Catalonia, the Pyrenees and black radish
May 12-13
The Tomtom has failed us and so it was on a Saturday that we found
there is no real person available online or on the phone to talk to about what
to do when technology collapses. Luckily
we have the old Tomtom with its seven country maps of Europe which we can change
at each border. The maps are old, but
it’s a trusty back up when the new one fails us. Despite this we wended our way along the back
roads to the NE area known as Catalonia of which Barcelona is the capital. The area is autonomous and has its own
flag. The coastal highways are scenic
and popular, so our aim was to hug the coast and avoid the motorways.
Salvador Dali must have been a bit of a character. He was born in nearby Figueres, loved the
seaside village of Port Lligat and built a house by the sea. His beloved wife Gala wanted a house in the
country so Dali bought a special house, the Castle of Pubol, for her in
1969. It was here that she lived her
life to the full in queenly splendor.
Dali had to make appointments in advance. Gala would sit on the blue throne to receive
him.
All the coastal towns are scenic…Cadaques, Port Lligat, Cerbere and
over the border in France there are places such as Banyules sur Mer, where the
Roussillon grapes are grown, and Coulioure.
We found a camping ground for the night, its owners full of
enthusiasm. Our rusty French is steadily
improving as we exchanged basic conversation en francais.
Now for the Pyrenees…..such beauty next to the coast. A melting pot of history, medieval castles,
churches, ski fields, solar technology and magnificent views. We left the coast bathed in sunshine and wended
our way up towards Andorra, but as we climbed higher we were immersed in a fog
that would make a Londoner cringe. The
road was narrow, visibility was really poor and there was no point
continuing. Turning around was
interesting and scary and we retreated down the twisted roads of the Pyrenees
towards Peret.
On the way we took in the sights of fortresses, hideaways for Resistance
fighters, early examples of solar-generator structures and the track of the
“Yellow Train”. Oh…the reference to the black radish…this odd specimen was found
at a fermier (farm-shop) and looked like a must-have secret ingredient for an Iron
Chef episode...we’ve never seen anything like it before and the farmer’s wife
had no way to explain what it was and what to do with it – it’ll probably end
up as mash!
