Monday, 20th January 2020
We went into part of Valance, as that is where the Orange shop is that we have found that are very helpful to us. We need more data for the Wifi box and we get what we need. I also buy an unbrella which has a picture of Roses on the inside.
We decide to do a bit of a grocery shop while we are in the shopping complex.
Tuesday, 21st January 2020
This morning I got up and looked out the window, and I was met with the most wonderful sight. It has snowed overnight, and there was a light dusting of snow on the ground and on teh trees. It was so pretty, and seemed so peaceful. I let out the Wow, and went back to bed, and Bob asked me what the wow was all about, but he already knew, as I told him it has snowed, he said he had figured that out when I let out the Wow. Not long after that, he was out and looking at the snow fall. The temp is 0.9 degrees, but it is not the coolest morning we have experienced here.
A bit later on, we go into the town, and wander through the markets,
Wednesday, 22nd January 2020
Not much done today
Thursday, 23rd January 2020
Today we went into town to get some supplies for cooking, as Bob has decided that we should do some thing for Australia day. So the obvious choice is Lamingtons and Pavlova. Now, all we need to do is find the right recipe, and the ingredients, and all should be good. With the help of google translate, we find the required ingredients that we need, but it does take a little longer than it would if I was shopping in Woolworths, but where is the challenge in that. Anyhow, we are sure we have gotten all that we need, and we did cheat a little bit, as we bought a packet cake for the cake base for the Lamingtons, and Bob is going to cook them.
Friday, 24th January 2020
I have taken the eggs out of the fridge so that they are at room temperature for my pavlova I am going to be making tomorrow.
Saturday, 25th January 2020
Cooking day for Bob, he is busy cooking his cake for the lamingtons, and is following the directions on the box. He gets the cake in the oven and we wait for it to cook. After some time, it is done, and now we have to wait for it to cool down so that Bob can cut it up and he gets busy making the chocolate icing, and the coconut is in the dish ready to coat the icing. Bob consults with me on a couple of things, but he has done it all himself. The end result is looking very good, but the proof will be in the tasting tomorrow. He does the right thing and clean up the kitchen after he is finished.
I go into the kitchen in the afternoon to start to cook the process of cooking the pav, and I discovered that in Bobs tidying of the kitchen, the eggs have been put back into the fridge. Oh well, I will have to cook tomorrow.
Sunday, 26th January 2020
Australia Day
Cooking day for me, I don't remember cooking a pavlova from scratch, not a soft one anyhow. So how bad can it turn out. Thankfully everything we need is here, and I get what looks like a pav into the oven. After a couple of hours, I turn the oven off, and let the oven cool before I take the pav out, as directed by the reciepe on the internet.
When the pavlova is cool enough, I fill it iwth cream and a variety of fruit. It looks good. So Bob and I have Lamingtons and Pavlova for dinner. The Lamingtons were the best I have had for a very long time.
Happy Australia Day.
Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Monday, 10 February 2020
Lamastre 13th Janurary 2020
Monday, 13th January 2020
We took drive to another area of the Provence.
We are headed for Le Cheylard, a distance of 22 kms or 27 mins. It is another small village, and like most of the other villages, the town square is a hive of activity. We again find somewhere to have a coffee, and some lunch. We seem to have the happy knack of getting to these places when most of the businesses are closed during the middle of the day.
We find a bar that does meals, and the owner, has no english at all, but keeps talking to us in her merry way. She asks us where we are from, and when Bob tells her Australia, she is absolutly amazed. I thik it is because Australia is so far away, and she asked if we were holidaying, and Bob manages to understand what she is asking and answers her as best he can. It puts smiles on all our faces.
Turesday, 14th January 2020
Rest day.
Wednesday, 15th January 2020
Today, we are going to explore Le Puy-en -Velay or Le Puy. This is a trip of an hour and 15 mins or 70 kms. It is famous for its Cathedral, and its lace making.
The village was estblished in the year 969. It has a Chapel, St-Michel d Aiguilhe that is perched onto of a volcanic rock. It dates bck to the 10th century,
We find a spot to park the car, that is probably not for the general public, but we take the risk, as parking in this area is at a premium, and we have done the block a couple of times trying to get to where we wanted to be. The Old part of the city.
We make our way to the Office of Tourism, and get maps and guides. The lady behind the counter if very friendly, and we have a long conversation with her. She tells us that the Chapel on top of the volcanic rock is closed to the public at this time of the year. We are somewhat dissapointed, but she gives us a couple of good viewing spots we can drive to, to get a good view and pictures.
We wander around the streets of Le Puy, and we were told by the lady at the toursim office that there were some murals that we could walk about and view. Well, we walked and walked and walked, but no murals. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere or we were given a bum steer. But all is not lost, I have a couple of post cards that I need to send off, so we come by Le Poste, and buy the stamps and send them off.
We continue to meander around the streets, and they are like so many other streets of cities and villages we ahave been in, they are cobbled and very narrow, and yet cars still motor down them, in the way that the French do. It is very strange for us, as we have such wide roads back home, and I know that when I am driving down some of these little streets, I am not sure if I am supposed to be there, as they are so narrow.
We return to the car, to find there are workmen working on part of the road where we are parked. Bob had to manipulate a three point turn and we exit out of there. Now we are on a mission to find where the good vantage point is for the chapel. Eventualy we find the spot, and get some pics. It is unbelievable to think that this chapel has been built up so high and on top of a volcanic rock. In the back ground there is a huge statue of The Virgin Mary which was constructed in 1860. It also in on a Volcanic rock. I marvel at how all of these sites are built as we are not talking a small height. The chapel is reached by 268 steps, carved into the rock, and the plug is 85 metes high. The surface of the plug is 57 meters in diameter.
The statue of Notre-dame de France, is made in cast Iron, it was built between 1856 and 1860 from Russian cannons captured during the siege of Sevastopol. This massive statue is sitting on another volcanic plug, at 132 meters high. The total weight of this statue is estimated at 835 tonnes, and is 12.6 meters tall.
So we end the day and head back to Lamastre.
Thursday, 16th January 2020
Today is the start of a couple of exciting days.
Our first destination is Nice, via Cannes, yes you know, the place where the Film festival is. This is a journey of 4 hrs or 365 kms. We share the driving, and there are a couple of stops along the way for meals.
We take a drive through Cannes, but don't stop there for to long. But now we have been there. We continue to Nice, which is only 40 mins away. Our check in time is at 5pm, but we are a little early, and message the host to see if we can get in a little earlier. The Complex where we are going to be staying is very big. To find our entry door into the complex is like going on a hunt. Eventually, the host says that her housekeeper will let us in, and after a bit of confusion, we meet up with her, and she hands over the keys, and we are left to our own devices. We have one flight of steps to go up, and then take the lift to our apartment, which is on the 4th floor.
After we let ourselves in, and take in our surrounding, we decide to take a stroll to the beach, which is only 10 mins away. Again parking is at a premium, and its like once you find a spot, you don't dare leave it, unless it is absolutely neccessary. Our walk to the beach is good, and the beach is a pebble beach, but it has a very wide pedestrian area where people can run, ride their bikes and do what every else is done. We walk for a while, enjoying the salt air, and watching the planes taking off, as the runway seems to end in the ocean.
When we get back from our walk, we decide to order a Pizza that is in the building and wait for it to be cooked. We take it back to the room, and eat in. Was good.
Friday, 17th January 2020
My birthday, which is one of the reasons we are in this area. Bob wanted to take me to Monaco for the day. So after a bit of breakfast, we head off the the country of Monacco. Monaco is a sovereign city-state, and has its own Prince, and of course the Princess Grace lived there. Its is 2.2kms squared and a population of 38,300. It is the second smallest country in the world and has the worlds shortest coastline.
It was a most picturesque drive along the coast line to Monaco and we stopped at a monument about Princess Grace. There was no border check, and we weren't really sure where the crossing was. Driving about, there are lots of beautiful boats in teh Marina, and we find somewhere to park the car, in this part of Monaco called Monte Carlo, and find the hop on hop off stop closest to us. We cross the road, and admire the boats, and I ask a man cleaning the foot path if he knew where the stop was, but he didn't speak english, but managed to signal to me that it was no far away in the direction of where he was pointing.So Bob and I wander over in the geneal direction, and we find the stop, but the man was watching us, and I acknowledged him, that thanked him.
It is just a short wait, and we are on board the bus, to do the tour of Monaco. Bob explains to me about the racing circut of Monte Carlo, and it is also mentioned in the audio guide of the tour for Formula one racing. It is also the home to the Monte Carlo Rally, which runs on french roads outside Monaco, but ends in Monte Carlo.
On the tour, we go up the hill, to see the Royal Palace, and the timing is great, as we get to see a bit of the changing of the guards outside the palace.
There are many high end car shops, as they don't have the luxury of yards. All of them have cars inside a shop front. There are Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Lanborghini but to name a few.
After the tour is finished, we go and stroll along the streets, and find something to have for lunch. All of the restuants are very busy, but we eventually find somewhere to eat.
After that, we walk a little more, and then head back towards the car, and we come acrros a bronze sculpture of William Glover in his Bugatti 35B of which, I get to take a picture of Bob at the sculpture.
We get back to the car, pay our parking fees and leave the city of Monte Carlo, and head back to Nice, to our unit, to relax for while before deciding on what we are going to do for dinner.
We decide to take a walk, and there is a a little rain starting for fall, but for all the hassle of getting a park if we were to take the car out, we woud not get another park, so walking was the only real option. We don our Drizabones, and one unberella, and set off. We did consult the area online, and chinese was what I opted for for dinner. The further we walked the rain got a little heavier, but it didn't bother us but our walk was a little further than we thought, so when we got to the designated eating place, we were very happy to have a seat and eat our dinner. It was not quiet what we were expecting, but still it was very nice. While we were sitting eating, there was a couple of heavy downfalls, and eventually they passed, and we started to walk back, but the rain was a little heavier that when we initally started. At least the drizabones kept us dry.
The end of a wonderful day, but it was good to get back to the unit, and call it a day.
Saturday, 18th January 2020
We leave this Nice this morning, after we hand back the keys to the host of the unit. and head back to Lamastre. It has been a lovely couple of days. Again the journey if about 4 hrs, but with stops it takes longer.
It is good get get back to our little house in Lamastre.
Sunday, 19th January 2020
Today is a bit of a relax and catch up day, a bit of washing is done.
We took drive to another area of the Provence.
We are headed for Le Cheylard, a distance of 22 kms or 27 mins. It is another small village, and like most of the other villages, the town square is a hive of activity. We again find somewhere to have a coffee, and some lunch. We seem to have the happy knack of getting to these places when most of the businesses are closed during the middle of the day.
We find a bar that does meals, and the owner, has no english at all, but keeps talking to us in her merry way. She asks us where we are from, and when Bob tells her Australia, she is absolutly amazed. I thik it is because Australia is so far away, and she asked if we were holidaying, and Bob manages to understand what she is asking and answers her as best he can. It puts smiles on all our faces.
Turesday, 14th January 2020
Rest day.
Wednesday, 15th January 2020
Today, we are going to explore Le Puy-en -Velay or Le Puy. This is a trip of an hour and 15 mins or 70 kms. It is famous for its Cathedral, and its lace making.
The village was estblished in the year 969. It has a Chapel, St-Michel d Aiguilhe that is perched onto of a volcanic rock. It dates bck to the 10th century,
We find a spot to park the car, that is probably not for the general public, but we take the risk, as parking in this area is at a premium, and we have done the block a couple of times trying to get to where we wanted to be. The Old part of the city.
We make our way to the Office of Tourism, and get maps and guides. The lady behind the counter if very friendly, and we have a long conversation with her. She tells us that the Chapel on top of the volcanic rock is closed to the public at this time of the year. We are somewhat dissapointed, but she gives us a couple of good viewing spots we can drive to, to get a good view and pictures.
We wander around the streets of Le Puy, and we were told by the lady at the toursim office that there were some murals that we could walk about and view. Well, we walked and walked and walked, but no murals. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere or we were given a bum steer. But all is not lost, I have a couple of post cards that I need to send off, so we come by Le Poste, and buy the stamps and send them off.
We continue to meander around the streets, and they are like so many other streets of cities and villages we ahave been in, they are cobbled and very narrow, and yet cars still motor down them, in the way that the French do. It is very strange for us, as we have such wide roads back home, and I know that when I am driving down some of these little streets, I am not sure if I am supposed to be there, as they are so narrow.
We return to the car, to find there are workmen working on part of the road where we are parked. Bob had to manipulate a three point turn and we exit out of there. Now we are on a mission to find where the good vantage point is for the chapel. Eventualy we find the spot, and get some pics. It is unbelievable to think that this chapel has been built up so high and on top of a volcanic rock. In the back ground there is a huge statue of The Virgin Mary which was constructed in 1860. It also in on a Volcanic rock. I marvel at how all of these sites are built as we are not talking a small height. The chapel is reached by 268 steps, carved into the rock, and the plug is 85 metes high. The surface of the plug is 57 meters in diameter.
The statue of Notre-dame de France, is made in cast Iron, it was built between 1856 and 1860 from Russian cannons captured during the siege of Sevastopol. This massive statue is sitting on another volcanic plug, at 132 meters high. The total weight of this statue is estimated at 835 tonnes, and is 12.6 meters tall.
So we end the day and head back to Lamastre.
Thursday, 16th January 2020
Today is the start of a couple of exciting days.
Our first destination is Nice, via Cannes, yes you know, the place where the Film festival is. This is a journey of 4 hrs or 365 kms. We share the driving, and there are a couple of stops along the way for meals.
We take a drive through Cannes, but don't stop there for to long. But now we have been there. We continue to Nice, which is only 40 mins away. Our check in time is at 5pm, but we are a little early, and message the host to see if we can get in a little earlier. The Complex where we are going to be staying is very big. To find our entry door into the complex is like going on a hunt. Eventually, the host says that her housekeeper will let us in, and after a bit of confusion, we meet up with her, and she hands over the keys, and we are left to our own devices. We have one flight of steps to go up, and then take the lift to our apartment, which is on the 4th floor.
After we let ourselves in, and take in our surrounding, we decide to take a stroll to the beach, which is only 10 mins away. Again parking is at a premium, and its like once you find a spot, you don't dare leave it, unless it is absolutely neccessary. Our walk to the beach is good, and the beach is a pebble beach, but it has a very wide pedestrian area where people can run, ride their bikes and do what every else is done. We walk for a while, enjoying the salt air, and watching the planes taking off, as the runway seems to end in the ocean.
When we get back from our walk, we decide to order a Pizza that is in the building and wait for it to be cooked. We take it back to the room, and eat in. Was good.
Friday, 17th January 2020
My birthday, which is one of the reasons we are in this area. Bob wanted to take me to Monaco for the day. So after a bit of breakfast, we head off the the country of Monacco. Monaco is a sovereign city-state, and has its own Prince, and of course the Princess Grace lived there. Its is 2.2kms squared and a population of 38,300. It is the second smallest country in the world and has the worlds shortest coastline.
It was a most picturesque drive along the coast line to Monaco and we stopped at a monument about Princess Grace. There was no border check, and we weren't really sure where the crossing was. Driving about, there are lots of beautiful boats in teh Marina, and we find somewhere to park the car, in this part of Monaco called Monte Carlo, and find the hop on hop off stop closest to us. We cross the road, and admire the boats, and I ask a man cleaning the foot path if he knew where the stop was, but he didn't speak english, but managed to signal to me that it was no far away in the direction of where he was pointing.So Bob and I wander over in the geneal direction, and we find the stop, but the man was watching us, and I acknowledged him, that thanked him.
It is just a short wait, and we are on board the bus, to do the tour of Monaco. Bob explains to me about the racing circut of Monte Carlo, and it is also mentioned in the audio guide of the tour for Formula one racing. It is also the home to the Monte Carlo Rally, which runs on french roads outside Monaco, but ends in Monte Carlo.
On the tour, we go up the hill, to see the Royal Palace, and the timing is great, as we get to see a bit of the changing of the guards outside the palace.
There are many high end car shops, as they don't have the luxury of yards. All of them have cars inside a shop front. There are Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Lanborghini but to name a few.
After the tour is finished, we go and stroll along the streets, and find something to have for lunch. All of the restuants are very busy, but we eventually find somewhere to eat.
After that, we walk a little more, and then head back towards the car, and we come acrros a bronze sculpture of William Glover in his Bugatti 35B of which, I get to take a picture of Bob at the sculpture.
We get back to the car, pay our parking fees and leave the city of Monte Carlo, and head back to Nice, to our unit, to relax for while before deciding on what we are going to do for dinner.
We decide to take a walk, and there is a a little rain starting for fall, but for all the hassle of getting a park if we were to take the car out, we woud not get another park, so walking was the only real option. We don our Drizabones, and one unberella, and set off. We did consult the area online, and chinese was what I opted for for dinner. The further we walked the rain got a little heavier, but it didn't bother us but our walk was a little further than we thought, so when we got to the designated eating place, we were very happy to have a seat and eat our dinner. It was not quiet what we were expecting, but still it was very nice. While we were sitting eating, there was a couple of heavy downfalls, and eventually they passed, and we started to walk back, but the rain was a little heavier that when we initally started. At least the drizabones kept us dry.
The end of a wonderful day, but it was good to get back to the unit, and call it a day.
Saturday, 18th January 2020
We leave this Nice this morning, after we hand back the keys to the host of the unit. and head back to Lamastre. It has been a lovely couple of days. Again the journey if about 4 hrs, but with stops it takes longer.
It is good get get back to our little house in Lamastre.
Sunday, 19th January 2020
Today is a bit of a relax and catch up day, a bit of washing is done.
Sunday, 2 February 2020
Lamastre 6th January 2020
Monday, 6th January 2020
So today we woke to the car being somewhat covered in Ice. We take a walk over to the resturant, and have a breakfast, and then pack the car for the next league of our trip. Lamastre. This has been one of the first places that Bob booked since we started palanning our trip through Europe, some 24 months ago. From Rodez to Lamastre is a distance of 253 kms and about 4 hrs travel time.
We share the driving, and have arranged to meet our host at the Railway Station, where he will take us to our accommodation. And it was a good thing that he did, as I don't think we would have found it otherwise. It is up on top of a hill, and a very windy road to go with it. But alas we are here, and we have a fire place for when it gets cold here, and it was going when we arrived. It was very nice. Our host told us that there are two markets in the town, one on a Satuurday, being the local produce market, and one on Tuesday with different things for sale.
The views are wonderful as we are overlooking the town of Lamastre, and with hills surrounding us on all sides.
Tuesday, 7th January 2020
Today, we went into the markets to take a look at what is about. There are stands selling breads, eggs, fruit and vegies, a variety of winter clothing from Beanies and scarves and coats and jackets, cheeses. We get a couple of things, and then go back to the house. We went to the Office of tourism, and got some maps of the local area, and also got some tips on where we might be interested to look at.
We had a cuppa at one of the cafes here in town, and it was just great. The staff were very friendly, even though the one of waiters couldn't speak english, and the other one spoke a little, and i think the owner spoke a bit more. We had a bite to eat, and a coffee, and of course dessert. Which was soooo good. I really liked the cafe, and they allow dogs inside also.
I went for a walk this afternoon, to see what was about. Only a windy road.
Wednesday, 8th January 2020
Didn't do a real lot today, it is cold, and we have the fire going. There is still frost and ice about at midday.
Thursday, 8th January 2020
Friday, 9th January 2020
Saturday, 10th January
Sunday, 11th January 2020
We took a drive today exploring the villages around us.
We drive on more windy roads, and seeing the mountainous landscape all about us, with long drops to the bottom. One thing that we have noticed on the rural roads around France, is the lack of signage, warning of corners, or hairpin bends. The road sides where there is a long drop from the roadside, are unguarded in most cases. There are very little guide rails. So if you go over the side, its a steeep fall down.
We get to a place called Lalouvesc, about 40 mins from Lamastre. This village has wonderful views of the mountains and the valleys around it. There is a Basilica called Basilica of St Regis, built in 1877, and it contains the relics of St John Francis Regis. It is a very majestic building, in the middle of a very small village. We find a cafe that is open and very quiet, as we are the only customers that they have, and we have a coffee and a toasted sandwich which was very different. It is called a Croque Monsieur, which is a sandwich toasted, but on top of the sandwhich, there is a mix of cheese and white sauce and it is then toasted until the cheese on top is bubbly. It was most yummy.
We leave, and head back towards Lamastre, and on our way back we discover a little miniture village made from stones, just like the a real village. We stop and check it out. There is a honesty box, as there is no one there, so we leave a donation, and check out this little village. The village has everything just like a normal village, and the detail was excellent. Absolutly amazing what some people can do.
So today we woke to the car being somewhat covered in Ice. We take a walk over to the resturant, and have a breakfast, and then pack the car for the next league of our trip. Lamastre. This has been one of the first places that Bob booked since we started palanning our trip through Europe, some 24 months ago. From Rodez to Lamastre is a distance of 253 kms and about 4 hrs travel time.
We share the driving, and have arranged to meet our host at the Railway Station, where he will take us to our accommodation. And it was a good thing that he did, as I don't think we would have found it otherwise. It is up on top of a hill, and a very windy road to go with it. But alas we are here, and we have a fire place for when it gets cold here, and it was going when we arrived. It was very nice. Our host told us that there are two markets in the town, one on a Satuurday, being the local produce market, and one on Tuesday with different things for sale.
The views are wonderful as we are overlooking the town of Lamastre, and with hills surrounding us on all sides.
Tuesday, 7th January 2020
Today, we went into the markets to take a look at what is about. There are stands selling breads, eggs, fruit and vegies, a variety of winter clothing from Beanies and scarves and coats and jackets, cheeses. We get a couple of things, and then go back to the house. We went to the Office of tourism, and got some maps of the local area, and also got some tips on where we might be interested to look at.
We had a cuppa at one of the cafes here in town, and it was just great. The staff were very friendly, even though the one of waiters couldn't speak english, and the other one spoke a little, and i think the owner spoke a bit more. We had a bite to eat, and a coffee, and of course dessert. Which was soooo good. I really liked the cafe, and they allow dogs inside also.
I went for a walk this afternoon, to see what was about. Only a windy road.
Wednesday, 8th January 2020
Didn't do a real lot today, it is cold, and we have the fire going. There is still frost and ice about at midday.
Thursday, 8th January 2020
Friday, 9th January 2020
Saturday, 10th January
Sunday, 11th January 2020
We took a drive today exploring the villages around us.
We drive on more windy roads, and seeing the mountainous landscape all about us, with long drops to the bottom. One thing that we have noticed on the rural roads around France, is the lack of signage, warning of corners, or hairpin bends. The road sides where there is a long drop from the roadside, are unguarded in most cases. There are very little guide rails. So if you go over the side, its a steeep fall down.
We get to a place called Lalouvesc, about 40 mins from Lamastre. This village has wonderful views of the mountains and the valleys around it. There is a Basilica called Basilica of St Regis, built in 1877, and it contains the relics of St John Francis Regis. It is a very majestic building, in the middle of a very small village. We find a cafe that is open and very quiet, as we are the only customers that they have, and we have a coffee and a toasted sandwich which was very different. It is called a Croque Monsieur, which is a sandwich toasted, but on top of the sandwhich, there is a mix of cheese and white sauce and it is then toasted until the cheese on top is bubbly. It was most yummy.
We leave, and head back towards Lamastre, and on our way back we discover a little miniture village made from stones, just like the a real village. We stop and check it out. There is a honesty box, as there is no one there, so we leave a donation, and check out this little village. The village has everything just like a normal village, and the detail was excellent. Absolutly amazing what some people can do.
Monday, 6 January 2020
Vernet les Bains 30th/12
Monday, 30th December 2019
A day of relaxing
Tuesday, 31st December 2019
Today, we went into Prades. I wanted to get some products from a shop that sells St Thomas Plancton Thermal products, which means that we don't have to go back up the windy narrown road to St Thomas, and the hot springs. As we arrived into the area that the Coop is located, we happened upon a market in the streets. I was quiet prepared to not go down the markets, but Bob insisted that we should walk through it. So we did. The markets went on down many streets, and as the time was just after 12.30, a lot of the stalls were packing up. However, we managed to purchase a coupole of things. A pair of braces for Bob, as I have not seen braces anywhere else, and we also got some mixed nuts, and some fresh vegies. There were many varieties of stalls, the usual suspects, but still none the less was great to wander about.
Next we go into the Coop store to find the products I want, and after a short time, we are asked by an assistant, if we needed assistance. We asked if they had any of the said products in stock and we we were shown what they had. We purchased some skin repair creme, and a face cream, that is made from the plancton and the hot springs water from St Thomas.
We then went into the Super U shopping market, and gathered a few things for the next few days. We then head back to our unit, and await the end of the this year, and the start of the New Year. We open a bottle of champayne, on midnight and toast the old year out, and the new one in. There are fireworks that we see in the distance from another village, but apart from the random firework here, there doesn't seem to be much celebrating happening.
Wednesday, 1st January 2020.
Happy New Year.
Today, we chose to stay indoors. It is a 0 degree morning at 10 am.
We watch movies and read a book.
Thursday, 2nd January 2020.
Our day is going to be a challenging day. We are aiming to climb up to Fort Liberia.
The Fort is at Villefranche-de-Conflent, which is 6kms away or 10 mins. It is perched high up on a mountain, that overlooks the three valleys.
It began construction in 1681 and is connected to the city by 734 steps inside a tunnel. It dominates the village, at a height of 150 meters. It served as a prison, and also housed women prisoners, one who was foud guilty of poisoning her father and brothers, and was eventually burned at the stake, after 36 years. Her lady in waiting, was also imprisoned for her remaining life, a period of 43 years, both being chained to the wall of their cell.
We walk up the mountain, following the stairs and track around the mountain, and take in the specatular views, and quite a few deep breaths.
Once inside the Fort, it is an amazing historical place, with good information about it, explaining various points and items. Like the hand rails were made on site, with iron from the local mountain, and forged there inside the Fort. They are 300 years old, and are not painted, and look in very good condition. . Another interesting thing, is that the doors in the long galleries, are hinged on opposite sides, for when the attackers manage to get into the galleries, they can't shoot staight up the hallways. There is going to be a door to stop the bullets travelling the full distance of the halls. It is such a simple thing, and it makes such a lot of sense, and as Bob said, it is the art of war. It is probably in other places we have been in, but we have never noticed.
There are a total of 1279 steps around the Fort, and the staircase connecting the city. It has been a very physical experience, but well worth every step. And to top it off, there is a bar/cafe located here aswell, so we have a well deserved coffee.
After we decend the steps, of which we estimate the angle of decent to be about 50 degress. We walk the streets of the town, and find somewhere to have lunch, at 3pm in the afternoon. We find a very busy tapas bar, and squeeze ourselves into a tablewere we enjoy a beverage, and some food. We then find the office of tourism, after which we then head back to our unit, to recover, lol.
It has been a wonderful day. I have pushed, and achieved myself to go up the mountain.
Friday, 3rd January 2020
Today, we are going to go into Perpignan, as Bob has another appointment with the Chiropractor for his back. It has been giving him a little discomfort. Our plan is to stop at the Grottes de Crandes Canalettes, and go inside the cave. Although we are suffing some muscle soreness today from our exploration of the Fort yesterday, we go in to discover this cave. This Cave is amazing when we get inside. From the outside, it doesn't look like very much, but once you are inside the caverns, it is truely amazing. There are different forms of stalacites, and Stalagmites, as well as wonderful red Marble walls. The caves were discovered in 1951 by chance, and has and is still being explored. One of the caverns continues 10 kms, but it is not accesssable to the public. There is much water inside this particularcave, in comparission to other caves we have been in. The formations of the pillars of where the stalacites and stalagmites have joined are very large, and some of them have been Radiochronology dated to be 350 000 years old. This little adventure takes about an hour and a bit, and we are so glad that we tood the time to look at this attraction.
Now we head off to Perpignan, which is another 40 mins from the cave. We arrive early for the Chiropractor appointment, and decide that we might find somewhere to have some lunch, so we walk in one way, nothing there. We go the other way, and not much there either. We spot a convience store, and grab a couple of sandwiches, and a drink, and eat then in the street.
Our legs are complaining about having to walk because of the soreness in then, and when we get out of the car, we almost hobble for a couple of mins untill the circulation begins again.
After the consultation, we head back to Vernet les Bains, and start to get ourselves organised to pack everything up again. Tomorrow we leave this area, and head off onto the next part of France.
Saturday, 4th January 2020
The day starts with moans and groans about how sore our thigh and calf muscles are. It is a struggle to walk properly, but we must. We have the place to pack up, and load into the car, which entails going up and down the stairs outside.
After everything is packed and tidied up, we say good bye and start on the road for Pechbonnieu, this will be a 4 hrs trip, or 216 kms, at least.
We follow the directions given byt the GPS, and I am sure, it is finding the most windiest route that there is. But it is not boring. There are lots of turns and up and down the mountains we go. However we do find some wonderful scenery as we travel onwards. Our aches and pains are still with us, which don't seem to have been relieved over night.
The first part of our journey has taken a bit of time, as I was driving, and there were many hair pin bends, and blind courners. We have a stop for some lunch, and fill in some time, as our check in is not until 6pm.
Continuing onwards we stop at the Aeroscopia Museum in Blagnac, and Bob get a couple of pictures. We don't actually go into the museum, it is only that we need a comfort stop, and this was the easiest place to find one. Then we venture around to Airbus in Blagnac. It is a huge complex, which has many large sheds where the Airbus's are assembled. There is much land involved with this plane business.
We continue on to our destination of the day, and as we usually do, there are wrong turns taken, and eventurally, we find the place, and the hosts are out walking, and are able to show us through the little house we have. Muriel, is a lovely little lady, as she is approximately half the height of Bob. She speaks great english, and we converse with her for a little while. Our dwelling is everything we need for the night, so we only bring in the exxentials that we need, and call it a day.
Sunday, 5th January 2020
We start the day with a heavy fog in the area, and we don't have to leave here very early, so we have a bit of breakfast. Our aches are feeling a little better today, although, I am not firing on all cyclinders this morning, but I am sure as the day wears on, I will continue to inprove.
I am driving again today, and we are headin to Rodez. A distance of 140 kms or 1h 40 mins. We leave our accommodation around 11, and make our way in the fog for the next journey. Most of this drive is on the free way. We again need to find a public toilet, and we leave the freeway to find one in a little village, but the service station is closed, so we have to advance onwards. We make a stop in the next town we drive through, and do find the required amenities, but that is an over statement. Thank goodness we have a box of tissues in the car. This is proably one of the grottiest toilets I have been to. Absolutly disgusting. But when you gotta go, you gotta go.
We get to our next place, a Motel around 1.20pm and check in. Maccas is 600 mtr away, and after we get the exxentials inside, we go and have lunch.
The rest of the day is spent chilling, and going to the resturant that is attached to the motel for tea.
A day of relaxing
Tuesday, 31st December 2019
Today, we went into Prades. I wanted to get some products from a shop that sells St Thomas Plancton Thermal products, which means that we don't have to go back up the windy narrown road to St Thomas, and the hot springs. As we arrived into the area that the Coop is located, we happened upon a market in the streets. I was quiet prepared to not go down the markets, but Bob insisted that we should walk through it. So we did. The markets went on down many streets, and as the time was just after 12.30, a lot of the stalls were packing up. However, we managed to purchase a coupole of things. A pair of braces for Bob, as I have not seen braces anywhere else, and we also got some mixed nuts, and some fresh vegies. There were many varieties of stalls, the usual suspects, but still none the less was great to wander about.
Next we go into the Coop store to find the products I want, and after a short time, we are asked by an assistant, if we needed assistance. We asked if they had any of the said products in stock and we we were shown what they had. We purchased some skin repair creme, and a face cream, that is made from the plancton and the hot springs water from St Thomas.
We then went into the Super U shopping market, and gathered a few things for the next few days. We then head back to our unit, and await the end of the this year, and the start of the New Year. We open a bottle of champayne, on midnight and toast the old year out, and the new one in. There are fireworks that we see in the distance from another village, but apart from the random firework here, there doesn't seem to be much celebrating happening.
Wednesday, 1st January 2020.
Happy New Year.
Today, we chose to stay indoors. It is a 0 degree morning at 10 am.
We watch movies and read a book.
Thursday, 2nd January 2020.
Our day is going to be a challenging day. We are aiming to climb up to Fort Liberia.
The Fort is at Villefranche-de-Conflent, which is 6kms away or 10 mins. It is perched high up on a mountain, that overlooks the three valleys.
It began construction in 1681 and is connected to the city by 734 steps inside a tunnel. It dominates the village, at a height of 150 meters. It served as a prison, and also housed women prisoners, one who was foud guilty of poisoning her father and brothers, and was eventually burned at the stake, after 36 years. Her lady in waiting, was also imprisoned for her remaining life, a period of 43 years, both being chained to the wall of their cell.
We walk up the mountain, following the stairs and track around the mountain, and take in the specatular views, and quite a few deep breaths.
Once inside the Fort, it is an amazing historical place, with good information about it, explaining various points and items. Like the hand rails were made on site, with iron from the local mountain, and forged there inside the Fort. They are 300 years old, and are not painted, and look in very good condition. . Another interesting thing, is that the doors in the long galleries, are hinged on opposite sides, for when the attackers manage to get into the galleries, they can't shoot staight up the hallways. There is going to be a door to stop the bullets travelling the full distance of the halls. It is such a simple thing, and it makes such a lot of sense, and as Bob said, it is the art of war. It is probably in other places we have been in, but we have never noticed.
There are a total of 1279 steps around the Fort, and the staircase connecting the city. It has been a very physical experience, but well worth every step. And to top it off, there is a bar/cafe located here aswell, so we have a well deserved coffee.
After we decend the steps, of which we estimate the angle of decent to be about 50 degress. We walk the streets of the town, and find somewhere to have lunch, at 3pm in the afternoon. We find a very busy tapas bar, and squeeze ourselves into a tablewere we enjoy a beverage, and some food. We then find the office of tourism, after which we then head back to our unit, to recover, lol.
It has been a wonderful day. I have pushed, and achieved myself to go up the mountain.
Friday, 3rd January 2020
Today, we are going to go into Perpignan, as Bob has another appointment with the Chiropractor for his back. It has been giving him a little discomfort. Our plan is to stop at the Grottes de Crandes Canalettes, and go inside the cave. Although we are suffing some muscle soreness today from our exploration of the Fort yesterday, we go in to discover this cave. This Cave is amazing when we get inside. From the outside, it doesn't look like very much, but once you are inside the caverns, it is truely amazing. There are different forms of stalacites, and Stalagmites, as well as wonderful red Marble walls. The caves were discovered in 1951 by chance, and has and is still being explored. One of the caverns continues 10 kms, but it is not accesssable to the public. There is much water inside this particularcave, in comparission to other caves we have been in. The formations of the pillars of where the stalacites and stalagmites have joined are very large, and some of them have been Radiochronology dated to be 350 000 years old. This little adventure takes about an hour and a bit, and we are so glad that we tood the time to look at this attraction.
Now we head off to Perpignan, which is another 40 mins from the cave. We arrive early for the Chiropractor appointment, and decide that we might find somewhere to have some lunch, so we walk in one way, nothing there. We go the other way, and not much there either. We spot a convience store, and grab a couple of sandwiches, and a drink, and eat then in the street.
Our legs are complaining about having to walk because of the soreness in then, and when we get out of the car, we almost hobble for a couple of mins untill the circulation begins again.
After the consultation, we head back to Vernet les Bains, and start to get ourselves organised to pack everything up again. Tomorrow we leave this area, and head off onto the next part of France.
Saturday, 4th January 2020
The day starts with moans and groans about how sore our thigh and calf muscles are. It is a struggle to walk properly, but we must. We have the place to pack up, and load into the car, which entails going up and down the stairs outside.
After everything is packed and tidied up, we say good bye and start on the road for Pechbonnieu, this will be a 4 hrs trip, or 216 kms, at least.
We follow the directions given byt the GPS, and I am sure, it is finding the most windiest route that there is. But it is not boring. There are lots of turns and up and down the mountains we go. However we do find some wonderful scenery as we travel onwards. Our aches and pains are still with us, which don't seem to have been relieved over night.
The first part of our journey has taken a bit of time, as I was driving, and there were many hair pin bends, and blind courners. We have a stop for some lunch, and fill in some time, as our check in is not until 6pm.
Continuing onwards we stop at the Aeroscopia Museum in Blagnac, and Bob get a couple of pictures. We don't actually go into the museum, it is only that we need a comfort stop, and this was the easiest place to find one. Then we venture around to Airbus in Blagnac. It is a huge complex, which has many large sheds where the Airbus's are assembled. There is much land involved with this plane business.
We continue on to our destination of the day, and as we usually do, there are wrong turns taken, and eventurally, we find the place, and the hosts are out walking, and are able to show us through the little house we have. Muriel, is a lovely little lady, as she is approximately half the height of Bob. She speaks great english, and we converse with her for a little while. Our dwelling is everything we need for the night, so we only bring in the exxentials that we need, and call it a day.
Sunday, 5th January 2020
We start the day with a heavy fog in the area, and we don't have to leave here very early, so we have a bit of breakfast. Our aches are feeling a little better today, although, I am not firing on all cyclinders this morning, but I am sure as the day wears on, I will continue to inprove.
I am driving again today, and we are headin to Rodez. A distance of 140 kms or 1h 40 mins. We leave our accommodation around 11, and make our way in the fog for the next journey. Most of this drive is on the free way. We again need to find a public toilet, and we leave the freeway to find one in a little village, but the service station is closed, so we have to advance onwards. We make a stop in the next town we drive through, and do find the required amenities, but that is an over statement. Thank goodness we have a box of tissues in the car. This is proably one of the grottiest toilets I have been to. Absolutly disgusting. But when you gotta go, you gotta go.
We get to our next place, a Motel around 1.20pm and check in. Maccas is 600 mtr away, and after we get the exxentials inside, we go and have lunch.
The rest of the day is spent chilling, and going to the resturant that is attached to the motel for tea.
Monday, 30 December 2019
23/12 Vernet- les- Bains
Monday, 23rd December 2019
Not a lot done today.
Tuesday, 24th December 2019
Again, nothing much done, just getting ready for the day tomorrow.
Wednesday, 25th December 2019
Christmas day
This Christmas is a Christmas that is very different to every other one we have had.
After making family phone calls through Facebook, and an extra early one at 3.30 am, we are headed up to Font Romue for our Christmas day. We were hoping that there would be a bit more snow about the place, but there is less. Where we took pics a week ago, there was no snow, it has all melted away. None the less, there is still snow about. We arrive a bit early, and to my amazement, most of the shops are open. I guess as this is a ski area, families will be coming up here to spend the day skiing, and trying out new equipment.
We get to our resturant, and are a little early, so we walk a bit more until they are open and ready for customers. It would have been great to have a window seat, as the views from this place are wonderful, but seating arrangements didn't allow that to happen.
Our menu has a couple of chioces for each course, which I thought might be a set menu, and it is in French, so we are busy using our phones to translate what the foods are that are available to us. Orderning drinks is a little easier.
For my entree, I order, Salmon done 3 ways, and Bob has Pumpkin soup with a couple of prawns. The soup, had an interesting flavour to it, and we figured it out that there was a hint of vanilla in it and entrees were very nice.
Next course, I ordered Duck with pear and honey, which is offered as rare or medium, so I choose the medium preferancem and Bob has the Beef. It is very nice, although, I don't eat all of my Duck, as I think Duck should be fully cooked, but I wanted to try something different, as the French would eat it. Next is Dessert, and I have a Pistachio and Raspberry dessert, and Bob chooses a Burlee of some sort, but they are both presented beautifully, and taste amazing.
It has been a nice Christmas lunch with a not to noisy clientelle, which makes it for a very pleasant dining experience and the staff have been very friendly.
We now think we will go up on the chair lift up to the snow, and skiing fields to have a look about. We walk up the stairs to the chair lifts, and ask about tickets and are told that they can be purchased down at the office next to the office of tourism. So we head back down the stairs, and obtain the tickets, and go back up.
We get seated into the chair lift, and enjoy the ride up the mountain, and take in the views beyond us. Once we get to the end of the lift, we hop out, and go out into the snow. It seems that where we are is dedicated to the learners and children, but it is good for us to get pics. We see the other ski chairs and the things that pull you up the mountain, and watch skiiers coming down the mount.
We go back down, and head back to that car, and head back to our unit. Christmas in the snow has been done, and enjoyed very much, and the thing is I didin't over eat, or feel bloated as we all usually do after a Christmas lunch. Our white Christmas has been wonderful.
Thursday, 26th December 2019
Boxing day, and we didn't go out anywhere. The town seems very quiet.
Friday, 27th December 2019
Today we have decided to go to Andorra. Andorra is a tiny country between Spain and France, in the Pyrenees Mountains.
Andorra is 71 kms away from where we are, or a 2 hrs 20 mins drive. As it is it own country and not part of the EU, we are thinking that there will be some sort of customs check. Andorra is a low tax or tax free haven and encourages duty free shopping. It has a population or 76,177 and is at an altitude of 1,996 meters.
When we get inside the car, we notice that the windscreen is covered in ice. Neither of us have encountered this for a very long time, so we have to spend some time defrosting the windscreen, with water from the washer bottle, and the air blowing from the inside. But It isn't hot air, as the car is not warm enough to blow hot air yet. Eventually it starts to melt, and we are soon on our way.
On our way, as you can imagine, it is cold outside, and we notice that there are icicles formed on the wire netting on the mountain side, which makes for fasinating pictures. The netting is to stop rocks and stones falling onto the road, and it some places around here, are are many levels of netting to catch the fall of rocks.
As we are getting closer to Andorra, the traffic is growning, and eventually we come to a stand still. Not sure of what is happeing, but thinking, that we are close to the border, and it is a customs station. There are Kilometers of cars behind us, and not sure how far ahead the check point is. All we can do is wait and have passports at the ready. We wonder if they issue stamps for the passports, or not. We get closer to the check point, and it seems that all of the cars ahead of us, are driving through without being checked, and the same goes for us aswell. So on stamp in our passport saying we have been into this country. There is lots of snow around, and there have been a few photos taken.
We are headed for the capital of Andorra, Andorra la Vella, with a population of 22,256, but with tourism, this number explodes. According to Wikipedia, there are 10 million tourists to this tiny county each year. It is hard to believe the figure is so large, given where it is, up in the Pyrenees mountains.
On our way to the capital, we travel through the longest tunnel to date for us. It is a distance of 4.8 kms, going though, a mountain, and this tunnel is only one of a few.
We find somewhere to park the car, and start exploring this city.
We head for a shopping centre, so we can get some lunch, and Burger King is good. At least with some of the fast food outlets, you can use the kiosk, and choose the language you need. Takes all the difficulty out of things. after we have eaten, we stroll around this shopping complex, and then after some research, discover there is a long retail street, not to far away. So we head out to discover what might be out there, and it is incredibile to see so many people and a long long street of shops.
We walk up the street, and it just keeps going on and on, and when we turn to look behind us, it is just an ocean of people moving in all directions for as far as you can see.
Bob has decided it might be a good place to purchase a dashcam, and we go into a couple of shops, and ask for prices on what they have, but nothing suits what we are willing to pay. Eventually, we find or rather Bob finds a great deal, and a deal is done.
Now we turn back and go down the street, and getting our bearings as to where the car is parked we continue down this busy shopping mall. I happen to notice on one of the light poles something that says, it is a mile long of shopping, and I think it could be right. There are many Christmas decorations, and Disney Characters about, and photos are taken.
We eventually head back to the car, and leave this busy little metropolis to the many people who are busy shopping.
Leaving the country is the same as entering it, with long queues waiting to go through the customs point, again, with no checks being done. I am driving this time, back down the windy mountain roads, and there are many impatient drivers that overtake is crazy places, but that seems to be the normal for over here. We arrive back to our unit safe and sound, and have had a wonderful day.
Saturday, 28th December 2019
Today was a chillaxing day, and some washing was done.
Sunday, 29th December 2019
Another quiet day, bit of a fog over the mountains this morning, and the temp was down to 3 degrees at 9am this morning.
We go for a walk about the town to see what is happening in this quiet place.
There is no sirens wailing, or even dogs barking. It is a very very quiet place.
We take the rubbish for a walk to the bins, and then we continue to walk up to the old church that is perched up on the hill. The old church, has a sundail on it, and if seems it has been here at least since 863.
Not a lot done today.
Tuesday, 24th December 2019
Again, nothing much done, just getting ready for the day tomorrow.
Wednesday, 25th December 2019
Christmas day
This Christmas is a Christmas that is very different to every other one we have had.
After making family phone calls through Facebook, and an extra early one at 3.30 am, we are headed up to Font Romue for our Christmas day. We were hoping that there would be a bit more snow about the place, but there is less. Where we took pics a week ago, there was no snow, it has all melted away. None the less, there is still snow about. We arrive a bit early, and to my amazement, most of the shops are open. I guess as this is a ski area, families will be coming up here to spend the day skiing, and trying out new equipment.
We get to our resturant, and are a little early, so we walk a bit more until they are open and ready for customers. It would have been great to have a window seat, as the views from this place are wonderful, but seating arrangements didn't allow that to happen.
Our menu has a couple of chioces for each course, which I thought might be a set menu, and it is in French, so we are busy using our phones to translate what the foods are that are available to us. Orderning drinks is a little easier.
For my entree, I order, Salmon done 3 ways, and Bob has Pumpkin soup with a couple of prawns. The soup, had an interesting flavour to it, and we figured it out that there was a hint of vanilla in it and entrees were very nice.
Next course, I ordered Duck with pear and honey, which is offered as rare or medium, so I choose the medium preferancem and Bob has the Beef. It is very nice, although, I don't eat all of my Duck, as I think Duck should be fully cooked, but I wanted to try something different, as the French would eat it. Next is Dessert, and I have a Pistachio and Raspberry dessert, and Bob chooses a Burlee of some sort, but they are both presented beautifully, and taste amazing.
It has been a nice Christmas lunch with a not to noisy clientelle, which makes it for a very pleasant dining experience and the staff have been very friendly.
We now think we will go up on the chair lift up to the snow, and skiing fields to have a look about. We walk up the stairs to the chair lifts, and ask about tickets and are told that they can be purchased down at the office next to the office of tourism. So we head back down the stairs, and obtain the tickets, and go back up.
We get seated into the chair lift, and enjoy the ride up the mountain, and take in the views beyond us. Once we get to the end of the lift, we hop out, and go out into the snow. It seems that where we are is dedicated to the learners and children, but it is good for us to get pics. We see the other ski chairs and the things that pull you up the mountain, and watch skiiers coming down the mount.
We go back down, and head back to that car, and head back to our unit. Christmas in the snow has been done, and enjoyed very much, and the thing is I didin't over eat, or feel bloated as we all usually do after a Christmas lunch. Our white Christmas has been wonderful.
Thursday, 26th December 2019
Boxing day, and we didn't go out anywhere. The town seems very quiet.
Friday, 27th December 2019
Today we have decided to go to Andorra. Andorra is a tiny country between Spain and France, in the Pyrenees Mountains.
Andorra is 71 kms away from where we are, or a 2 hrs 20 mins drive. As it is it own country and not part of the EU, we are thinking that there will be some sort of customs check. Andorra is a low tax or tax free haven and encourages duty free shopping. It has a population or 76,177 and is at an altitude of 1,996 meters.
When we get inside the car, we notice that the windscreen is covered in ice. Neither of us have encountered this for a very long time, so we have to spend some time defrosting the windscreen, with water from the washer bottle, and the air blowing from the inside. But It isn't hot air, as the car is not warm enough to blow hot air yet. Eventually it starts to melt, and we are soon on our way.
On our way, as you can imagine, it is cold outside, and we notice that there are icicles formed on the wire netting on the mountain side, which makes for fasinating pictures. The netting is to stop rocks and stones falling onto the road, and it some places around here, are are many levels of netting to catch the fall of rocks.
As we are getting closer to Andorra, the traffic is growning, and eventually we come to a stand still. Not sure of what is happeing, but thinking, that we are close to the border, and it is a customs station. There are Kilometers of cars behind us, and not sure how far ahead the check point is. All we can do is wait and have passports at the ready. We wonder if they issue stamps for the passports, or not. We get closer to the check point, and it seems that all of the cars ahead of us, are driving through without being checked, and the same goes for us aswell. So on stamp in our passport saying we have been into this country. There is lots of snow around, and there have been a few photos taken.
We are headed for the capital of Andorra, Andorra la Vella, with a population of 22,256, but with tourism, this number explodes. According to Wikipedia, there are 10 million tourists to this tiny county each year. It is hard to believe the figure is so large, given where it is, up in the Pyrenees mountains.
On our way to the capital, we travel through the longest tunnel to date for us. It is a distance of 4.8 kms, going though, a mountain, and this tunnel is only one of a few.
We find somewhere to park the car, and start exploring this city.
We head for a shopping centre, so we can get some lunch, and Burger King is good. At least with some of the fast food outlets, you can use the kiosk, and choose the language you need. Takes all the difficulty out of things. after we have eaten, we stroll around this shopping complex, and then after some research, discover there is a long retail street, not to far away. So we head out to discover what might be out there, and it is incredibile to see so many people and a long long street of shops.
We walk up the street, and it just keeps going on and on, and when we turn to look behind us, it is just an ocean of people moving in all directions for as far as you can see.
Bob has decided it might be a good place to purchase a dashcam, and we go into a couple of shops, and ask for prices on what they have, but nothing suits what we are willing to pay. Eventually, we find or rather Bob finds a great deal, and a deal is done.
Now we turn back and go down the street, and getting our bearings as to where the car is parked we continue down this busy shopping mall. I happen to notice on one of the light poles something that says, it is a mile long of shopping, and I think it could be right. There are many Christmas decorations, and Disney Characters about, and photos are taken.
We eventually head back to the car, and leave this busy little metropolis to the many people who are busy shopping.
Leaving the country is the same as entering it, with long queues waiting to go through the customs point, again, with no checks being done. I am driving this time, back down the windy mountain roads, and there are many impatient drivers that overtake is crazy places, but that seems to be the normal for over here. We arrive back to our unit safe and sound, and have had a wonderful day.
Saturday, 28th December 2019
Today was a chillaxing day, and some washing was done.
Sunday, 29th December 2019
Another quiet day, bit of a fog over the mountains this morning, and the temp was down to 3 degrees at 9am this morning.
We go for a walk about the town to see what is happening in this quiet place.
There is no sirens wailing, or even dogs barking. It is a very very quiet place.
We take the rubbish for a walk to the bins, and then we continue to walk up to the old church that is perched up on the hill. The old church, has a sundail on it, and if seems it has been here at least since 863.
Sunday, 29 December 2019
Vernet-les-Bains 16th /12
Monday 16th December 2019
Today, we take a walk about the village, and call in on the tourism office, and get some brochures and information on what is about the area, and some suggestions for Christmas day.
We grab some fruit and vegie from the local grocer, and not much more is done.
Tuesday, 17th December, 2019
We are going for a drive up to Font-Romeu today. It is a distance of 44 kms, and takes about an hour to drive. It is in the Pyrenees near the Spanish boarder and is one of the oldest ski resorts in France, and the oldest in the Pyrenees. It is at altidude of 1800 m and there was a good bit of snow around. Getting to Font Romeu consists of travelling very windy road, and a few hair pin bends.
We get to Font Romeu, and it is a delightful sight to see, all the snow about, so donned with our coats, and gloves we set off to find a couple of the suggested Resturants that might be open for Christmas day. We find the first one, and they are not going to open then, but did suggest another place. So of we go to find that one, and we call in at another place, and ask if they will be open for Christmas day lunch, but no, however it was suggested about another place that might be open, and the food was very good. So agian we head off to find this place, and we find it, and at once we knew it was the place to be if they were going to be open. We go inside, and not only are they going to be open, but the waitress that greets us, speaks english. So we make a reservation for Christmas day. Mission accomplished.
Now we head back to another eating place, and decide to have some lunch there, and it was very nice, although when I asked for a Rum and coke, the waitress came back to say they don't have coke, so I suggested Lemonade with the Rum. Abit later, the headwaiterd/ owner said he doesn't stock the american drinks, he keeps only French products. Fair enough.
A couple of places we have been to, when we ask if they speak English, the response is " if I must ". and the other response we got was " if I have to ". So very French.
We wander around the village, and I get to make a little snow person, but I didn't have the right ingredients to finish it. But I did get to throw a few snow balls.
Eventually we head back to our unit in Vernet les Bains. It has been a wonderful day, seeing all the snow and the shops selling snow equipment.
Wednesday, 18th December 2019
Not a lot done today, washing and general rest.
Thursday, 19th December 2019
We took a drive to a little community not far from here, called Villefranche, de Conflent. This village, is set behind a stone wall, and you can just feel that not much has changed over the years. One can imagine what life was like behind the walls, with a Mountain on one side, and the wall all the way around. The town dates back to 1098, and was fortified due of its strategic position. Another draw card to this place is the huge fort that is sitting high up above this town. It is also the place where one can catch the yellow train, that makes its way up through the mountains. We plan to take this at some point in time. There is a total of about 6 streets, and a population of 218. There are a lot of interesting Artisian shops selling glass ornaments and jewellery, clothing, and a variety of other goods. Also there was a good few resturants, which, one would assume they have a lot tourist that visit in the right season.
We keep wandering, buy some chocolates made on site, and then have some lunch. After we have eaten, we try to find the Railway station, and follow the signs pointing in the direction of the station. We go through more of the ancient building and structures, across the rail lines, and keep walking up a road for a little way. Eventually, someone comes along, and Bob asks where about the station is, and it guided to where it is verbally. We follow the directions given, and go across teh foot bridge, andsee that the station is accessable by car, so we head back to the car and find the entry point for the railway.
We go inside the station, and there is no one to be seen. We wait for a little while, and then a Police man comes in and eventually a woman comes to the counter to serve us. We are told that the trains are not running due to the transport strike that is happening at the moment. Bummer.
Hopefully, it will be resolved soon, and we will be able to go on the little yellow train.
On the way back to Vernet les Bains, we stop at the supermarket, and grab a few things.
Another enjoyable day is done.
Friday, 20th December 2019
Today we are headed into Perpignan, as Bob has an appointment with a Chiropractor. Perpignan is 56 kms away, or 49 mins, and dates back to the Roman times.
The appointment is at 11, and we try to find a park close to where we have to go, but no luck, so we continue our sure further afield. We find a parking area, and it has a lovely open park, with a water fountain. A little walk back the way we came, brings us to where the chiropractor is, and Bob is seen to by a lovely French woman.
After we have finished with the chiro, we go on to explore the city around us. It is a very lovely town, with a river flowing through it, and a well kept park. We walk towards a shopping complex as we are both in need of a comfort stop, and on our way discover another Christmas market. So after we have attended to urgent business, we wander aimlessly down the markets, and there are many wonderful things to be seen, wooden toy, with working parts, much like a mechano set, but made in wood. Different types of foods, and wines and all things market. After we have walked through the markets we head to the other side of the river, to where there seems to be just as much business. and older parts of the town. Again wandering aimless through the streets, and taking in the views and shops, it just never seems to end. We end up back where we started, and find a resturant to have a bite to eat, and then we head off.
We get back and find a reasonable park, and the day is concluded.
Saturday, 21st December 2019
This morning we had a quiet morning, and then decided to go into Prades for a look about the place. We drove through this place on our way to Vernet les Bains, and here we are today exploring it further. As we drive through the town, it becomes apparent that there is a something going on as some of the streets are blocked off. Traffic is being redirected and we find a street to park in and check out the town. In the middle of town is a Christmas fair happening. A few rides for the children, and pony rides, and mery go rounds and the shooting gallery. We leave this area, and walk down more of the streets, and again, the shops are closed for the mid day break. We go back to the car, and decide to do a Christmas shop for us, and find a Super U, and get the required items for our Christmas day snacks.
Sunday, 22nd December 2019
A day of relaxing today.
Today, we take a walk about the village, and call in on the tourism office, and get some brochures and information on what is about the area, and some suggestions for Christmas day.
We grab some fruit and vegie from the local grocer, and not much more is done.
Tuesday, 17th December, 2019
We are going for a drive up to Font-Romeu today. It is a distance of 44 kms, and takes about an hour to drive. It is in the Pyrenees near the Spanish boarder and is one of the oldest ski resorts in France, and the oldest in the Pyrenees. It is at altidude of 1800 m and there was a good bit of snow around. Getting to Font Romeu consists of travelling very windy road, and a few hair pin bends.
We get to Font Romeu, and it is a delightful sight to see, all the snow about, so donned with our coats, and gloves we set off to find a couple of the suggested Resturants that might be open for Christmas day. We find the first one, and they are not going to open then, but did suggest another place. So of we go to find that one, and we call in at another place, and ask if they will be open for Christmas day lunch, but no, however it was suggested about another place that might be open, and the food was very good. So agian we head off to find this place, and we find it, and at once we knew it was the place to be if they were going to be open. We go inside, and not only are they going to be open, but the waitress that greets us, speaks english. So we make a reservation for Christmas day. Mission accomplished.
Now we head back to another eating place, and decide to have some lunch there, and it was very nice, although when I asked for a Rum and coke, the waitress came back to say they don't have coke, so I suggested Lemonade with the Rum. Abit later, the headwaiterd/ owner said he doesn't stock the american drinks, he keeps only French products. Fair enough.
A couple of places we have been to, when we ask if they speak English, the response is " if I must ". and the other response we got was " if I have to ". So very French.
We wander around the village, and I get to make a little snow person, but I didn't have the right ingredients to finish it. But I did get to throw a few snow balls.
Eventually we head back to our unit in Vernet les Bains. It has been a wonderful day, seeing all the snow and the shops selling snow equipment.
Wednesday, 18th December 2019
Not a lot done today, washing and general rest.
Thursday, 19th December 2019
We took a drive to a little community not far from here, called Villefranche, de Conflent. This village, is set behind a stone wall, and you can just feel that not much has changed over the years. One can imagine what life was like behind the walls, with a Mountain on one side, and the wall all the way around. The town dates back to 1098, and was fortified due of its strategic position. Another draw card to this place is the huge fort that is sitting high up above this town. It is also the place where one can catch the yellow train, that makes its way up through the mountains. We plan to take this at some point in time. There is a total of about 6 streets, and a population of 218. There are a lot of interesting Artisian shops selling glass ornaments and jewellery, clothing, and a variety of other goods. Also there was a good few resturants, which, one would assume they have a lot tourist that visit in the right season.
We keep wandering, buy some chocolates made on site, and then have some lunch. After we have eaten, we try to find the Railway station, and follow the signs pointing in the direction of the station. We go through more of the ancient building and structures, across the rail lines, and keep walking up a road for a little way. Eventually, someone comes along, and Bob asks where about the station is, and it guided to where it is verbally. We follow the directions given, and go across teh foot bridge, andsee that the station is accessable by car, so we head back to the car and find the entry point for the railway.
We go inside the station, and there is no one to be seen. We wait for a little while, and then a Police man comes in and eventually a woman comes to the counter to serve us. We are told that the trains are not running due to the transport strike that is happening at the moment. Bummer.
Hopefully, it will be resolved soon, and we will be able to go on the little yellow train.
On the way back to Vernet les Bains, we stop at the supermarket, and grab a few things.
Another enjoyable day is done.
Friday, 20th December 2019
Today we are headed into Perpignan, as Bob has an appointment with a Chiropractor. Perpignan is 56 kms away, or 49 mins, and dates back to the Roman times.
The appointment is at 11, and we try to find a park close to where we have to go, but no luck, so we continue our sure further afield. We find a parking area, and it has a lovely open park, with a water fountain. A little walk back the way we came, brings us to where the chiropractor is, and Bob is seen to by a lovely French woman.
After we have finished with the chiro, we go on to explore the city around us. It is a very lovely town, with a river flowing through it, and a well kept park. We walk towards a shopping complex as we are both in need of a comfort stop, and on our way discover another Christmas market. So after we have attended to urgent business, we wander aimlessly down the markets, and there are many wonderful things to be seen, wooden toy, with working parts, much like a mechano set, but made in wood. Different types of foods, and wines and all things market. After we have walked through the markets we head to the other side of the river, to where there seems to be just as much business. and older parts of the town. Again wandering aimless through the streets, and taking in the views and shops, it just never seems to end. We end up back where we started, and find a resturant to have a bite to eat, and then we head off.
We get back and find a reasonable park, and the day is concluded.
Saturday, 21st December 2019
This morning we had a quiet morning, and then decided to go into Prades for a look about the place. We drove through this place on our way to Vernet les Bains, and here we are today exploring it further. As we drive through the town, it becomes apparent that there is a something going on as some of the streets are blocked off. Traffic is being redirected and we find a street to park in and check out the town. In the middle of town is a Christmas fair happening. A few rides for the children, and pony rides, and mery go rounds and the shooting gallery. We leave this area, and walk down more of the streets, and again, the shops are closed for the mid day break. We go back to the car, and decide to do a Christmas shop for us, and find a Super U, and get the required items for our Christmas day snacks.
Sunday, 22nd December 2019
A day of relaxing today.
Barcelona, 9th December 2019
Monday, 9th December 2019
Today we leave Segovia, headed for a place called Sant Just Desvern, a town, just on the outside of Barcelona. Our drive is a 702 kms or a 6hr and 15 mins, but we know we will take a little longer than that. We leave Segovia early, as it is a long day of driving. We share the driving, and after some time we find somewhere to have some breakfast. Where we stopped was different, in that the resturant was on top of the sevice station, and was quite nice. I am still amazed, that at any time of the day, one can purchase a wine or beer. Anyhow, after we have eaten, we continue on our journey, and arrive in town of Sant Just Desvern at 2.30pm. Along the way Bob has been trying to contact our host, to try and organise an earlier entry into her place, as we had organized a 5pm entry. But alas we have no luck, as we get no reply to Bobs message, so we decide to go to a shopping centre to fill in some time. The road system around here is a bit different, as there is trams running in the middle of the roads, so one can not just turn to the left or right at a corner. You either continue on to aroundabout, or as we soon found out, use the extra lane, which is specifcally designed for traffic to turn across the two lanes of traffic and tram lines, with traffic lights assisting, as we eventually found out. We get to a shopping centre, and park the car, and make our way inside the complex.
There are 3 floors to this shopping centre, with all manner of retailers and food places. We go to Starbucks, as we know they do a decent size coffee, and the coffee is usually good. After we have finished we wander around the centre, filling in time. Still no reponse from our host, so we decide to see if we can find the place, and this proves to be somewhat of a challenge. We follow the directions of the gps, and 3 times we go around the block, are unable to find the correct street. Eventually we do get it right, and try to find the nuber of our accommodation, and again, we draw a blank. From first impressions, parking looks like it is going to be somewhat of a challenge, and it is not until, we pull up and put the hazard lights on, I get out and take a walk to see if I can find the said number of the unit. I do, so now, the next thing is to find somewhere to park the car. We park at the top of the street, not sure if it is in an allowable spot, but we only intend to be there a short time. We talk a walk to explore what is around where we will be, and there is a Barber, so Bob makes an appointment for a hair cut tomorrow.
Our host has contacted us, and tells us that someone will be with us shortly, and we wait, and wait and wait. We are starting to get a bit iffy about this place. Eventually a woman comes and introduces herself to us, and she is not the person that our host has mentioined. But she has keys and we are keen to go inside. Anna, shows us about the place, and answers questions we have, then leaves.
The unit appears to be nice enough, but we have one flight of stairs to stuggle up with our luggage. a decision is made to try and bring the car closer to the door, and fortunately Bob is able to get a park that is close enough for us to manage the luggage and other goods we have. Once all this has been taken inside, we call it a day and relax.
Tuesday, 10th December 2019.
Bob has his hair appointment this moring, and comes back with a good hair cut. He found out about the buses that run into Barcelona, and what number it is that we need. Bob also mentions that the Barber was very much a perfectionist in cutting his hair, and that we was from India.
We go out a bit later to explore more of the area about us, and two doors down from the barber, is a nail place, and I mention that it would be nice to get my nails done for christmas, so, with again prodding from Bob, (he would call it encouraging ) and he said he would like me to do this as it would be his Christmas gift to me, I go inside to make some enquiries. Knowing full well, that there will be a language barrier, I am a little prepared with my phone for translation. Between the young lady and her phone and my phone, an appointment is made for the afternoon, at 5. Wow, I have come so far, when it comes to communicating with people now, even if they don't speak the english.
We continue our walk, and find a grocery shop, to get a couple of things, then head back to the unit.
5 pm comes, and I leave for my appointment, knowing this is going to be a quiet appointment. Josselyn ushers me to th chair, as we get started on doing my nails, both hands and feet. Josselyn, nows a little english, but not much, but more than i know Spanish. I ask her if i can have prints on my nails, as I have read the brochure I took earlier, and the thought of having some Christmas theme on my nails, would be nice. She shows me some pics on her phone of what I could have, and I make my choice. It is interesting sitting in the chair, listening to the other ladies chatting. There is one customer who speaks english, and Josselyn enlists her help to explain a couple of things to me. I am offered a cup of coffee before we start, and I am sure that she gets it from the bar that is next door.
After 2 hrs of getting my nails done, and my feet also, I am so happy with what has been achieved. I invite Josselyn to take pics, so she can dispaly what she is able to do on the shop website.
I go back to the unit, and tea has been cooked.
Wednesday, 11th December 2019.
Today, we are going into Barcelona by bus. By car, this is a 30 mins drive, a distance of 19.5 kms. Our plan is to go into Barcelona, and get the hop on hop off bus. We wait at the bus stop which is nice and close, and hop on board when it arrives. Paying for the trip can only be done with cash, as they don't have card facilities, and we don't have a travel card, that most of the other passengers have. We are giong to take this bus right into Barcelona, until it stops. This works out very well, as it stops at the University, and this is close to what seems to be the centre of the city. We take a moment to gather our bearings, and head of towards a shopping centre. Along the way, we ask a couple of guys working on the footpath where the hop oh hop off bus stop was. We were given directions, and headed off. We found a Star Bucks, and decided to have a cuppa and a bite to eat before we got on the bus.
We find the stop for the sightseeing bus, and purchase tickets, and go upstairs to take in the sights. The tour is about an hour and a half, and we saw a lot of interesting buildings, and structures. The style of some of the buildings was unusal, and some where very elaborate. Barcelona is a city of 1.6 million people, and is the capital of the community of Catalona. It is a very beautiful city, and I enjoyed the views from the bus. We were going to do the second tour, but decided, it would be best if we headed back to Sant Just Desvern, as we were not sure how long it would take to get back on the city bus.
We head back to the bus stop, and it starts to rain a little, but we don't get to wet, and we seemed to have timed it very well, as we don't have to wait to long for the bus. We get onboard, and decide that we will get of a couple of stops before where we need to, as there is a Aldi, we can get some groceries at. So this is what we do, and when we have finished shopping, we get the bus and continue on to our destination. It worked very well, and the bonus is that we didn't have to move the car. We have sort of been very reluctant to move the car, as finding a park when we return could be a real challenge.
Thursday, 12th December 2019
Spent the day not doing very much.
We are having challenges with the Internet at the unit, and have messaged the host to see if there is a problem.
We did go for a drive to the shopping centre, to find the Orange shop, to get some credit for the wifi box we have.
Friday, 13th December 2019
Today, we are going back into Barcelona, as Bob has made a chiropractor appointment for his back. We again catch the bus into the city, which fills up the closer we get to the city.
We disembark at the same place as on Wednesday, and head of to find the Chiropractor. Walking down the streets following the directions of the gps, we come across a street full of christmas stalls. We will come back to and explore this after Bob has fiinished with the Chiro. There are so many little narrow streets, and the shops just keep popping up in unexpected places. We find the chiro, and go upstairs to the practice, they are an English couple and have been in Barcelona 6 years.
After we are done there, we eventually go back to the christmas markets. It is remarkable, as there is so many stalls all dedicated to Christmas and ornaments and decorations. Many stalls selling miniture figurines and nativity scenes, AND Christmas trees. It was a joy to see, for someone like me coming from Australia, and seeing all of these things.
We wander down some more streets, and eventually we go back to the bus stop to head back ot Sant Just Desvern. Again, the bus fills. We get off at our designated stop, and go back to the unit. There is still no internet despite our host saying that someone was coming to look at it. Our host seems to keep late hours as she sends emails at midnight.
Saturday, 14th December 2019
We have decided to leave a day early from Sant Just Desvern. The fact that the internet isn't working, and the parking situation and that we feel that there is not much else of interest here, and we would only be leaving one day early.
We have decided to head for a place called Argeles- sur- Mer, which is on the way to our next longer stay. It is in France, just over the border, and is a distance of 204 kms, or 2 hrs and 10 mins. It was great seeing the mountains covered in snow.
We have booked a motel, and arrive at the motel, just after 2. The motel is basic, but is clean, and has a bed in it, that is all we need. In the evening, we take a drive around the town, and find a nice little place, that seems to be very festive. We find a place to park the car, and wander through this little town, that has many Christmas lights and decorations around. It is lovely seeing all the pretty lights and the effort gone into decorating the town. Some of the deocrations are so simple, and some are more complicated. Most of the businesses have a window display and the town center is a mass of lights and displays. Of course I have to get the madatory Christmas pics with displays, and the lights above the streets.
We find somewhere to have something to eat, and we have done it agian. We are a bit early for some of the resturants, however, we get a meal, and a beverage, and all is good. After we have eaten we head back to the room and day is done.
Sunday, 15th December 2019
We leave the hotel after we have some breakfast, for our next league of our journey. This is the start of our Christmas stay in the snow, and is somewhat exciting. The drive from Argeles - sur-Mer to Vernet les Bains is a 1 hrs 10 min drive, or 77 kms.
We stop at a place called Perpignan, and get some lunch, and to recharge our French sim cards. The staff in the Orange shop were busy, and of course there was the language barrier, but with some persistance from Bob and some translating, we get our recharging done. We make our way again, and Bob has contacted the host of our next place a few times over the last few days just asking about Christmas day and if she had any suggestions for the day. Again, he contacts her, regarding getting in early, and she has no problems with that, as we can check in by ourselves, and they live in the States.
We arrive in Vernet les Bains, in the early afternoon, and again, we are challenged with finding the place of where we are going to stay for the next 3 weeks. We park the car, and get out and take a walk to see if we can find it, and of course we do. We walked right past it, when we were looking for it in another area. So we follow the check in procedure and get the keys and go up the stairs to our accommodation.
We return to the car, and decide to try and get a closer park, as it will be do difficult to carry the luggage and other goods we have from where the car is currently parked. Fortunately, we are able to get a closer park, and we start to unload the car, and ferry all the things upstairs. There is a balcony, and only one way in and out of the place, but that is common place with the accommodation we have been staying in.
While we were looking for our unit, we found the office of tourism, which we will go to tomorrow to get some local suggestions about what might be available on Christmas day.
Today we leave Segovia, headed for a place called Sant Just Desvern, a town, just on the outside of Barcelona. Our drive is a 702 kms or a 6hr and 15 mins, but we know we will take a little longer than that. We leave Segovia early, as it is a long day of driving. We share the driving, and after some time we find somewhere to have some breakfast. Where we stopped was different, in that the resturant was on top of the sevice station, and was quite nice. I am still amazed, that at any time of the day, one can purchase a wine or beer. Anyhow, after we have eaten, we continue on our journey, and arrive in town of Sant Just Desvern at 2.30pm. Along the way Bob has been trying to contact our host, to try and organise an earlier entry into her place, as we had organized a 5pm entry. But alas we have no luck, as we get no reply to Bobs message, so we decide to go to a shopping centre to fill in some time. The road system around here is a bit different, as there is trams running in the middle of the roads, so one can not just turn to the left or right at a corner. You either continue on to aroundabout, or as we soon found out, use the extra lane, which is specifcally designed for traffic to turn across the two lanes of traffic and tram lines, with traffic lights assisting, as we eventually found out. We get to a shopping centre, and park the car, and make our way inside the complex.
There are 3 floors to this shopping centre, with all manner of retailers and food places. We go to Starbucks, as we know they do a decent size coffee, and the coffee is usually good. After we have finished we wander around the centre, filling in time. Still no reponse from our host, so we decide to see if we can find the place, and this proves to be somewhat of a challenge. We follow the directions of the gps, and 3 times we go around the block, are unable to find the correct street. Eventually we do get it right, and try to find the nuber of our accommodation, and again, we draw a blank. From first impressions, parking looks like it is going to be somewhat of a challenge, and it is not until, we pull up and put the hazard lights on, I get out and take a walk to see if I can find the said number of the unit. I do, so now, the next thing is to find somewhere to park the car. We park at the top of the street, not sure if it is in an allowable spot, but we only intend to be there a short time. We talk a walk to explore what is around where we will be, and there is a Barber, so Bob makes an appointment for a hair cut tomorrow.
Our host has contacted us, and tells us that someone will be with us shortly, and we wait, and wait and wait. We are starting to get a bit iffy about this place. Eventually a woman comes and introduces herself to us, and she is not the person that our host has mentioined. But she has keys and we are keen to go inside. Anna, shows us about the place, and answers questions we have, then leaves.
The unit appears to be nice enough, but we have one flight of stairs to stuggle up with our luggage. a decision is made to try and bring the car closer to the door, and fortunately Bob is able to get a park that is close enough for us to manage the luggage and other goods we have. Once all this has been taken inside, we call it a day and relax.
Tuesday, 10th December 2019.
Bob has his hair appointment this moring, and comes back with a good hair cut. He found out about the buses that run into Barcelona, and what number it is that we need. Bob also mentions that the Barber was very much a perfectionist in cutting his hair, and that we was from India.
We go out a bit later to explore more of the area about us, and two doors down from the barber, is a nail place, and I mention that it would be nice to get my nails done for christmas, so, with again prodding from Bob, (he would call it encouraging ) and he said he would like me to do this as it would be his Christmas gift to me, I go inside to make some enquiries. Knowing full well, that there will be a language barrier, I am a little prepared with my phone for translation. Between the young lady and her phone and my phone, an appointment is made for the afternoon, at 5. Wow, I have come so far, when it comes to communicating with people now, even if they don't speak the english.
We continue our walk, and find a grocery shop, to get a couple of things, then head back to the unit.
5 pm comes, and I leave for my appointment, knowing this is going to be a quiet appointment. Josselyn ushers me to th chair, as we get started on doing my nails, both hands and feet. Josselyn, nows a little english, but not much, but more than i know Spanish. I ask her if i can have prints on my nails, as I have read the brochure I took earlier, and the thought of having some Christmas theme on my nails, would be nice. She shows me some pics on her phone of what I could have, and I make my choice. It is interesting sitting in the chair, listening to the other ladies chatting. There is one customer who speaks english, and Josselyn enlists her help to explain a couple of things to me. I am offered a cup of coffee before we start, and I am sure that she gets it from the bar that is next door.
After 2 hrs of getting my nails done, and my feet also, I am so happy with what has been achieved. I invite Josselyn to take pics, so she can dispaly what she is able to do on the shop website.
I go back to the unit, and tea has been cooked.
Wednesday, 11th December 2019.
Today, we are going into Barcelona by bus. By car, this is a 30 mins drive, a distance of 19.5 kms. Our plan is to go into Barcelona, and get the hop on hop off bus. We wait at the bus stop which is nice and close, and hop on board when it arrives. Paying for the trip can only be done with cash, as they don't have card facilities, and we don't have a travel card, that most of the other passengers have. We are giong to take this bus right into Barcelona, until it stops. This works out very well, as it stops at the University, and this is close to what seems to be the centre of the city. We take a moment to gather our bearings, and head of towards a shopping centre. Along the way, we ask a couple of guys working on the footpath where the hop oh hop off bus stop was. We were given directions, and headed off. We found a Star Bucks, and decided to have a cuppa and a bite to eat before we got on the bus.
We find the stop for the sightseeing bus, and purchase tickets, and go upstairs to take in the sights. The tour is about an hour and a half, and we saw a lot of interesting buildings, and structures. The style of some of the buildings was unusal, and some where very elaborate. Barcelona is a city of 1.6 million people, and is the capital of the community of Catalona. It is a very beautiful city, and I enjoyed the views from the bus. We were going to do the second tour, but decided, it would be best if we headed back to Sant Just Desvern, as we were not sure how long it would take to get back on the city bus.
We head back to the bus stop, and it starts to rain a little, but we don't get to wet, and we seemed to have timed it very well, as we don't have to wait to long for the bus. We get onboard, and decide that we will get of a couple of stops before where we need to, as there is a Aldi, we can get some groceries at. So this is what we do, and when we have finished shopping, we get the bus and continue on to our destination. It worked very well, and the bonus is that we didn't have to move the car. We have sort of been very reluctant to move the car, as finding a park when we return could be a real challenge.
Thursday, 12th December 2019
Spent the day not doing very much.
We are having challenges with the Internet at the unit, and have messaged the host to see if there is a problem.
We did go for a drive to the shopping centre, to find the Orange shop, to get some credit for the wifi box we have.
Friday, 13th December 2019
Today, we are going back into Barcelona, as Bob has made a chiropractor appointment for his back. We again catch the bus into the city, which fills up the closer we get to the city.
We disembark at the same place as on Wednesday, and head of to find the Chiropractor. Walking down the streets following the directions of the gps, we come across a street full of christmas stalls. We will come back to and explore this after Bob has fiinished with the Chiro. There are so many little narrow streets, and the shops just keep popping up in unexpected places. We find the chiro, and go upstairs to the practice, they are an English couple and have been in Barcelona 6 years.
After we are done there, we eventually go back to the christmas markets. It is remarkable, as there is so many stalls all dedicated to Christmas and ornaments and decorations. Many stalls selling miniture figurines and nativity scenes, AND Christmas trees. It was a joy to see, for someone like me coming from Australia, and seeing all of these things.
We wander down some more streets, and eventually we go back to the bus stop to head back ot Sant Just Desvern. Again, the bus fills. We get off at our designated stop, and go back to the unit. There is still no internet despite our host saying that someone was coming to look at it. Our host seems to keep late hours as she sends emails at midnight.
Saturday, 14th December 2019
We have decided to leave a day early from Sant Just Desvern. The fact that the internet isn't working, and the parking situation and that we feel that there is not much else of interest here, and we would only be leaving one day early.
We have decided to head for a place called Argeles- sur- Mer, which is on the way to our next longer stay. It is in France, just over the border, and is a distance of 204 kms, or 2 hrs and 10 mins. It was great seeing the mountains covered in snow.
We have booked a motel, and arrive at the motel, just after 2. The motel is basic, but is clean, and has a bed in it, that is all we need. In the evening, we take a drive around the town, and find a nice little place, that seems to be very festive. We find a place to park the car, and wander through this little town, that has many Christmas lights and decorations around. It is lovely seeing all the pretty lights and the effort gone into decorating the town. Some of the deocrations are so simple, and some are more complicated. Most of the businesses have a window display and the town center is a mass of lights and displays. Of course I have to get the madatory Christmas pics with displays, and the lights above the streets.
We find somewhere to have something to eat, and we have done it agian. We are a bit early for some of the resturants, however, we get a meal, and a beverage, and all is good. After we have eaten we head back to the room and day is done.
Sunday, 15th December 2019
We leave the hotel after we have some breakfast, for our next league of our journey. This is the start of our Christmas stay in the snow, and is somewhat exciting. The drive from Argeles - sur-Mer to Vernet les Bains is a 1 hrs 10 min drive, or 77 kms.
We stop at a place called Perpignan, and get some lunch, and to recharge our French sim cards. The staff in the Orange shop were busy, and of course there was the language barrier, but with some persistance from Bob and some translating, we get our recharging done. We make our way again, and Bob has contacted the host of our next place a few times over the last few days just asking about Christmas day and if she had any suggestions for the day. Again, he contacts her, regarding getting in early, and she has no problems with that, as we can check in by ourselves, and they live in the States.
We arrive in Vernet les Bains, in the early afternoon, and again, we are challenged with finding the place of where we are going to stay for the next 3 weeks. We park the car, and get out and take a walk to see if we can find it, and of course we do. We walked right past it, when we were looking for it in another area. So we follow the check in procedure and get the keys and go up the stairs to our accommodation.
We return to the car, and decide to try and get a closer park, as it will be do difficult to carry the luggage and other goods we have from where the car is currently parked. Fortunately, we are able to get a closer park, and we start to unload the car, and ferry all the things upstairs. There is a balcony, and only one way in and out of the place, but that is common place with the accommodation we have been staying in.
While we were looking for our unit, we found the office of tourism, which we will go to tomorrow to get some local suggestions about what might be available on Christmas day.
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