Paris Encamp

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 ...

... transformed. Snow everywhere. I went for an early morning walk to take some pictures of the same places I did before to show the huge difference. It's been snowing all day and even now as I write this I'm starting at snowflakes the size of tissues hit the window. I wouldn't be surprised if it was up to my waist tomorrow.

There's not too much to do with it snowing like this (ironically enough the ski resorts don't even open till the end of ...

Le plan original était d'aller à Cahors visiter un vignoble, mais puisque l'on n'a pas de voiture (considérant que les vignes sont dans des champs et non au centre ville) on n'a pas pu y aller. J'ai trouvé sur internet qu'il y avait plusieurs grotte dans le sud donc on en a choisi une pas trop trop loin et on a acheté nos billet de train.

Tarascon sur Ariege est à environ 1h15 de toulouse donc ca se fait quand meme bien. C'est un ...

... 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).

... Piggies!

The wiener pigs are incredibly cute. They see you coming with the food and follow along with all sorts of little grunts and squeals. If you stop, they stop. If you make a sound, they make a sound. But as with all pigs, they love to eat.

Feeding the wieners entails getting into the enclosure, walking along, and then pouring the feed in a nice long line to they can all eat without too much shoving and fighting. But all ...

... and make 2.5kg of minced pork while I pureed the liver to make pate. Fat was rendered down to a beautiful smooth lard, and sausage meat was seasoned. It was a shame that we had no sausage skins to stuff, but the meat is still great to use in patties, balls or loaves.

For a special treat for working through all the meat, Justin saved a special piece for Brian and I: the brain. Fried up with sage and butter and ...

... and hand hold. Until you get to the point where you can’t seem to make a move at all. Limbs getting sore and there’s no place to set your foot, and no where to grab hold with your hand. Every muscle in your body tense trying to keep you in the place where you re. Mind solely focused on the task at hand. Moving slightly, feeling around, using divets in the rock that are barely visible to support your weight. Ever upward straining ...

... 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 ...

... for instructions from our guide. Far enough now, and the group waits in solid silence for what comes next.

Perfectly positioned, the guide turns on a single light and we’re blinded with a whole wall full of images! Not just simple line drawing either - they are quite detailed. Many make use of the natural contours of the rock and the shadows that it creates to add life and depth to the images. A truly remarkable sight as image after ...

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.

On the property is an area they call the ‘mushroom bank’. Walking ever so slowly back and forth, stopping ...