As you have guessed , we are now in Spain and we survived our “road trip” across France!

Our first night on our road trip was spent at a village called Albenga which is about 80 kms from the French border.

We decided to lash out and spend the night in a Palazzo which was quite beautiful. The town of Albenga is on the Italian Riviera , but as well as a “beach resort” it has a rather lovely Medieval centre with preserved ancient Roman structures and a lot of Medieval towers.

 

 

 

The Cathedral dates from the 11th to the 14th Century and the ceiling was quite stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

After wandering through the old town we decided to make our way to the beach. It was your typical Italian beach, a very small area of “public beach” and the rest all private where one pays for ones 6 square inch of sand , a banana lounge and umbrella and use of a change room! Unbelievable!

 

Being by the coast , we were looking forward to a nice sea food dinner, and we were not disappointed. The sea bass and vegetables were delicious and the “shared” chocolate fondant was pretty good too!

It was a very nice overnight stay after a rather long drive, as we were forced to travel further than we had expected due to the collapse of the bridge in Genoa. During the drive we crossed many ,many bridges and it was a tad stressful at times!

After we had crossed the border into France we noticed a change in the driving attitudes. The French drivers are more courteous and drive much better than those Italians! That’s our opinion anyway.

Our next two nights were spent at Arles in the Provence region of Southern France. We had been to Arles previously and loved the town and thought it would be a good spot to break the drive. We stayed in a great little “Summer House with Garden” , very close to the old Roman city and we would recommend anyone to stay there. It was extremely comfortable.

One of the main attractions in Arles is the magnificent Roman Amphitheatre. It was built in 90AD and capable of seating over 20,000 spectators , and was built for chariot races and “bloody hand to hand battles”. Today it is used for bullfights and concerts. It is a miniature Colosseum and just as impressive!

 

The main square of Arles, Place de La Republique, has some magnificent buildings and is rather spectacular. The Oblisk is 4th Century Roman , and the Cathedral of Saint Trophime was built between the 12th and 15th Century. The Hotel de Ville, or Town Hall , was built in the mid 1600’s stood impressively with the flag flying proudly.

We had a great lunch in Arles. Rhonda was craving for some duck confit and she wasn’t disappointed. Unfortunately  Greg’s crème brulee wasn’t up there at the top of his list.

 

 

 

Our next stop was at a little village called Bagneres-de-Bigorre. It is at the foot of the Pyrenees , so of course driving along we had some great mountain views.

We left the next morning and headed to Pamplona in Spain for a one night stop. We arrived just after 1pm so spent the rest of the afternoon discovering this fantastic city.

Rhonda’s main wish was to walk the route of the Running of the Bulls, which we did. It was fantastic walking up the narrow streets and imagining the chaos that happens when the bulls are running.

 

Apparently people who own houses in the streets often charge people up to 100 euros for a spot to watch the bull run on their small balconies. The Town Hall (above) is in the main square and is a lovely building and dates back to the 18th Century. During the Bull Run this open space has the runners feeling relief as there is space to take refuge from the bulls!

 

Our “Bull Run” continued on and finished in the Bull Ring where we enjoyed a guided tour! There is a rather beautiful monument to the Bull Run depicting 11 runners and 6 bulls. The main Piazza in Pamplona is Plazza del Castillo where we enjoyed a drink at the 18th century majestic Café Iruna, apparently a favourite place of Ernest Hemingway!

 

 

Greg’s choice of restaurant for dinner proved to be a hit! We started with a drink at the bar, then retreated to the restaurant where we shared an absolutely delicious Iberian Jamon that melted in your mouth and lamb ribs with sensational peppers. A tick for Greg! We loved Pamplona. It is a great city!

 

Whilst driving out of Pamplona we had some great scenery and the rock formations were quite remarkable.

We are now in Gijon , a large coastal city on the Atlantic in northern Spain.

It is a sea side resort and reminds us a little of San Sebastian. It has an old Fishermans quarter called the Cimadevilla with ruins of an old Roman settlement which sits on a promontory that sits on the end of the quite large San Lorenzo Beach.

 

It was great wandering the narrow streets with the old Fishermans houses and Cider taverns and we loved the decorations…..plastic cups with paper attached (jellyfish!)

The 18th century Revillagigedo Palace was rather nice and is now an Art Gallery. Of course Greg had to have a little paddle in the Atlantic Ocean!

 

Our host told us of the “traditional food” of Asturias , the region of Spain we are in , so we had to try some! The chorizo in cider and the beans with sausage and cider were quite delicious. As you have probably guessed cider is very popular here and they have been making it since the first century BC. Gijon’s motto is ” We don’t just drink cider, we live for it” , so when in Gijon , one must drink cider!

 

 

We enjoyed a fantastic sea bass lunch today (best sea bass yet!) in the Plaza Mayor square with ……of course……some cider. Each morning we have walked 4 kms along the esplanade at the beach , along with thousands of others. It has been a nice way to begin the day , and we need to walk off some of that cider…..sea bass……beans……chorizo…..beer etc etc etc!

 

Tomorrow we leave Gijon and head to our “little house” in the “little village” of Sajazarra in the La Rioja region of northern Spain (red wine country).

So we re off now for our last cider!

Until the next episode

adios amigos

Greg and Rhonda