Today was another grueling day driving along the eastern side of the Pyrenees mountains from the pelgrims city of Lourdes to the Salvador Dalí city of Figueres. It was a long ride by any measure; nearly 6 hours and some 450 kilomètres or so.. very slow road through sleepy villages of southwestern France. It was very picturesque nonetheless ... we crossed the city of Foix and many others but stayed on the outskirts of Toulouse and Perpignan as they are just too big to cross quickly so we just avoided them altogether... as we drove south and east the terrain was changing progressively until it became totally Mediterranean; grape wines, olive trees and very short vegetation.. the mountains also became rockier closer to the Med. We stop at a bar and coffee shop in the middle of nowhere, literally! We needed a coffee so bad that we just pulled over at the first one we found. To our surprise there were not many such caffees on the way, especially in these tiny towns. The owner of the bar/cafe was a British lady who seems to live in the upstairs part of the place. We ordered our two espressos and enjoyed them while we rested from all the traffic and the driving... we also ate some peaches we bought the day before on the road as well... after the extended we decided to move on.... entering Spain was uneventful the same way entering France and Andorra were... no checks at the border crossings just slowing down of the traffic and off course if someone buys lots of marchandise ... I love the borderless Europe, I hope it never goes back to the days where you have to go through border checks everywhere...
We are staying in Figueres to see Salvador Dalí’s museum tomorrow, that is all it is... after that we are off to Costa Brava and Cadaqués for some beach time ...
Border crossing from France to Spain
Palm trees along streets in Spain
Bright Mediterranean buildings
Wine trees everywhere near Perpignan. This is wine country!
Mountains became rocky closer to the Med
The Grand Canyons of the Pyrenees
Beautiful village in the Pyrenees
Rabah and his Audi
Beautiful road lined with big trees
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