic drive through rolling green hills and we’re now in Avignon. The town is surrounded by medieval walls with ramparts, and the Palais des Papes is huge.

Part-way across the River Rhone is the Pont St-Benezet – only 4 arches of the original 22 still remain and it has a small church on the bridge. Avignon’s Christmas markets give the place a festive feel.

Our next port of call is the Pont du Gard just north from here.

Our door map is filling nicely with the 23 countries we’ve visited so far (no stickers for San Marino and Monaco unfortunately as they are so small), and our mileage so far is 18,824.

Will post again next week - love to all