Big Trip, Part IV - Andorra

On Sunday, we made the 6 hour drive from Benitachell, Spain to our hotel in Sant Julia De Lucia in Andorra. I don't remember ever hearing about the country of Andorra before, but I stumbled upon it in researching our trip to Spain. As it is in the Pyrenees (between France and Spain) we decided it would be fun to go there.

I'm guessing the entire country of Andorra is smaller than the state of Rhode Island. From our hotel near the southern border with Spain, it took us about 45 minutes (with stops) to travel north and east to the border with France. It is a rugged country with most cities in the river valley, and some cities/towns higher up in the mountains along with some ski resorts. I wish I'd have had the time to get in some skiing . . .

This first photo is of Catherine, Ian, and Leah at a tiny park in Sant Julia De Lucia. It was about a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel. The mountain just to the camera left was covered in snow, but I couldn't angle myself to capture it.

A simple black and white version of the Andorran Pyrenees. This was just outside of a tunnel leading to the city of Pas de las Casa, and not too far from there the French Border. There is a ski resort very nearby, and loads of folks were taking the opportunity to give it a go.

Later that day, after crossing into France, we were making our way out of the Pyrenee "foothills". We seriously drove nearly continuously downhill for well over an hour and a half with some grades noted at 10% and 20% (check those brakes!). The only non-downhills were in small portions of some villages we passed through. This photo below is of the road we traveled, you can clearly see the twists and turns. It was also the 20% grade; good fun!

We got home literally just in time for Leah's dance recital. We pulled up to the house for Catherine to take Leah upstairs and get changed and then get to the recital place JUST in time to start. Thankfully they were running a little bit late. I snagged this photo at the end of one of Leah's routines. She did so well, and of course was the prettiest little girl there. Not that I'm biased . . .

Part of the after-dance routine is getting "dusted" with "fairy-powder". All the girls love the glitter. And there is also the candy treats. Leah chose Lifesavers, and obviously enjoyed them as seen below.

That concludes our French/Spanish/Andorran adventure! Time to get back to life as normal here in Germany. We are going to miss the sun and gorgeous weather we were having in Spain - but now I'm hoping for some snow!

The posts will slow down a bit as we settle into our normal routine - though we are planning some more weekend trips coming up. So look for some photos from those. Cheers!

Marc

Big Trip, Part IIIe - Spain

Today we took our trip down into Alicante - which is probably the biggest city in this region. Before we left though, I got up early and took a drive over to the Cap d'Or hillside for some sunrise photos. Ian and I had tried to find them yesterday, but we had no luck - there was one sign in the city of Moraira and after too many false turns and dead ends we called it quits. Another big thanks to GoogleEarth to sort that out and the next day I was out there. I was kind of glad that Ian and I didn't make it the day before, as the trail was rough in places and at a couple of points was very close to a very long drop onto some rocks and the sea.

Anyways, Cap d'Or is the hillside with an old watchtower on it. Apparently from the 1500's or so, used to protect the local populace from the Berber pirates. This first shot is a view of some cliffs from the walk up to the place, it is looking back towards the villa.

I don't often get in front of the camera, but thought I'd give it another go.

We had a nice time in Alicante. We took a walk on the beach - the sun felt so good, the sand so soft, it would have been nice to take a swim. We had tapas at a little cafe and walked around the old city. From there we headed uphill to the first of two castles that overlook Alicante. This first shot is from Castillo de Santa Barbara, which is the (much) nicer of the two in my opinion. Ian and Leah enjoyed crawling up stairs and along walls with me. Here they are on a little stairway.

There were canons all over the place, which Ian just loved. This one is from the very tippy top of the castle, which had great views of the entire city of Alicante.

That's it for our trip to Spain. We start our way home tomorrow morning. We will head north to the country of Andorra and spend the night there. Be honest, have you ever heard of Andorra? I know I hadn't. Do a quick google search and learn something new :) After that it is back to Beaune, France. Then home.

Cheers!

Marc

Big Trip, Part IIId - Spain (Benitachell)

We ended up staying around the villa again today, since Catherine was feeling a bit under the weather. We just adjusted our original plan to go to Alicante on Friday and pushed it back to Saturday. So it was a relaxing day around the villa.

I took Ian and Leah out for a walk around the neighborhood for a little bit of exercise. And we followed that up with some swimming in the pool.

That evening, Catherine let me go back to a place I wanted to photograph when we passed it back on our first trip from the villa (to Denia). Thank goodness for the GPS to mark the church (the road passed right in front of it) and for GoogleEarth to look up a good place to photograph from! I got there with only a couple of minutes of good light to shoot in. I was counting on more, but the surrounding mountains had other plans for me. I still had fun, even with only a couple of minutes worth of shooting.

Next posting will be shots from Alicante. Cheers!

Marc

Big Trip, Part IIIc - Spain

We decided to stick around the villa today and explore the local beaches. It is about a 5 minute drive, with a stop for a look out over the beach right before the final hill down. We stopped and I took this photo of Catherine. I'll do some more processing to it later to help bring out the area of sunlight on the water just over her head to camera right. It started out slightly overcast in the morning, but became a warm, clear day.

Like I said, the sun came out and lit up the water. Too bad the air temperature was in the 60's as I might have braved the water otherwise and taken a dip in the Mediterranean. I didn't mess with saturation in the photo below, that is the true color of the water at our beach.

In the afternoon, Catherine and the kids went for a swim while I went out hiking and climbing. There were some tricky spots that neither Catherine nor the kids could have climbed (up or down). At three points, the "trail" went over a cliff and required a rope to get down - so all those rope climbs in Iraq really paid off! None of the cliffs were terribly high - maybe 15 feet at the tallest, but still a fun climb for a novice.

The trail over the beach where the above shot was taken twists around the mountain and exposes several trees over the Mediterranean, suspended over a very long drop. I processed this first shot in black and white for a different feel. I'm not sure I like it, but it is nice enough.

And this is a different tree on a different hillside. Actually directly above the parking lot for the beach. I left it in color because the blue/aqua color really pops in this one.

We are going to stick around the villa again today and plan on touring Alicante on Saturday. Catherine's great-grandfather came from Alicante, so it will be interesting to see where part of her family comes from.

Cheers!

Marc

Big Trip, Part IIIb - Spain

Ian and I went out to the local beach early this morning (he woke me up!) and we had some fun running around, climbing rocks, watching the surf, and of course taking photos. The photo below is of Playa Moraig. As you can see, this is not a sandy beach but a pebble/rock beach.

I brought my tripod and grabbed a photo of me and Ian together. This was Ian's favorite rock to climb on and over, as well as his favorite perch to watch the waves.

For our family entertainment, we decided on Guadalest and Algar del Fuentes. Guadalest is a tiny village (population less than 200 according to what I saw somewhere) in the mountains near Benitachell where we are staying. It was about an hour drive through the mountains - and what a drive! I enjoyed the drive, but Catherine's tummy certainly did not. It was a long drive for her, poor thing. The castle that is left there, as well as the terracing is from the Moors (or should I say "Moops"? 5 points to whoever can tell me what that is from!) - which Catherine tells me were built in the 1100's.

Ian and Leah had a nice time touring the castle and the area surrounding it. We took a "tour" of a very nice house built into the castle walls. The photo below is of the kids on our tour.

And finally, just outside the castle was a fun rock for the kids to climb.

It was a big day today, but fun. We are planning to stay home tomorrow and swim in the heated pool - just relax.

I hope all is well out there.

Marc

Big Trip, Part III - Spain (Benitachell)

The drive from Avignon to Benitachell was eight and half hours long. Yikes.

The drive itself was pretty, especially just south of Barcelona as vineyards and olive tree orchards alternated over the hillsides. Then as we drove further south, we started seeing orange trees thrown in the mix, until it was just orange groves. We got into the villa just in time for dinner, which gave us a couple of hours to wind down, unpack, and get ready for bed.

The villa sits on a hillside overlooking a protected natural area (another hillside) and out to the Mediterranean Sea. The photo below is from the upper terrace looking out to the Mediterranean.

This is supposed to be a relaxing vacation, so Catherine found us a beautiful villa (great work Catherine!!!!) that had an option for a heated pool. Phenomenal. The photo below is of Catherine, Ian, and Leah enjoying 90+ water in 60-ish and windy weather. The pool is below the upper terrace, and also sports a wonderful view of the Mediterranean Sea.

Tuesday morning, Ian and I woke up early to go climb that hillside across the draw/valley. We got there just as the sun was coming up over the horizon. It involved a bit of a climb over some rough vegetation, nothing difficult just tedious. This photo below is a stitch of four or five photos with some extra work done in Photoshop (again) and Lightroom.

I had brought my tripod along (essential for those panoramic stitches) and grabbed a photo of Ian and me using the camera timer. We had a great time together and he and I will go out most mornings in the area in search of more photo fun. It was windy and chilly in the morning (40's), so that is why we are wearing jackets.

We spent Tuesday around the area - drove to an area called Jalon (Xalo) and took in the local market there as well as sample some wines and sherries at a local bodegas (winery). This was followed by swimming in the pool in the afternoon. All in all a very relaxing and low key day. Just what the doctor ordered.

I hope all is well out there. Cheers!

Marc

Big Trip, Part IIb - Cotes du Rhone

We planned on two nights in Avignon, which gave us a nice break from long days of driving. Ironically, we spent the extra day there . . . driving! Though this time it was for short periods of time as we ended up driving from village to village in the beautiful southern French countryside.

We followed the driving "path" outlined in Rick Steves' guide to France and Provence. The roads between many of the smaller villages were tiny, and at one point was a dirt road (rough) and went right through many vineyards. It was a great drive and well worth the effort.

At the end of the day, we made it to the village of Gigondas where we finally found an open winery with the bonus of olive oil to try tastings. The photo below is of Leah and Catherine on the wall outside the winery.

This photo is one I took from the dirt road running through the vineyards just outside of Gigondas. Once again I did some quick and rough editing in Photoshop with this one, hopefully not too obtrusive.

Finally, I stitched together several photos that I took. The location is not quite all the way above Gigondas, but it was close.

Remember to double-click any photo for a larger shot. And I'll be posting some of these shots to my Flickr account at some point in time in the future.

Next up we make it to Spain, and I'll be posting photos from our fun we are having there. I hope all is well. Cheers!

Marc