Valencia & Barcelona

Hola and Bon Nadal from Espana. That´s hello and Merry Christmas from Spain, if you didn´t catch it the first time. We have had a fantastic run of the weather since Valencia, few days have been below 20 degrees. We casted aside our snow jackets for simple tshirts and took to walks along the Mediterranean beach. The water is the clearest blue you ever will see. The rest of our stay in Valencia was pleasant; a visit to the bullfighting museum, esplanade walks by the beach and great great food. Seafood paella, fresh calamari, salads without mayonnaise (v. common in Europe as we´ve discovered) and not mention the desserts – the JB will tell you all about those on our return. With all this fantastic fare, it is beyond us how matadors remain so tiny…

Night shot from our hotel window in Valencia

Valencia: Fountain in Plaza del la Virgen

Bullfighting arena at Valencia

One of the bulls that won all his fights...

Esplanade along Valencia waterfront (not as good as Noosa though)

Valencia night vista from the hotel pool (on 23rd floor)

Our tram named after Lil Bro...

On Saturday we set off for Barcelona; we drove along the coastal road for the entire trip under endless blue sky. Of all the places we have visited in Spain, Barcelona is the favourite with San Sebastian a close second. Barcelona is such a vibrant city with stunning beaches, beautiful parks and gardens as well as some of the most interesting architecture (mainly Gaudi). We´ve visited the former Olympic grounds, walked along the marina and beach, visited museums and had a wonderful time. Some pics.

Barcelona; home of 1992 Summer Olympics

Olympic stadium still used by RCD Espanyol de Barcelona

At the Museu Olímpic i de l'Esport (a photo of a photo for the fridge WWG)

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Barcelona waterfront

Tibidabo at night

Inside monastery at Tibidabo (all artwork mosaic)

Night shot of Barcelona from Tibidabo terrace

Placa Espanya

Gonzalo Comella building in the heart of Barcelona (check out the orange peaks)

On our walk we came across a little bit of home...

The first Gaudi we came across...

The second Gaudi...

La Sagrada Familia (no way I could get it in one photo)

Interior shot of La Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia interior

The four Belfries at La Sagrada Familia

The JB´s best Yapping Dog impersonation

La Sagrada Familia

Don´t look down...

La Sagrada Familia, the nativety entrance

Barcelonian streets decorated for Christmas...

We still have another full day here and we´re intending on a visit to Montserrat before packing our gear and returning to France, where we´ll spend Christmas. With most in holiday mode for the next couple of weeks we expect internet access to be a little more sketchy, so may not post for a few days. We wish everyone a Happy Christmas and festive season. Joyeux Noel!

San Sebastian & Madrid

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.  But what about the snow?  Yep, that´s right readers, we´ve encountered our first real snow for the winter – not just a flurry as per Paris – but real snow in drifts.  That was on the way from San Sebastian to Madrid.  As we set off from the very beautiful seaside city that is San Sebastian, it was blowing a gale and before long the rains commenced.  About an hour from Madrid, we approached the mountain range near Segovia which was covered in snow, thinking we´d probably drive around or at a height low enough that the snow would not settle.  Boy were we wrong.  At first it was just a light snow, then it was all over the road and then all the cars slowed down and merged into one lane and then the snow ploughs began appearing from everywhere, clearing the roads.  Having not ever driven in snow without chains, I have no issues in stating that I was quite scared, particularly when two cars in front of us, a Chrysler starting slipping and sliding all over the road, clearly out of control.  But the JB ever his cool, calm and collected self, fully concentrated on the task at hand, kept us on the road and did not send us over the edge of a cliff or bridge. 

On the way to Madrid, from the car (yes our windscreen is chipped)

Surrounding countryside, from the car..

But we arrived safely, only an hour or so later than expected and checked into our Madrid stay. 

Madrid is a HUGE city, busy, busy, busy…traffic is really heavy, the roads are very confusing and there are people  everywhere.  And we´re from Melbourne – imagine a Tasmanian there?  However we set to exploring; Parc del Buen Retiro, Rastro Market, Mayor Plaza (very very busy) and a few hours at Museo del Prado, a museum that completely surprised me due to its quality of artworks.  Of course Goya features heavily although Rubens, Murillo and Caravaggio to mention a few others.  Just lovely.    

Museo del Prado

The Glass Palace at Buen Retiro

Monument at Buen Retiro

After a full day of hitting Madrid´s crowded streets, we were a little overwhelmed so the next day headed on a day trip out of town to a little town called San Lorenzo de El Escorial, one of Spains Royal sights that functions as a monastery. 

Monastery building, yes, that´s snow cover you can see...

View to Madrid from Monastery

San Lorenzo El Escorial

Three and a half hours SE of Madrid and we find ourselves not in snow, but in mild 18 degree sunshine weather, on the Mediterranean coast of Valencia.  So far we have seen the new Arts Centre/Opera house, indulged in Valencian paella (yummo) and visited Valencia Cathedral that houses the Holy Grail… 

Valencia Arts Centre/Opera House (a little Sydney Opera House-esque)

Puerta de la Mar

The Holy Grail, if you´re a believer. (A chalice dating from 1st Century BC authenticated by the Vatican)

Spain has a lot to brag about, the food, the architecture and even the        Paddle Ball – yes the JB and I challenged each other to a game and of course I won.  (He´s screwed up his face and clenched his fist at that comment!)  Yet, there´s still so much to see and do.  In a few days we´ll head to Barcelona, before returning to France for Christmas.  Not sure when we´ll next post, but until then, Amigos para siempre…it means, you´ll always be my friend. 

Frayssinet-le-Gelat

We were told the house we were renting was in a place called Frayssinet, in the Lot, SW France.  So there we went.  We arrived and called our contact who was to hand over the keys and we could not work out why her directions, did not match our location.  Then it clicked.  There are not one, but FIVE places in the Lot, SW France that all start with Frayssinet, including one on its own simply called Frayssinet.  We were supposed to be in Frayssinet-le-Gelat.  So it was another 40 minutes and some pretty sharp driving by the JB before we arrived at our little home for the week.  It was worth it.  A lovely little place split over three levels, with full functioning kitchen, couple of bedrooms and TV room which actually featured some English speaking shows – can you believe that even Top Gear is dubbed in French?  Jeremy Clarkson speaks French in a voice unfamiliar to us. 

Frayssinet-le-Gelat is pretty much as small and quiet and provincial as French villages come, so after a few days of home cooked meals and freshly laundered clothing we explored the valley heading to places such as Cahors, Sarlat-le-Caneda, Cazals, Fumel, Prayssac, Montayral, Les Arques and we spent a lovely afternoon at the pilgrammage site called Rocamadour.  It´s this amazing religous site built on a rock edge overlooking a gorge, that obviously had water running through it an ice age or two ago, shaping the limestone facades into spectacular caves and cliff edges.   The area is considered one of best prehistoric sites in the world. 

Caves here are 14-16,000 yo, and inhabited until 1966

Cahors: Pont Valentre

We reckon better than Charles Bridge in Prague - less touristy anyway and no dodgy sailors hovering...

View out of one of the ´grottes´(caves) we toured through

Sarlat-le-Caneda: honey coloured limestone buildings

 

Cave at Rocamadour

 

Rocamadour: Buildings built right into the cliff face

Rocamadour: View from cathedral

 

Cathedral built into a cliff face underneath a cliff edge on which a chateau is perched

This is a hotel/residence built into the face of the cliff. Look closely for the reinforcing surrounding

Relics of Chateau Nouvelle

 

Cathedral at Fumel

 

Chateau de Fumel

 

Chateau de Fumel

 

Cathedral at Prayssac

 

WWG: The middle one...

Frayssinet-le-Gelat: Memorial commemorating 15 villagers executed by German soldiers whilst retreating in 1944

The razzle dazzle of downtown Frayssinet-le-Gelat

Feeling revived and invigorated after a week in the French countryside, we arose early yesterday morning and headed south to Spain.  We stopped in lovely Biarritz on the way through for a break and refreshment.   

Beach at Biarritz, on our way to San Sebastian

Biarritz coastline

Today marks the exact half point of the entire holiday and because we´re on budget, for our couple of weeks in Spain, we´ve decided to up the ante a little, so we checked into our 4 star hotel last night which is located at one of the most panoramic points in the whole of San Sebastian.  The JB had a difficult time keeping his eyes to the road, the views on the way up were THAT amazing.  Today we´ve had a mixed bag of weather, but unperturbed we trudged on up to Mont Urgull and wandered through the little musuem they have up there, beside The Sacred Heart Statue.

View over La Concha Bay - our hotel is over there somewhere

     

San Sebastian and La Concha Bay from Sacred Heart Statue, on the chateau de la Mota (12C)

 

Sacred Heart Statue which overlooks San Sebastian

The weather forecast is a little cold for the next few days – if you look closely at a couple of the photos you can see snow on the Pyrenees behind San Seabstian – but we´re rugged up and ready to continue.  San Sebastian is a much bigger city than we anticipated and so we´re busy trying to fit everything in to our short stay here.  We head for Madrid on Saturday, until then, as you were!

West Coast of France

With just over 1500kms on her, Barbie has been a delightful addition to our travels.  Why Barbie you ask?  Well, with Ken as our GPS, we thought it fitting (well, I did anyway) that we give the Peugot a nickname.  Before we go on, we suggest that you go and get yourself a fresh cup of coffee, because we’ve been around, and it’s been a while…and boy, do we get around!

After bidding Jean-luc and Irene au revoir, we headed to the much talked about Le Mont St Michel.  It’s a former Benedictine Abbey that sits on a rocky outcrop of granite, isolated in the middle of the ocean.  It’s role has changed over the years from abbey to prison and there were even a couple of fires, but even through all this it has escaped any real damage from wars or natural diasters since it was built in the 10th century.  Today it’s a museum/gallery surrounded by a quaint village of shops and one of the most visited attractions in NW France.  Some pics.

Le Mont St Michel

The quadrangle used by monks in the abbey

The abbey

Medieval streets that lead up to the abbey

Tide out; the road to Le Mont St Michel (cars have to leave by 5pm when tide due)

People have died in the quicksand, become lost in the fog or drowned in fast approaching tides at LMSM

Built on granite

After a few good hours exploring, we clambered into Barbie and headed south towards a city called Nantes. Our accommodation was actually a villa with full clean kitchen so I had the pleasure of cooking the JB his first home cooked meal for a while.  Only pasta, but he ravaged it.  Fed, rested and full of energy we set off the next day without any idea of where we would spend that night, other than in the general direction of La Rochelle – known as the white city for the beautiful limestone facades that decorate each street.  We ended up at a lovely Chateau, well next to it anyway…

The Chateau just outside of La Rochelle

…it’s obviously having some work done.  We had hoped to stay a few nights longer although we timed our visit to coincide with a marathon, which ensured that all accommodation in town and surrounding was booked out!  So we spent our one day in La Rochelle wandering about the marina (one of the largest in France) and checking out St Nicholas and the Chaine Towers, as well as a medieval lighthouse.

Port entrance at La Rochelle; Chaine Tower on the left and St Nicholas Tower on the right

Part of the marina from St Nicholas Tower

The little green boat we caught across the water from one Tower to the other

View from port out to the Atlantic Ocean

Come up with your own caption for this one

La Rochelle, city of white, even if it's a little overcast

So unable to find a bed available anywhere, and not yet willing to sleep in Barbie, we followed the West coast down to another little seaside locale, Royan.  BUT, on the way, the JB and Ken had colluded and decided to detour 3km over water, by car to visit some apparent Chateau.  Boy did I ‘chateau’ myself going over the bridge, although the white finger tips were worth the result – a lovely little French Isle called Ile d’Oleron.  It was one of those unexpected little finds; a fort that has oodles of history and has been left in a pile of ruins.

That's the bridge in the distance - couldn't get it all in one shot

Fort grounds at Chateau d'Oleron

Crumbling ruins at Chateau d'Oleron

We found escape routes connected to tunnels like this one through a bridge

Going back over the bridge from d'Oleron to the mainland

The next morning we set off once again seeking more adventures, this time in pretty Royan.  We drove to La Grande Cote and wandered the beach where we found some relics lying on the beach.  They’re definitely man made, but we couldn’t find any information on them anywhere.

Relics on the beach at La Grande Cote

Beautiful French coastline; the Atlantic Ocean

From here headed to the Grottes, Regulus and Matata, which are naturally occuring caves carved into limestone cliffs. They now cater to the tourist market, used as restaurants, holiday houses and hotels etc.

The Grottes Regulus

The Grottes Matata

View across the Royan bay from outside our little hotel

From Royan we drove east to a small town with quite a bit of Gallo-Roman history, called Saintes.  We visited some the ruins – a 2000yo amphitheatre, the Germanicus Arch and an 11th Century, St Pierre.

Gallo-Roman amphitheatre; arena spectacular

The triumphal arch; where the JB would have passed through had he been a gladiator!

The JB: The Gladiator - who's next???

The Germanicus Arch in Saintes

Walkway with St Pierre view

Last night we arrived in Perigeaux, further east into France and part of the Dordogne region.  Today with blue skies again upon us, we’ve been out and about town checking out more Gallo-Roman ruins as well as taking a scenic drive to picnic by the Dordogne Valley, overlooking the Dordogne River which the JB hopes to kayak in the next days.

Vesunna Tower ruins at Perigeaux

Gallo-Roman ruins at Perigeaux

Dordogne Valley

Dordogne Valley

It’s our last night in Perigeaux, which has been thoroughly enjoyable.  Tomorrow we move on to a little house that we have rented in the French countryside; near Frayssinet.  We are a little more remote there, so not sure when we’ll next blog, but until then keep doing as the Romans do, whatever that is…