Trip Report #4-2004:  Andorra and France

Filed from Gibraltar

36  09 N     005   21 E

September 24, 2004

Photo:  Olarques, on the river Orb in Languedoc-Roussillon

    We haven't seen Paree, but we've seen just a little bit of France and we're going to have to go back another day.  We loved it - every bit of it - the scenery, the food, the people, the history, the French Fries!  And we had so little time.  We had a rental car, a nice, roomy VW Polo, for $190 euros, unlimited mileage, for 4 days with free pickup and delivery to our marina.

    We left the marina at 9:10 am and headed for the Pyrenees, intending to enter France by going through the tiny principality of Andorra. We stopped at a small town in the Catalan province in Spain, Puigcerda, for lunch.  We ordered a cold, melon soup, which was delicious, and a Catalan salad, which was composed of a mixed salad surrounded by a variety of hams, sausages and pates - enough meat to last us the entire month, but excellent.

Photo:  After all that sausage, Tom gets some water at a fountain

Photo:  A stone house on the road to Andorra - with view!

    The road through the mountains was very well paved and curves were nicely banked, but there were hazards that we don't usually have to anticipate.  Cows and sheep grazed in fields along the road and cows frequently crossed or walked on the roads - and they had the right of way.

Photo:  Cows on the road to Andorra

    There was a customs station as we entered Andorra, but no one stopped us.  Andorra is a duty-free country, though, and shoppers going back to Spain waited in a long line to go through Spanish customs.  We drove through a town crowded with tourists and shoppers and decided we didn't want to stay there. Driving on up into the mountains, we finally came to a small village with a very attractive inn.  By this time it was 7:30 pm and time to stop.  The fee for the room was 38 euros PER person, which included dinner that night and breakfast the next morning.  The meals were excellent and the room was very comfortable.

Photo:  The village in Andorra 

Photo:  Horses across from our inn, Andorra

Photo: Tom in the Pyrenees

    We had no difficulty driving through customs at the border into France, and continued on our way through the Pyrenees to a superhighway that would take us into Provence.  On our way, we decided we were close enough to the sea, the Gulf de Lion, that we would get off the highway and see what Sete and Frontignac were like.  They were essentially port towns, catering to commercial and recreational boaters.  We grabbed a sandwich and headed down to the water to have lunch.  Stopping at a shallow bay, we watched what turned out to be a new sport for us.  People were using parachutes to board surf and some of them were really hot-dogging, grabbing significant air as they tacked or made 180 degree turns.  They were really making some speed and it looked like fun.

Photo:  Windsurfing in Frontignac, France 

    After our portable lunch, complete with entertainment, we headed toward Nimes, from whence comes the material for blue jeans (de nim!).  Nimes is a medium-sized city, famous for its' passion for bullfighting and for its' many examples of Roman architecture.  The bullfighting takes place in a Roman arena, built in the first century and considered to be the best preserved of all the Roman amphitheatres.  Not everyone in Nimes, though, shares the passion for bullfighting, and while we were there, traffic was slowed to a crawl because protestors were marching through the main streets to demonstrate against the sport and in favor of the bulls.

Photo:  Les Arenes in Nimes, France

    In Nimes, we stayed at the The Majestic Hotel, in the heart of the city but on a quiet street.  From there we walked to a cafe and had a meal of marinated chicken, grilled like a kabob, and French Fries - simple, but delicious.  The hotel charged us $54 for the night and that included a continental breakfast of juice, croissants and coffee the next morning.  There was also a free high-speed internet connection available to us.  The French couple who owned the hotel had lived for 15 years in Miami and were so friendly and helpful.

    It became apparent to us that we would not have enough time to get to Aix-au-Provence, and when we connected to the internet, son David recommended that we see the Languedoc-Roussillon area and visit Carcassone.  When we asked the hotel owner how we would get there, he said, "You're there already - just head into the mountains" and he gave us a good road map to take with us.  The roads wind their way through ancient mountain towns and the views are spectacular.

Photo:  In the French Pyrenees

    All of the little towns through this area of France are quaint and lovely, perched on the sides of mountains.  We stopped to browse in some that were designated by the French Committee on Regional Tourism as¨ "prettiest villages", although it must have been very difficult to choose which villages deserved that appellation.  The village of Olarques, on the River Orb, was complete with a castle and old stone houses on narrow, winding streets, with flowers tastefully growing from surprising nooks and crannies.

Photo:  A village street in Olarques

    It was Sunday in Olarques and there was only one small cafe open.  And they told us, "Sorry, but we only have sandwiches, and only ham and cheese".  It was 3 pm and we were starving, so we seated ourselves and ordered the ham and cheese for Tom, cheese for Peg.  When the sandwiches came, they were on warm, crusty baguettes and the cheese was mild, very much like the best brie!  It was excellent.  We sat in the warm sunshine, looking out at the Pyrenees thinking, "It doesn't get any better than this.  What lucky people we are!"

Photo:  Tom enjoys his ham and cheese in Olarques

    We continued on through the mountains and through grape fields that were everywhere - sometimes as far as the eye could see.

Photo:  Vineyards tucked everywhere in Languedoc- Roussillon

    It was getting late and places to stay were few and booked.  We found a bed-and- breakfast in the small town of Aville, hosted by Jean-Pierre.  Jean-Pierre had been a tennis pro and had trained many well-known players.  He also has the distinction of having beaten Bobby Riggs - he didn't mention if he had ever played Billie Jean King.  Our room was large and comfortable for 60 euros a night, including breakfast.

Photo:  Room at Jean-Pierre's bed & breakfast in Aville

    We had dinner at the Restaurant le Tonneliers on the Midi Canal through Homps.  Our dinner of grilled salmon and vegetables was wonderful.  And the wine in this part of the world is excellent - even a small carafe of the "table wine" was among the best I have ever tasted. 

    There was no air-conditioning, but the evening was balmy and we left our windows open.  At 4:30 am we were awakened by trucks rumbling through the streets outside and thought they were probably garbage pickup trucks.  Closing the windows closed out the sounds and next morning we found out what they really were.  They were truckloads of grapes, heading for the wine-producing co-op. 

    When we got to the breakfast table, our place settings included what we thought were cereal bowls.  Jean-Pierre brought croissants and jam along with our coffee and warm cream to the table and we asked him for coffee cups.  He pointed to the "bowls" and said, "You already have them - not American coffee cups, but French coffee cups."  We filled the handleless cups and drank a great quantity of the best-tasting coffee and we were wired for the day.

    After coffee, we headed down the road to the medieval town of Carcassone and spent the day exploring the walled city.  The fortress was built in the 13th century on top of the remains of an old Roman fortress.  It was used as a base for the crusades against the heretics and has 52 towers and a double ring of walls.  Townspeople still live and work there, and produce the excellent wine and textiles sold in the shops in La Cite.

Photo:  Entrance to La Cite at Carcassone

Photo:  Tom among the towers at Carcassone

Photo:  Private homes in a maze of lanes in Carcassone

Photo:  Peg shops for textiles, Carcassone

    After enjoying Carcassone, we got on the A9, a modern, high-speed, four-lane highway directly to Barcelona and back to the boat.  Fuel in this area is $1.17 per liter and meals at rest areas along this highway cost as much as a good meal in a good restaurant.  We had bought bread, cheese and water and stopped in a picnic area for lunch.  The only thing we missed was having french fries.

Photo:  Tom enjoys a picnic lunch at an A9 rest stop

    Back at the boat, we provisioned, paid our marina bill ($40 per night, including electricity and water, in the heart of Barcelona) and prepared to set off on the next leg of our westward voyage.

    Thank you, David, for a great and timely recommendation.

                            Au Voir-

                            Peg & Tom

                            aboard s/v Starboard Home

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