Rhonda: Hi y'all, today is a big and long day. We were up at 5am and out by 615a to get to our tour. We are going through Spain , to France and the to Andorra . Then back to Barcelona. YAY!!
Chris: Rhonda wrote that when we were waiting for the tour operator's office to open, that's how early it was ! We got a cab at the hotel before sun up and drove thru the empty streets of Barcelona. It was actually pretty cool, quite the contrast from the hussle and bussle of the night before. When we finally got to the office there was street construction everywhere so we had to go down an alley to get there. Is this the right place ? But soon others arrived to stand around in the dark with us so this is it I guess.
Rhonda: It was the usual wait wait, hurry hurry getting everyone on the bus to go and then there was the one we had to wait on that was lost. But we finally got on the road about 715 am . Here is where we waited:
Chris: Our first stop was in a really quaint little Spainish village called Bagà. Of course it's several hundred years old and has had several walls built around it over the centuries to protect the marauding ruling conquerors from the next wave of marauding conquerors. That's pretty much the story of everywhere in Europe, or everywhere on the planet I guess. As a species we've never really figured out the whole live and let live thing. But it was a really cool little village and we really enjoyed walking around and getting to see it.
We crossed over the border to France not long after leaving Bagà and since Spain and France are both European Union countries there is no border check point or need to show your passport. It's like going from Texas to Oklahoma.
Before reaching the Pyrenees Mountains we went thru the Pre-Pyrenees Mountains. That's really what they are called, pretty clever I think. Whoever named them was a very creative person. This time of year if a mountain has snow on the top it is the Pyrenees Mountains because they are taller and have snow year round. The Pre-Pyrenees are not as tall and therefore the snow melts by mid spring.
In the lower mountains we crossed through several little French villages that looked like they came straight out of a fairy tale. The houses were all stone with pretty and colorful flower and vegetable gardens and obviously hundreds of years old. But then there were new cars parked beside the house. It was so interesting to see, what a contrast. With a house that old there must be a lot of upkeep and repairs, I wonder how far it is to the closest Home Depot ?
Rhonda: After we crossed into France it was a short drive to Ax-Les -Thermes, France. It was a lovely little town in the Pyrenees Mounrains with thermal healing springs. We had crepes for lunch and strolled through the outdoor market.
Then the drive to Andorra and another quick immigration stop to get a stamp. Andorra is tiny but they give a big stamp! This is from the drive up .
Just breathtaking.
We didn't know what to expect but Andorra was a shopper's paradise. It's a duty free country and the local tax was only 3%. So lots of rich people like to live here so they pay almost no taxes. Not being shoppers, we had a nice time sitting by Salvador Dali's original melting clock sculpture and watching the world go by.
I am already late getting this posted so I will close it out now and post it but I am sure Chris will want to add more to it so look back when you can.
Love yall.
Комментарии