Hotel Marco Polo La Massana

... major city in the world and streets would be packed with rush-hour throngs, but not here. Spaniards like to stay up late and get up late, but what does it mean when the sun does the same? Not much I reckon except that Spaniards have the satisfaction of feeling like late-night sophisticates. Jo jum…

They DO have an Arc de Triomf close by and that gaudy temple to La Sagrada Familia not far from the bus station either. You ...

we've had some problems getting to this stage, and so haven't been able to keep the blog up to date. So far everything is now working out fine, and we have arrived on site to be able to set up in the light, and the campsite has electricity, so we are ok to get written up today. Hopefully ...

WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID: The Col de Port (1249m) is a beautiful climb and has a great descent to Tarascon.

Unfortunately the rest of the days route is on fairly major roads filed with cars heading for
Andorra to do some tax free shopping. Soaking your feet in thermal waters in Ax is highly
recommended, before taking on the seemingly endless Col de Puymorens (1915m).

We are now ...

... want me to take up a table intended for four people, but it didn't look like many people were flocking to the restaurant. Nothing else around seemed appealing, otherwise I would've walked off, but was tired of dealing with incompetent/rude waitstaff, and just waited to eat and be done with it.

The place didn't look all that great, but the pizza smelled heavenly, reminding me of a night in the Canary Islands (see blog entry entitled "Beautiful ...

It seems prayer has become a part of my life again. It really never left but when you are faced with hotels still closed for the season, chambres d'hotes not easy to find and nasty cold wet weather then, well, it is good to have prayer in your life. Our journey from St. Palais towards Lourdes found us happily ensconced in a hotel (with wifi) mid way along the route in Oloron Ste. Marie. It was so wet and Shane was so tired from driving that we fell ...

Probably like you, I had no idea there was a country located between France and Spain. Well, turns out there is - a beautiful little country located in the middle of the Pyrenees mountains called Andorra. Though the smallest European country, it has the second longest life expectancy of any country in the world and is renowned for ...

... car parks and dodgy looking hotels (I'm not personally). Eventually the bus pulled into the bus station at Andorra La Vella (the "capital" of this tiny principality) and I got off. After crossing a truly massive car park, probably their masterpiece, I got to a tourist information centre and acquired a map. "Are there any good places to try a variety of Andorran beer" I asked the bloke "We don't make beer in Andorra. Are you Danish?" "No, English" "Ok" I waited for a few ...

... it is cheating slightly we pay the 40 Euros - slightly more than the others will be spending - and catch the train to Perpignan. On the train we decide this must have been a blessing in disguise as we read in Andre's book that Salvidor Dali actually said that Perpignan train station was the centre of the universe - what a privilege to visit such a place. When we disembark the train we find the others walking into the train station to meet us...........

Lisa and I leave the bus in sub zero temperatures hoping we are able to find the next host's house quickly. Alas, nothing is ever simple when im involved. We find the sign that will lead us to the campsite which is supposedly near by, no luck, we end up miles away. A quick text to Neil and he kindly agrees to come and find us, no effort on our part required, perfect. We return to the house to find the host also has two kids, shy at first they soon ...

... the highest peaks. It was certainly cold enough up there. Then we descended into Andorra and there the nightmare driving begins. Nightmare being an understatement. The drivers in Andorra drive as if they are possessed. They are so rude and aggressive not only to a couple in their old Mondeo with the classic tale tale GB sticker on the back but to their own kind also. From the moment we crossed the border it was ...