Pyrenees 3. Getting in and out of another country

 

 

the upper Ampriu Valley

We’re moving eastwards along the Pyrenees and so the ancient Kingdom of Navarre has been left behind and we move into Aragon which you will have heard of.  The first Mrs Henry VIII, Catherine (maiden name ‘of Aragon’) was part of the ruling family around here although she was born near Madrid.

 

Ainsa or at least the old town part of it appeared to be worth a visit and it certainly was.  It’s a steep climb up to a warren of narrow stone flagged streets leading to the main square next to the church and the town just oozes character.  We’re early and the place is virtually deserted but it’s easy to visualise it packed with tourists and having a very different feel to it so we’re glad to see it quiet.   As the cafes open we stop in the main square on the shady side because it might be early but it’s already hot.  Two coffees and two croissants with jam to soak up the atmosphere.  We should do more of this.

 

Ainsa from the old castle

one of the variety of distinctive gutter spouts

yep, two coffees and two croissants 

A number of the roads heading north towards the mountains do continue through passes and across the border into France.  Many don’t and if I wrote about every road we drove up it would bore me too so there are necessary and humane gaps in this narrative.    However we did drive up the cul-de-sac of the Benasque Valley and on our second day there drove up a side valley to a ski resort at a little over 6,000 feet where we were the only vehicle parked in a huge car park.  This is where we saw large numbers of blooming fragrant Poet’s narcissus with our time machine in full working condition.

now that is an almost empty car park

Southern Gentian

I know a number of you will have driven up and down mountains but a lot of you won’t so I just want to say something about it.   Going up is good fun, getting into the proper gear for those hairpins, spotting the views and keeping away from the edge.   Going down isn’t so much fun.  The first time I did it in about 1978 I very nearly burned the brakes out on our VW camper.   You have to brake as little as possible and use the engine in a low gear to keep to a manageable speed.  Gravity argues with this tactic and the engine revs get higher and higher until you’re forced to use the brakes.  A very sharp turn is good because it seems to take some energy and slow the vehicle a little.   It’s a balancing act and not fun at all.

 

Dog's-tooth Violet.  We saw thousands of
these distinctive leaves but only two flowers

looking along the valley containing the capital, La Vella

Now we visit a new country for us, the only country where Catalan is spoken by most of the population and is the official language.  The place is noted for shopping so we just knew we’d find some huge shopping malls.  We were wrong because the centre for shopping is ‘Shopping Mile’ in the capital La Vella and it’s just like a traditional British High St. in the old days, you know, thriving.  Not like a traditional High St. with the amount of perfume, tobacco, alcohol and designer shopping.   I bought a pair of red shoes and some gin.  Yes, it’s Andorra and I found out that in the early 1950s it had a population of only 7,200 and now it’s 75,000.  As Andorra is known as one of the smallest countries in the world by area I thought I’d check the numbers.  Well forget multiples or even fractions of Wales or Massachusetts, Andorra is 180 square miles, that’s just three times the area of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.  While we’re at it that dwarfs Liechstenstein at 62 square miles (same as BCP) and San Marino at a measly 24 square miles.   Andorra was a really isolated place until relatively recently.  The first proper road connecting it to Spain wasn’t opened until 1913 and the one to France not until 1931.  You might think all this is boring stuff but you can’t claim it isn’t informative ! 

 

at last a flowery meadow, forget-me-nots
and both colours of Elder-flowered Orchid

Andorra is a very mountainous place as you might expect and many of the peaks are very pointy like a child’s drawing.  There’s only the one main road running through from Spain to France which just clips the edge of La Vella on the way.  

starting off on our Andorran walk

We did go for a good length walk up one of the roadless valleys and it was an absolute delight.  More flowers and variety than anywhere else so far on this trip along a very rocky path rising to about 7,000 feet and definitely getting us above the snowline.   At the very edge of melting snow is the place to find what looks like the most delicate of mountain flowers but which must be as tough as old boots, the Snowbell or Soldanella.  It appears to bloom just as the snow clears around it, tiny fringed pale blue downward bells, looking for all the world like fairy caps.  A stunningly beautiful flower.  

 

Soldanella or Snowbell, the whole thing is about 3 inches high

definitely the snowline

On the same walk while positioning myself for a photo of a new primula for us at about head height I managed to lose my footing and fell backwards onto some rocks.  Luckily I didn’t bash my head and it happened to be my turn with the backpack which was comfortably full of waterproofs and jumpers to cushion my back.  The camera cracked into the rock by my side so I knew that the lens at least would be misaligned but to my amazement it was undamaged.  Several days later though I noticed that I had a wonderful multi-coloured knee, so I’d whacked that and not realized.  It was a lovely little primula though.

 

and here it is, Entire-leaved Primrose 
for the Fall on the Hill

the highest point we reached on our walk up the Juclar Valley. 
 The van is in that car park at the bottom

Andorra isn’t in the EU and on the way back into Spain we drove into the motorhome lane and with nothing in front just drove straight through, only to be stopped by a loud whistle.  We backed up and found that we’d missed a STOP sign.  Heather says she doesn’t mind me saying that she was driving.  The customs man, Spanish or Andorran, we never did find out was very friendly asking us if we’d bought anything in Andorra so I said two bottles of gin.  “Can I see them” he said.  So I dug them out “Mmm, you could have brought three each through” he said and waved us on.    

 

Covers 28 May – 1 June 2022