Road trip

 Judy. A couple of days after we arrived in Montpellier, our good friend Ben arrived from Prague for a road trip we'd been planning to take together. For some reason, I was curious to see Andorra, and our friends Björn and Malou had recommended some beautiful French towns to visit along the way.

We rented a car easily at the airport and headed first to hike up to some of the Cathar castle ruins, destroyed during the Albegensian Crusades. The views were said to be spectacular. Unfortunately, a thick fog had settled over the mountains, so instead of seeing two castles, we decided to go for one, Château de Quéribus, possibly the last one to fall. We arrived to see this scene:

It's there--somewhere

So. On to more adventures. Lunch seemed like a great option, and just might lift our spirits, and at the next little town we managed to find a mom-and-pop restaurant filled with locals. The food was fine, but watching the family of owners deal with their friends and customers was worth it all.  

Ben and I felt better after lunch

Ben, who is a tour guide and a great planner, had a surprise up his sleeve to make up for the castle disappointment, and drove us to the Gorge of Galamus for a gorgeous view of the river and mountains and an Ermitage tucked neatly into a the terrain.

A great place to be a monk

The guys hiked down into the gorge and to the Hermitage, but I decided that I was better off enjoying the scenery. The fog hadn't quite left yet...   

But it was beautiful!

So off we drove again through the countryside and into the Pyrenees Mountains. The fog lifted and from Col du Chioula Pass we had a sweeping view of the mountains ahead, as well as the grazing cattle, whose cowbells seemed to ring in harmony. Ok, that was cheesy.

More cowbell!

A few short kilometers later, we were in the spa town of Ax-les-Thermes. There were two spa pools that cost--a lot--but there were also free pools to soak your feet and springs fed by the hot waters mixed with cool ones. Ted took a nap, but Ben and I took advantage!

Steam rising from the hot water

People soaking feet in this hot springs pool, dating from 1260. It was for lepers...

The following morning we headed higher into the Pyrenees and over Envalira Pass, which is the highest paved road in these mountains, and into Andorra.

Envalira Pass

I have to admit, our first impression was that the entire country was a string of ski resorts. Couldn't even find a cafe for a much-needed coffee! I was ready to turn back, but Ben said, "Let's just go a little further." We reached the center of this tiny country, and--voilà! We found a nice cafe in the town of Canillo. The coffee was inexpensive and delicious, and, since we had paid for parking, we decided to walk around the town a bit.

What a surprise! Its history goes back hundreds of years, and some of the buildings have been preserved--a mill, by a stream, and a lovely church, San Serni de Canillo. I don't know who San Serni was, but the church was simple, rebuilt in the eighteenth century over a medieval church.

San Serni

This mostly bare stone church held a medieval baptismal font and three elaborate 18th century retable. Outside was the so-called "Boundary Cross of Charlemagne," defining two other towns. Oddly enough, there were strange symbols in the street, which we found out were old cattle brands, which matched up with the same brands on houses. You knew whose cattle were whose!

A salute to times past

With that, we decided we'd seen enough, and the parking meter was running out, so we left Andorra to head back into France. And that's a story for Ted to tell.

Ski chalet over Canillo