Almost the end of the Pyrenees

Saturday 3rd June 

Market day. Cheese, ham, baguette, strawberries, cherries, paella, ratatouille and pork ribs. We enjoyed just wandering baround the market checking out all our options. I could happily shop at these little markets every day. Lots of people just standing around chatting and enjoying the nice weather. Shopping done and it was time to just sit outside in the village square in the sun and enjoy a coffee and cake.

Waiting patiently with dad outside the butcher.

The French are so patient - they just form an orderly queue and wait their turn.

Enjoyed watching these two playing with a ball.

The newsagent cat quite comfortable on the counter.

Part of the town of Ax les Thermes with the cable car
heading up the mountain to the ski fields.

Lunchtime came and the cloud moved in and the rain came. We decided on a short drive to check out the the town surrounds. We drove up to the nearby ski fields, only 10k. Very steep road and very twisty. Cyclists again out on the road, in spite of the rain. Driving along and there was some lightning and huge claps of thunder that made us jump. They have some doozy thunderstorms here. We were hoping to get a photo of the town from higher up but every possible viewpoint was blocked with trees.

But these ski resorts are amazing - dead quiet at the moment but can only imagine what it would be like in snow season. There is a cable car from the town up to the resort. I'm imagining that in winter the cable car would be like a shuttle bus service as the roads would be closed.

Sunday 4th June 

Another day to explore the area. We took a drive up over another mountain pass. What fabulous scenery at the top - 2001m. Then looking down the other side, the road was amazing. Switchback after switchback and much narrower than the road up. But the roads were in great condition and everyone was driving very responsibly. 

Check out the road down - really only one lane wide.

Spotted these castle ruins along the way.

Pretty impressive.

This is what Dora dished up for us.

We reached the town at the other end (Querigut) where we'd hoped to find coffee, but nothing open - it is Sunday. Two choices of way home - either loop north, or loop south. The south loop was longer and would take us almost down to Andorra so we opted for the northern loop, first stop Axat for lunch. Gee we put a lot of faith in Dora - on the way to Axat we came across a route barree so took the deviation. Without fuss Dora found the way onward, and it was quite a long detour. Almost into Axat and the road took us through a gorge with rock carved away for the road. Only one place open in Axat for lunch and it was lovely to sit outside on the terrace in the sun. Until the cloud moved in around 1.30 and down came the rain. We were lucky as we were seated under their awnings but their was a major shuffling of tables to get everyone seated under cover. 

This is a tourist train that runs from near Perpignan (Rivesaltes) over towards the coast, to Axat where we had lunch. There were quite a few people arrived at the restaurant who had come off the train. 

Homeward via a town called Belcaire. We didn't see a road on the map but just asked Dora to go home via Belcaire and she obliged. The road heading towards this town was gently meandering, wide enough, following along a river valley. At one point we found ourselves again driving through a road carved out of the rock. Height restriction 3.5mt so we were unlikely to meet any buses or trucks. Then onto a more major road that went up and over the Col d'Chioula (1400m) and only a few k from Ax les Thermes.

Finally a view of Ax les Thermes - no trees, no rain.

Rob and Odette enjoyed soaking their feet in the thermal pools.
I'm a bit wary of this because I'm allergic to sulphur
and a visit to Rotarua had my legs burning and itching for hours.

A visit to the thermal pools.

Duty free Andorra!

Friday 2nd June

Decided on a drive to Andorra today - main reason is for fuel. I've had a few issues with my debit card being accepted at some 'automatic' fuel places, some of the places attached to supermarkets, so we were looking for either a manned service station, or a branded servo. Visited the tourist information centre and it was either 30k back north where we had come from, or Andorra (50k). Big selling point was fuel is 50c litre cheaper in Andorra than here in France. 

It was a nice drive on a good road; all up, up, up until we crossed into Andorra. There's actually a border crossing where we all had to slow and pass through the 'gates', and though we didn't have to stop and have passports checked, there was a man taking photos of all the cars. The road through Andorra is a great road, wide corners, plenty of room for trucks, buses and all other manner of vehicles.

Not a lot of snow at this time of year, but to see the vastness of the ski fields is amazing to us skiing ignoramuses. Seemingly thousands of ski lodges, hundreds of ski slopes. What must this be like in winter? 

Looking across to the range of peaks - at least 4 over 2700m.

Hard work on the way up -

- and cruising down at a much greater rate of knots!

Just over the border is the first major town in Andorra. So many shops. And just out of town the first of half a dozen petrol stations within about 200m. There were a lot more as we continued on. We headed all the way in to Andorra la Vella (the capital) but it's just a huge city and not our thing. 

Headed back to France via lunch at a restaurant along the way (which was beautiful). Decided to stop for a supermarket shop before leaving Andorra. What an eye opener. Couldn't get the food we wanted (microwave meals) but could buy all manner of alcohol and cigarettes at really cheap prices. I splurged on a bottle of Bailey's and Rob bought a bottle of Spanish wine but we didn't go nuts. Lots of French cars around and we watched a few people wheeling huge trolleys of alcohol out to their cars. Are they stocking up on grog, and filling their cars with petrol, ready for a big weekend?

For a price comparison, divide by 2 and multiply by 3. So around $20.

This was our haul from Andorra. I'll enjoy a Bailey's with my dinner. 

Some of the mountains in Andorra.

2 litres of vodka! Around $15.

Back to France and we visited the supermarket where we could buy food!

No snow for skiing - thermal baths instead.

Wednesday 31st May

A quiet day spent in and around Foix. We had a late start so it was really just a trip first to Foix where we had lunch, and then a short wander around the town. Found one patchwork/wool shop but not a lot to browse. Kept my money I  my pocket. 

While sitting at lunch we noticed on our table mats that we needed to book for the Riviere Souterraine de Labouiche - an underground river. We visited the tourist information centre - they have been so helpful everywhere in France where we have used them - and they rang and booked for us. I have tried ringing some places for bookings but when they answer in French and say they don't understand English, then I am stumped. Rob did the underground river by himself as I didn't think my knees would stand up to the 200 steps down, and then the long trek back uphill after the cruise. 

Your dog of the day. Whippet.

Love all these old houses.

A few photos of the underground river.

Where the river enters the underground cavern.

Another stream joins the river.

From there we headed to the church in Les Issards where there are beautiful frescoes- closed!

The welcoming committee at Les Issards. He had a lot of friends in town.
Wish he'd had the keys to the church.

Back to base and ready for dinner. 

Thursday 1st June

Moving on day today. We decided to have another go at the frescoes on the way - closed again! Give up.

Decided then to visit the town of Mirepoix which we'd skirted around the edges of a couple of days ago. What a great town. It had a lovely 'heart' with a small village square surrounded by covered walkways with lots of shops and eating places. It was a real surprise because we had steered clear of it a few days before because there was so much traffic and obviously something on in town. We sat in one of the coffee places and enjoyed a cappuccino while watching the passing parade.

Some lovely wall paintings around town.

I don't know that the photos give a really good look at the construction of these covered walkways. Huge crooked beams and leaning posts. Real character.

One of the many business shingles in town.

He really wanted to go and play with his friends.

These people were a group of painters painting scenes of the town.

The church in Mirepoix - first started in 13th century but many incarnations since.

Travelling on to our next stop of Ax les Thermes we took the scenic route over a couple of mountain passes. First up though was a road closed problem. Dora found a way around it but it was definitely the scenic route - and the road less travelled. We did get back on track but think we added about 20k to the trip. We saw a few cyclists on the roads but fortunately none speeding downhill towards us. From the writing on the road we assume that these roads had been used before in the TdeF though they'd be needing a lot of maintenance if they were to be used again. 

One problem when you get on to some of the lesser roads is finding a place to eat. Some of the really small villages don't even have a boulangerie/patisserie. What do these people do for their daily baguette? We did find a place to eat and the meal was lovely - though the long wait sort of spoiled it.

We are now staying in an apartment in the town of Ax les Thermes. This town is quite small and very quiet at the moment. It has a number of thermal spas and a few ski runs right up out of the village. I'm sure winter would tell a different story.