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Loarre Castle
1. We stop to discover the superb castle of Loarre.
2. Its fortified walls are still almost intact.
3. The main porch…
4. …and the staircase which leads to the different courtyards and interior buildings.
5. Gallery…
6. View on the plain.
7. Marble stained window…
8. Glow…
9. Nave…
10. Within the walls.
11. Last look as we leave to find a boondocking place.
12. Nice trail in the pine forest…
13. Quiet place under the pines. The shower will be great after a new hot day.
Discovery of the Mallos de Riglos and other curiosities in the next update. 😉
Southern foot of the Pyrenees
To protect ourselves from the heat wave that has been raging for a few days, we decide to discover the Ordesa valley, hoping to find some freshness there. In the summer time, access roads are closed to individual vehicles and after a night in the small campground of the San Nicolás de Bujaruelo refuge, we take the shuttle to the valley.
1. After an hour of hiking, we are in front of the “Cascada del Estrecho”.
2. Continuing up the river…
3. Emile playing at our picnic spot. I won’t bring back other images, a heavy rain shower forcing us to shorten our walk.
4. Boondocking near a small river…
5. My son happy to play with his feet in the water. 😉
6. The next day, the track rises in a limestone range.
7. Landscape and geology change rapidly.
8. We reach the “Mirador de Los Buitres” shortly after noon and enjoy a magnificent view on the “Mallos de Riglos”.
9. As we eat, many vultures fly over us.
10. Squadron…
11. Glider…
12. Ruin along the trail…
13. Late in the afternoon, we arrive in sight of the “Castillo de Loarre”.
Images of our visit are coming in the next article… 😉
Pyrenees: heat and geology…
1. After a quiet night at 8,600 feet above sea level, the good weather is in the game.
2. We take the trail again for the descent.
3. We head West through the southern foothills of the Pyrenees, sometimes on small roads, sometimes on trails, discovering pretty villages…
4. It is the hottest day with 110°F in the shade. We camp under the trees, near a river and take advantage of the new VLV shower installed before departure to refresh ourselves. A flock of sheep comes to drink right next to us.
5. The next day, we leave early to avoid the high temperatures. Panorama from Coll de Boixols.
6. And still these beautiful villages…
7. We arrive near the Congost de Mont Rebei, a deep canyon of the Noguera Ribagorçana river in which a vertiginous path has been dug. Parking is prohibited to vehicles over 6 feet high and we have to park along of the access road, 1.5 miles from the trailhead. View to the south from the “Mirador de les Lludrigues”.
8. Despite of the 104°F, we leave for the 4 miles leading to the beginning of the path dug in the cliff. Emile crossing a pedestrian suspension bridge.
9. Gradually, the trail rises as you enter the gorge.
10. In the heart of the canyon, the path is aerial !
11. Congost de Mont-Rebei in its upper part. The path is 400 feet above the river!
A gust appropriates Emile’s cap; we therefore improvise a headgear for the way back with a small cloth and a lace because the sun always beats down hard!
12. Back to VivaLaVida after 4 hours of hiking under 105°F, we take the road again, then a trail to get to the Muralla de Finestras. We get there in late afternoon as the sun starts to go down…
13. The level of the artificial lake which sometimes bathes the foot of this wall is very low this year…
14. From the ghost village at the end of the trail, we hike to the small hermitage of San Marcos which offers a nice viewpoint.
15. A last look at this geological curiosity before going back and finding a nice spot to sleep in the middle of nature and enjoying a shower…
To be followed in a few days…
2023 Holidays, here we go!
After a spring somewhat upset by Emile’s diagnosis, it was not until July that VivaLaVida left its winter quarters to resume service.
Three days for a big engine, transmission and running gear service – thanks to the Garage BN in St-Martin/FR for the loan of the place – two additional days to reload all the stuff and we’re ready to leave towards South on July 15th. Emile is in heaven, he who has been asking me for two months “When are we going to travel again in VivaLaVida?!”. After a first night in the campground where we had waited for the wheel studs two years ago – Emile was hoping to see Lilou again, a little girl he met during our last stay – we continue towards the Pyrenees.
1. First spot that we are gonna discover, the “Fontaine des Amours” (Fountain of Loves), a pretty natural pool.
2. Not very far, we explore the remains of a Roman bridge…
3. It was rebuilt identically after a major flood thirty years ago.
4. We find a quiet boondocking place not far to spend the night in the hills of Ariège…
5. … and we make the first and last campfire of this vacation for our barbecue. While it has rained a lot here and the risk of wildfire is non-existent this evening, it won’t be the same later…
6. After reaching Andorra la Vella where we shop some groceries to fill the fridge, we decide to drive up to Pico Negro. The trail has become so busy that there is a guard of Guarda Civile who charges €25 at the start of the trail. As it’s already late afternoon, VLV climbs without stopping too much on a track in places very washed out by storms and reaches a first flat area at around 7,200 feet elevation. We don’t meet anyone there.
7. After approx. an hour’s drive, she arrives in sight of the summit, at about 8,900 feet above sea level.
8. After the summit, we go further to the famous VW van carcass near which we spend the night.
9. VLV at the camp…
10. Climbing on the small summit overlooking it…
11. … to enjoy sunset.
12. Evening quietness…
13. See you tomorrow sunshine !
14. Dusk…
See you soon for more! 😀
Cahors and Massif Central
It is now time to leave the Pyrenees with a taste of the unfinished while our forced stop in Valence greatly reduced our stay in Spain…
1. Leaving Montgarri in a sunny morning.
2. Pla de Beret.
3. …
4. After a night in a forest of the Gers, we stop in Cahors to discover its famous Pont Valentré.
5. Quite impressive and well maintained.
6. Neighborhood on the edge of the Lot, the river which surrounds the old town by one of its meanders.
After dropping off Emile in Corrèze, on the way back, I go to sleep in the Monts du Sancy, in the Massif Central.
7. Arrival at the end of the day, when the North wind blows in gusts.
8. The mood is wonderful.
9. Sunset sky.
10. …
11. I find a corner between two hills to spend a windy night.
The next day, I will go iscover some beautiful spots in the massif. I will tell you that in a last update dedicated to these summer holidays.
Thank you for your loyalty to follow this little blog. 😀
Pyrenees, continuation and end
After crossing the Principality of Andorra where we took advantage of filling up VivaLaVida at an unbeatable price thanks to the special customs status, we take the road toward West again.
1. We find the unpaved trail at Coll de Cabus again.
2. Our neighbors as we have a little lunch.
3. Descent towards Tor.
4. The track is quite rough in places.
5. Arrival at the small village of Tor nestled at the bottom of a deep valley.
6. Church of the Holy Father of Tor.
7. The village is partially abandoned. Only a few weekend homes and a stopover are still inhabited in summer..
8. We find a beautiful place by the river to spend the night.
9. After a rain shower at the end of the day, the fire is welcome.
10. Diner in nature…
11. Waking up with the sun!
12. Upper Val d’Aran from the descent of Bonaigua pass.
13. We go discover Montgarri, a formerly remote site, built with a sanctuary and a refuge. We find a great spot to boondock next to the river, less than 3 miles away from Montgarri.
14. Emile enjoys it!
15. Hiking to the sanctuary…
16. … here it is.
17. L’intérieur est simple et plutôt bien conservé.
18. La porte qui mène aux escaliers du clocher.
19. Fin d’après-midi à jouer…
20. …
21. Quel bel endroit ! La rivière nous bercera durant la nuit.
Après cette dernière nuit pyrénéenne, nous prendrons la direction de la Corrèze où Emile continuera ses vacances chez ses cousines, avec un arrêt a Cahors sur la route. A découvrir tout bientôt.
Pyrenees (2)
1. Wake up at the Pedró dels Quatre Batlles. It is cool but the view is gorgeous.
2. …
3. We take a spectacular trail to go down from the plateau.
4. View toward South.
5. Escarpment.
6. Flower in the limestone rockery.
7. Further, a narrow passage in which i had to fold mirrors. We crossed it in both directions, the trail having been washed out 1.5 mile further.
We found several trails closed by recently installed barriers, undoubtedly the price of the hordes of 4×4 which crisscross them more and more.
8. Nice boondocking spot.
9. Emile is always ready to play with his small cars…
10. Smal village in the mountain.
While we were stopped by a barrier at the entrance of a trail which should have lead us to discover a pretty mountain lake, Emile said “We just have to walk there”. I explain to him that the lake was at a 7 miles walk with more than 2,000 feet of elevation gain but he insisted. So I parked VivaLaVida and here we were for a day of walking. My little guy had bravely swallow the more than 14 miles round trip! A real mointain goat!
11. The lake we hiked.
12. Picnic in the shelter of a rock while the wind blows in gusts.
13. Before the way back.
Other discoveries in a few days…
Forced stop and start of the Pyrenees mountains
Today, we continue the road towards the Pyrenees.
After about fourty miles, I take VivaLaVida on the A6 motorway north of Orange. I take its cruising speed – about 65 mph – and I don’t have done 3 miles that a thudding noise intensifies quickly. No doubt, something is wrong with the chassis. I slow down immediately and pull over to the emergency lane. We are less than one mile away from a rest area and I slowly let VLV flow until there at 25 mph. As I go out to try to identify the source of the problem, amazement: 4 of the 8 studs on the left rear wheel are broken, the nuts having obviously disappeared! I take out the 21 socket and see that the 4 remaining nuts are really loose. As I tighten them, a fifth stud breaks. We really almost lost a wheel and I dare not imagine what the consequences could have been, as much for VLV as for other motorway users with an crazy wheel of three feet in diameter and approx. 100 pounds launched at 65 mph..!
This wheel tightened again, we drag ourselves to the next motorway exit 3 miles further. We go to a truck workshop and order a set of 32 studs and 32 nuts from the United States since they are specific to VLV’s 4wd conversion. Chris will send them to us the next morning by Express mail and they will finally arrive on Friday at 4 pm. In the meantime, we reach the “Manon” campgroung in Orang, where we will spend these 5 days of waiting. The swimming pool and the nearby town will somewhat entertain the crew stopped in its trip..!
1. Dinner in the campground…
2. Small compensation. 😉
3. The famous Orange roman theater and its stands.
4. We enjoy the swimming pool.
5. Distractions…
Once VivaLaVida has been repaired, we resume the trip to the Spanish Pyrenees. We get there at the end of the day on a Saturdayand it rains heavily. We stop at the trail that we will drive the next day when it is already almost dark.
6. Colored sunrise while Emile is still sleeping.
7. The trail which oscillates at about 6000 feet above sea level is gorgeous.
8. This is the opportunity to test the Isofix adapter that I made to install Emile’s seat in the front. He is in heaven! 😀
9. View of the plain, far South.
10. VLV is happy to be back on the trail.
11. We discover pretty villages…
12. …and a varied geology.
13. Another of these Pyrenean villages.
14. We reach a high plateau, the Pedró dels Quatre Batlles, after a climb where the 4×4 transmission have been very useful!
15. It blows a very strong wind. Is this why the vegetation takes the form of barkanes ?
16. The mood is beautiful as the sun goes down.
17. Last rays before sunset. The wind will shake us a good part of the night and it will only be 38 F in the morning.
See you soon for the rest.
D5 Creation