Hotel Paris Londres Escaldes-Engordany

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 ...

... that I am.<br><br> After I met up with my host and had some lunch, I decided to go for a walk and take some pictures. Andorra is certainly a beautiful place. The valleys are small enough that you can see all the details in the hills, and this makes for great scenery. It also makes for great walking, as you don't have to go too far before you are at the top of a huge hill and have a great view all around you.<br><br> The city has a good bit of old ...

... 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>

... for them to eat. So this requires a lot of hay on hand. <br><br>Justin ordered 34 large round bails to be delivered and we set about to preparing the hay loft. Then as they began to arrive it was a team effort to roll them into the barn and into place. The hardest part was rolling the bails up on top of one another to get as many into the barn as possible. <br><br>Haunted Nights<br><br>When we first arrived at Las Laous, we chose to ...

... refrigeration for the meat. With wind-chill, that was absolutely frigid for 45 minutes! And with the winding mountain roads, the weight of the meat kept shifting into me with the occasional trotter popping out from under the covering. <br><br> Watching Austin process the carcase into usable joints of meat was truly a work of art. His knife flew, knowing exactly where to cut and slicing with one quick motion. Any small ...

... person above is literally in your hands. <br><br> All in all it was a fabulous day! Did 4 climbs in total ranging through the 5a, 5b, and 5c levels of difficulty. I wanted to try a 5, but the day went by too quickly. There was one climb that Brain was sweating out for quite awhile, but in the end his determination conquered it. Rock climbing is the perfect blend of challenge and rest in beautiful mountain settings. I may be hooked&#8230;<br><br>

... 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 ...

... we paused to look at some other markings that had been left: a series of lines and dots. Perhaps a primitive form of communication, these too have been found in many caves throughout the area. Unfortunately, they have yet to be deciphered, so as yet we do not know what they were saying with this writing and other images. <br><br>But also on the walls are some writings that are clearly distinguishable to the modern eye. A more recent addition ...

On the hunt for wild mushrooms. A classic French activity is to scour the woods after an autumn night of rain and harvest he bounty of fungi that appears almost as if by magic. Quite the site to see an old couple emerging from the woods heavy-laden with overflowing bags of mushrooms from their top-secret harvesting grounds. <br> <br>On the property is an area they call the &#8216;mushroom bank&#8217;. Walking ever so slowly back and forth, stopping ...