Hotel Ski Plaza Canillo

... of smokers. At least we’re definitively out of the Commie-toilet-paper-zone now. I was starting to miss pre-Nafta Mexican recycled newspaper, all cut up into nice little rectangles.

The ride up to Andorra is nice, finally arriving up in a high mountain ****** that somehow managed to remain independent all these years. As I suspected, though, they lean heavily toward Spain, and you hear Castellano frequently, though ...

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 ...

... hopefully next year ...), and I'd only misplace or forget about them if I kept them.

The bus was quite empty, with only maybe 10 people on board - I would soon find out why this was the case ... I arrived in Andorra, and stopped at the TI to check on connections to France - only a very early (around 6 AM) or late afternoon bus was available to the nearest French town. ******! Luckily, I am going to Toulouse tomorrow, and there is actually a bus ...

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 ...

... The pizza wasn't too bad, but I accidentally ordered a non-alcoholic San Miguel to go with it and didn't realise until I'd taken the first swig. Poisoned. I then wandered up to an internet café to see if I could find any information about drinking in Andorra- I had to have a beer there on principle alone. Wikitravel didn't list any drinking and European Irish (basically a website listing Irish pubs) basically said all the nightlife was in the mountains. This was backed up by a ...

... and start the ascent. At first it's decent climbing but by the end it's a hands and feet job, more like scrambling stuck to the side of the hill. However it was well worth it when we got there as it was getting close to sunset and the views were ace, not a cloud in the sky. Ironically we find a much easier way to descend but I guess the ascent was half the fun. After another chilled evening we awake early and say our goodbyes as Luis goes to work and the ...

... couch still snoring. I find the kids can speak basic English so help teach them how to count and colours in English. They are bright kids. Today is the best day. Snow day, and what better way to start a snow day than a trip sledging. I keenly invite the kids to come along too and we find ourselves climbing a 100 metre long hill just behind their house. Perfect. I step forward first offering to take one of the kids down with me. A sledge with a ...

... the one we reserved. It's probably a good thing with all our bags and stuff. I took pictures of the scrapes and dents already on the car and then we said "Adios!" to Barcelona. We were all very happy about that. With maps in hand, we headed toward the Pyrenees. The landscape between Barcelona and the mountains were quite boring: dry, flat, not very pretty. I did get a beautiful picture of Mount Serrat (I hope I spelled that right). When we finally started ...