Alba Aparthotel Soldeu

Today was my last full day in Andorra. There wasn't a huge amount to do. It wasn't snowing, but the wind was so fierce that it seemed like a sand storm made out of snow. I had a great time watching a group of cows grazing in snow up to their stomachs. Other than that I had a walk around town and spent about an hour at a ...

... only thing in sight, a bus in a gravel lot. It then struck me why there were only 2 buses that left from the &#8220;station&#8221; per day, there are only 2 trains per day. So, half relieved and half amused, I loaded my things onto the bus, paid the short stout Spaniard my fare and saddled up for the ride to Canillo.<br><br> At first I could only laugh to myself as I got on the bus watching the tiny but wide driver bounce back and forth to blaring salsa ...

... village et quand on est arrivé, il avait le marché du matin. On a acheter du vin à environ 1 euro le litre (vin de pays) et du bon fromage bleu pour le déjeuner.<br><br>On avait pas le droit de prendre des photos dans la grotte pour pas faire de la pollution lumineuse (il y avait déja des ptites pousses de plante pres des lanternes...ils veulent pas en rajouté non plus). Aussi il faut pas déranger les chauve souris...pauve cocottes...<br>

... What it does mean, we're not quite sure of yet. Still dealing with the shock and going over a few different options. All while kicking myself for not realizing this sooner. Only one thing is for certain - I'm not going to let this spoil our trip, and we're going to have to get cycling! (o.k., two things). <br>

... the old hay loft our bedroom. A room with 3 walls and a gaping window opening where the stars and moon shine through. Having spent so many nights outside in a tent we didn&#8217;t mind at all. Bundled up in our sleeping bags we were plenty warm. <br> <br>Every evening is was a treat to tiptoe through the dark along the path, sidestepping the colorful salamanders to get to bed where the owls call to one another and sing us to sleep. In addition ...

... by us on cast away sausage meat revealed how skilled he really was. Spare rib roasts, rolled belly, chump steaks, rack of ribs, pork chops, and hams were all neatly packaged and labeled. Bones went into the stock pile, fat went into the rendering pile, and other bits went into the sausage pile. <br><br>After all the good cuts were stored away in the freezer it came time to process the rest of it. Brian started up the meat ...

Time to attempt something I&#8217;ve always been itching to do: rock climbing. And not the kind done on indoor walls with padded flooring. Real out-in-the-open, unforgiving stone ROCK CLIMBING!<br><br>Out in the Pyrenees in the Ariege region with it&#8217;s beautiful slopes lie a multitude of rock faces covered in climbers pretending to be Spiderman. <br><br>Even though it&#8217;s something I&#8217;ve always wanted to try, there were a few ...

... and roads scattered everywhere - if you can find them. Driving is a very different than walking. In great contrast to the towns below, the wind howled and ice formed on the road. On foot the walk was extremely harsh and I could see why there were shephards and hikers huts dotted all around for shelter. You can see why farmers train their animals instead of caring for them themselves ...

... returned to year after year to seek shelter from the harsh weather outside. When inside the cave, they would dwell fairly close to the entrance to take advantage of the natural light, but these paintings are deep in the cavern - some almost 3 km in!<br><br>So why did these people venture all that way with only little lamps and torches to paint pictures? Who knows! Walls lined with images of bison, ibex and horses (which are found in caves all ...

... own, it was the Tour vehicles leaving Foix, the rider's buses, team cars, support vehicles for Silence Lotto! It was so cool! Mum/Des Pulled out the flag for a quick wave after Joel excitedly told us Cadel would probably be on the bus. They totally filled up the Peage station it was very exciting. We made it back in time to catch the highlights but we missed what happened with Cadel hitting a journalist. So we will try and translate a newspaper article tomorrow.