Andorra - Little Country, Big Mountains and Good Shopping

 Saturday 21st to Tuesday 24th June 2014

Once we settled on Uzès as our base for our French sabbatical, we started thinking about possible places we may visit over a long weekend.  Andorra was certainly never mentioned; however Spain was several times.  One of the main reasons we were interested in returning to Spain, was to reconnect with our friend Pilar, who we hadn’t seen since she stayed with us on a visit to Melbourne in 1998.  Importantly since then, Pilar had met and married Fernando, and had their daughter, Carlota (now 7).  Pilar and Andrew met at Melbourne Business School early in 1996, and we stayed with her (and her parents) in Tarragona in September 1996.

While planning to reconnect, Pilar mentioned that they had a family holiday house in Andorra, which could be a good place to meet for two or three days.  While tempted to return to Barcelona and Tarragona, the option to visit somewhere totally different (and somewhere we would be unlikely to otherwise go) was appealing.

The drive from Uzès to Andorra can be completed via the French border to the north, or by entering Spain and coming in from the south.  Both routes are listed as over five hours, with the separation occurring in the town of Narbonne, where we planned to stop for lunch.  We decided to go through Spain on the way, entering Andorra from the south, and then return to Uzès from the north-east of Andorra, directly into France.

The difficulty of driving in the Pyrenees was highlighted by Google maps which indicated the Uzès -Narbonne segment of the journey represented 60% of the distance but only 40% of the duration.  However, this expectation was challenged early when we approached one of the main toll booths on the A9 motorway, near Montpellier.  As we discovered when we drove to Château Lagrézette, the motorways around Montpellier can operate at speeds much less than the 130kph limit, perhaps even 0kph.  On that occasion it was gridlock at the start of a long weekend.  This time it was just lengthy queues at the toll booth.  Elle timed the delay as 15min.  How we love e-tags!

Once past Montpellier, the drive to Narbonne was simple and quick, and we arrived as we planned, in time for lunch.  Our trusty GPS helped us find the underground car park we had identified before we left Uzès, and within a few minutes we were walking around the attractive central market building.

Andrew asked for his photo to be taken in front of the Triperie, as he has bad childhood memories of his father requesting tripe to be cooked at home.

 

Outside the market Xavier was attracted to the large monument with the rooster on top.

After a quick bite to eat, we explored more of the attractive centre of Narbonne, including the canal, the impressive cathedral, and a very attractive small shopping street, traversing the canal, like a modest Ponte Vecchio (a highlight of the street was the rose coloured footpath, made of marble-like stones).

Once back on the road we had another eventful episode, where Andrew tried to refuel the car at a station that required pre-payment.  Like most things, it was easy once you knew the process (drive to bowser, walk into shop and hand over credit card, return to bowser to fill up, then return to shop to pay), but not so user friendly for travellers with limited ability to converse in the local language.

After this we turned inland at Perpignan, and started winding up into the Pyrenees.  It seemed to take a long while before we crossed into Spain, which was indicated by a very modest sign.  The more interesting aspect of the drive was certainly the winding roads, the steep ascents and the small villages we passed through.  We also got to see the yellow hillside train, and several attractive rail bridges.

Crossing into Andorra was more significant, as we had to slow to 20 or 30 kph to pass through the border checkpoint, although border guards were more interested in checking the contents of cars returning to Spain after large shopping trips.

Andorra is well described on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra as a “landlocked microstate .... prosperous mainly because of its tourism industry (winter sports, shopping) .... and status as a tax haven”.  The country is divided into 7 parishes.

Shortly after 6pm we met Pilar, Fernando and Carlota at a service station, from where they escorted us up a series of very steep winding roads and laneways to their holiday house, perched high above the largest town in Andorra, called Andorra La Vella (in the parish of the same name).

After settling in we were treated to a lovely dinner cooked by Fernando, who recreated a dish made for us by his mother-in-law (and remembered very fondly, especially by Elle) by his mother-in-law on our 1996 visit, Tortilla Espagnole (Spanish omelette made with potatoes).

 

The next morning we awoke to a lovely day, and we decided to drive down the mountain in the morning to do some shopping, return for lunch, and then drive up the mountain in the afternoon for a walk.  The primary target for shopping was the large Desigual store.  Elle had been admiring a few Desigual items in Uzès, but had held off purchasing based on the likelihood that Andorra may have a larger range and better pricing.  This was proven correct on both counts, and Elle was joined by Andrew, Grace, Pilar and Carlota in purchasing some new clothes, and some items were so good they were purchased by more than one person!

The afternoon hike in the parish of Escaldes-Engordany was appropriately simple (quite flat and not too far), but enabled us to enjoy a key pastime in Andorra and to breathe in some very fresh mountain air.

On our second and last day in Andorra we opted for a similar agenda to day 1.  We started with more shopping in the morning, with the key purchase being a replacement wedding ring for Andrew, who had lost the original earlier this year in Melbourne, probably in the depths of the local council pool, or the garden.

After the shopping trip, we had a beautiful drive through several lovely villages in the La Massana parish, before ascending to around 1800 metres for a BBQ and picnic in a lovely location with large peaks (some still snow capped) all around.  A small group of small children on an excursion played games nearby.  After a day or so of frustration at the limited communication she could have in Spanish, Grace, in particular, was delighted to hear them conducting their activities in French.  Despite several very light showers, we had a lovely time.  The children roamed around, playing hide and seek and exploring, while Fernando cooked an excellent BBQ, ably assisted by Pilar and watched by Elle, and Andrew photographed the lovely wildflowers and scenery.

On the way back we stopped for several photo opportunities and a nice coffee break in one of the larger villages.

That evening (prior to enjoying a light salad and a cocktail for dinner) Andrew and Fernando watched the second half of the Spain v Australia World Cup Soccer match from Brazil.  Unfortunately both teams had already been eliminated, so the match was like a friendly (Spain won 3-0).

After a wonderful two days catching up with Pilar, meeting Fernando and Carlota, eating delicious home-cooked meals, and being introduced to a new country, it was time to head back to Uzès.  The next day we had a very special meeting scheduled in Avignon.