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Picos de Europa (continued) and back towards East.
We go up the valley towards Sotres and leave the road on the right to discover a trail which climbs to almost 6,000 feet above sea level.
1. Alpine pasture at the bottom of the valley, before the climb.
2. As VivaLaVida gains altitude, the landscape becomes more arid.
3. Snack break!
4. At the end of the afternoon, the convection of the day brings us a beautiful thunderstorm, forcing us to turn back.
5. Going down in the rain…
6. After the storm, we go up to discover a viewpoint on the opposite slope.
7. Small mountain church.
8. Then we head back east. Emile wants to go back to sleep at the surfing spot where we already spent a night.
Along the road the next day, we make a quick stop to discover Santillana del Mar which also turns out to be a real tourist trap….
9. Village house.
10. Church porch.
11. Entrance to the inner courtyard.
12. Large traditional house.
We continue on the road and reach the Spanish Basque country.
13. Nice bivouac on a ridge…
14. The sky is heavy at the end of this day.
15. A visitor who comes to observe us closely at our camp.
16. Last image of Spain in a pretty Basque village, the next morning, just before crossing the French border.
To be continued shortly with the rest of the trip: a stop in Navarrenx and a lovely bivouac with friends, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. 😉
Incursion into Galicia and return to Asturias
It was one of the spots I wanted to discover for a long time: Praia de Catedrais or “Beach of the Cathedrals”, in Galicia, about ten kilometers from the border with Asturias. A spot that has become extremely touristy since it was published hundreds of times on Instagram, so much that you now have to register on Internet to be allowed to access it via a QR code. As some arches are only accessible at low tide, this further concentrates the crowd at certain times of the day.
First there around 3pm, I gave up as there were so many people. Thus, we discovered it the next day around 8am and if there were still a lot of people, it was probably 5 or 10 times less than the day before.
1. The site consists of a cliff whose bottom is at sea level and “sanded” on a beach.
2. The most famous arches, in a row with each other.
3. What a perspective!
4. Another arch on the way back to the access to the foot of the cliff.
5. Heading back west, we follow the coast on small roads and come across a pretty lighthouse: Faro de Ribadeo.
6. A little further East, a pretty wild cove. We discover that it is currently reserved for nudists.
7. New stop a few miles further to discover another natural arch, at the Mirador de Atalaya.
8. We continue to follow the coast, sometimes on trails, discovering pretty coves like this one.
9. Here a pretty little harbor, in Viavelèz.
10. It’s time to look for a place to camp and after three unsuccessful attempts, we find a spot above a beautiful cliff that turns orange at sunset.
11. The next morning, discovery of a pebble beach after a short offroad session on an abandoned path.
Then we leave the coast to reach the mountains of the Somedio National Park. To be discovered in the next update. 😉
Cantabrian coast and Asturias
So we continue the discovery of the coast now in Cantabria. We had already stopped near Santander last year and we go to discover another spectacular coastal spot very close by.
1. Arrival on site.
2. Laminated rock characteristic of the region.
3. Variant.
4. A few hundred yards further.
5. Other composition.
6. The tide rises and creeps through the rock wall.
7. Natural pool.
8. Nice late afternoon near San Vicente de Barquera.
9. Rays…
10. Sunset.
11.
61 / 5 000
The next day, a little further, we discover another spot.
12. The Playa del Silencio.
13. This coastline full of cliffs is truly beautiful.
14. We continue to the Asturias-Galicia border to discover a spectacular spot the next day and find a quiet place to sleep by the ocean.
15. Last glimmers of a colorful sunset.
We will show you the Praia de las Catedrais in the next update. 😉
Way home…
1. Last boondocking with view on the ocean, not far from Bilbao, while it is raining…
2. Starter with local products!
3. Emile’s happy!
4. Quietness…
5. The rain stops, giving way to a few colors at sunset.
6. …
7. …
8. …
9. … The Basque coast falls asleep..
10. I wanted to discover Canfrang train station for a long time, this curiosity nestled on a pass of the Pyrenees, at an altitude of 3,900 feet elevation. I had seen images when it was disused and I’m surprised to discover that it had been completely renovated and rehabilitated into a luxury hotel!
11. Surprising to find such a building in the middle of the mountains, isn’t it?
12. We reach Pont d’Espagne where we cannot sleep, the bottom of the valley having been closed to traffic after a huge paid car park in which it’s forbidden to sleep. Here the Cerisey waterfall going down towards Cauterets where we spend the night in a campingpark.
132. We head back towards Switzerland along the northern foot of the Pyrenees and discover a beautiful cave on our route: the Mas d’Azil cave. The cavity was dug by the river which runs through it and it’s so large that the road also crosses it.
14. We sleep north of Carcassone to discover the ruins of the Four Castles of Lastours.
15. It is the small roads of the Cevennes that bring us back home…
16. Crossing the village of Mourèze…
And that’s it for these too short summer vacations where VivaLaVida has covered 2,600 miles.
The next articles will tell you about some fall outings…
Thank you for your loyalty to this little blog! 🙂
Cantabria and Basque Country (continued)
The next morning, we continue to discover this rocky coast.
1. The ocean passes through the limestone crevices to create this small lake about three hundred feet from the coast. The swell makes the water move, a rather unusual effect!
2. Another arch.
3. The coast towards West from a small peninsula.
4. And one more arch.
5. There are only a few days left before the end of the vacation, we are heading back east. Abandoned farm along the road…
6. Church near the village of Niembru.
7. We sleep on a surf spot near San Vincente de la Barquera, with beautiful colors at sunset.
8. …
9. …
10. VivaLaVida among surfer campers.
11. First light at dawn…
12. We continue our route in the Basque Country and make a short stop at the Hermitage of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. It’s so crowded that it’s not possible for us to go down because all tickets for the day have been sold.
13. Church with covered passageways…
14. Main door.
15. Another known spot where we find these layered rocks which have tilted to offer their slices to the ocean, in Zumaia. You don’t see it ont the picture but to my left, there is a beach with probably an average of 1 human per square feet! 😀
16. My son in discovery mode.
17. Layered cliff…
I will still have one last update to publish in a few days to close the story of this summer trip… See you soon! 😉
Cantabria…
Here is the continuation of our discovery of northern Spain, now in Cantabria.
1. Here we are on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Golfe de Gascogne where it is blowing strong that day.
2. Walk in the eucalyptus trees.
3. Emile wants to see a lighthouse up close, so we take the coastal path.
4. Ajo lighthouse.
5. We also discover a nearby natural arch.
6. Emile giving the scale.
7. Window on the ocean…
8. After sleeping practically over this arch, we discover a very famous spot the next day: Urros de Liencres.
9. Low tide uncovers rock strata…
10. Little alcove…
11. Another quick hop to discover another natural arch: El Castro de las Gaviotas. We park towards a pretty chapel.
12. Small cove in the cliff…
13. The arch still partially hidden.
14. And here it is complete.
15. After looking for almost two hours for a place to boondock because of the crowds at this time of the year, we finally found a nice place to sleep, at the bottom of the Picos de Europa, near the ocean and accessible only thanks to VivaLaVida’s 4-wheel drive.
16. The ocean is close.
17. The view behind our camp.
18. Pastel twilight…
To be followed soon!
Fjords of North West
1. Great weather in the morning!
2. Icebergs are still there.
3. Stop on our way to observe seals.
4. When some rest, others seem to play in the water.
5. Under the eyes of ubiquitous and placid sheeps.
6. Small lighthouse on the coast.
7. I draw the portrait to one of these famous Icelandic small horses with long manes.
8. Small church along a fjord. There are many, always small and often with only one house around.
9. As VivaLaVida crosses a small pass between two fjords, the horizon deepens.
10. …
11. To reach a large beach far west of the fjords, the road is endless: while in a straight line, the GPS indicates 55 miles, it will take 125 miles of winding road to get there!
12. The end of day light is spectacular.
13. Rauðarsandur beach is behind this point…
14. VivaLaVida will finally reach it at sunset, enjoying last sun rays on its pretty black church.
15. Calm morning on the inlet.
16. Rauðarsandur beach is Iceland’s largest and its color denotes with omnipresent black elsewhere. Wonder where does this colorful sand come from.
17. Refelction behind the beach.
18. Patchwork at rising tide.
19. Marine atmosphere…
20. In a nearby bay, stop near a ship wreck.
21. These fjords are beautiful and constitute the least visited part of Iceland and let us enjoy more solitude.
22. We camp on the bank of a fjord sheltering hundreds of swans.
Discovery of Snæfellsness Peninsula coming soon. 😉
North Coast and traditional habitat
1. The Ásbyrgi Canyon is amazing with its high basalt cliffs.
2. Beautiful bay on Arctic Ocean North of Husavik.
3. We stop there for the lunch…
4. … the opportunity for Emile to play on the beach.
5. The small harbor town of Husavik still has some old houses.
6. Its small harbor is famous for whale watching.
7. Old houses on the harbor.
8. We return to the bay to spend the night.
9. Sunset is gorgeous!
10. Deformed sun on the horizon. We even had two sunsets, the first on the cliff then, the race of the sun being almost tangent to the horizon, the second on the ocean.
11. Iceland is not that famous for offering colorful sunsets but this one was an exception.
12. On the road to Akureyi, the big city of the North.
13. Interesting feature: in Akureyri, to support the morale of the population during the last financial crash, the red lights are heart shaped… 😉
14. At the end of the day, we go to visit the historic Glaumbær farm, one of the few unspoiled which is now a museum.
15. House from the beginning of the last century.
16. The windows often had candles, supposed to limit the heat loss of the little insulated glass…
17. The farm, older, is partially buried for better insulation. Buildings are contiguous to limit areas exposed to cold.
18. Built in peat and covered with peat and moss, it was the best way to protect oneself from the cold for poor people.
19. Not far away, the beautiful old church of Vidimyrarkirkia.
20. Continuing our journey on the north coast, we come across this curious road going directly into the ocean!
21. Arrival at the end of the day on the site of Hvítserkur Rock.
22. A spectacular lava block that rises on the ocean and evokes a troll or some extinct dinosaur grazing algae…
23. Húnafjordur Bay.
24. We camp near this little house…
25. … and discover large icebergs far on the horizon.
Next coming soon in the Northwest fjords.
Texan coast and some urban…
I’m back after ten days of no man’s land in the extreme southwestern Texas and I find a Wifi to write this small update (I have a little delay, sorry… 🙂
After the episode of mosquitoes, I continued my journey on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston Island. Galveston is a known beach resort, southeast of Houston, but almost deserted at that time of the year.
1. Lighthouse next to my road…
2. VivaLaVida on the ferry to Galveston.
3. Jetty in Galverston
The west side of the island is remained wild, protected by a State Park. The island forming an inland sea isolated from the ocean, it’s a haven for thousands of migratory birds, including some rare. I stayed two days to observe them and I will present here some.
4. Early arrival of thousand of Red Heads.
5. Group breakfast…
6. Elegant duck.
7. A rose spoonbil…
8. A march oak.
9. Stern hunting…
10. White pelican.
11. Full moon in early morning…
I then headed to Austin, a nice city a little different from other Texas cities. Cosmopolitan and a little European style, I spent a day and a half. There is Live Music everywhere, whole streets where there are bar after bar on both sides, in each Live Music from 2 to late in the night … It was sunny and quite warm, in the seventies…
12. Camping before Austin…
13. Downtown Austin
14. Boot shop…
15. … and texan hats!
16. Some urban…
17. A big foot.
18. The State Capitol.
19. Commerce Street…
20. Reflection…
21. Back street…
That’s it for these images of this beautiful city where I felt that life seems good. The next update will take you to west Texas, discovering some wild places along VivaLaVida’s road…
Atlantic Ocean (3)
I announced an urban and animal update… Urban because I spent a few hours in the beautiful city of Savannah. This city had its heyday from the time when the cultivation of cotton, still present today, was the number one economy throughout Georgia.
It’s a two stages city. Downstairs is an arm of the sea and the commercial harbour. The canal is bordered by houses of rich traders from 19th century.
1. Forehead of the old harbour
2. Rich buildings built in the 19th century
3. They now house shops, hotels and restaurants.
4. Small stairs alleys provide access to the rear of these buildings…
5. … where we discover the second floor of the city and first a kind of semi-underground street.
6. It is in the upper town that are the shops today…
7. …but it retains nice neighborhoods…
8. … and old buildings.
I spent almost the whole day of 31 and had a small Eve lunch: fried shrimp as starter – this is the local specialty – and a wonderful bass, a treat! 😀
9. Meanwhile, WivaLaVida waited for me wisely…
10. Continuing south, I made a brief stop to visit Fort Pulaski
11. Built in the early 19th century, it was the scene of a battle that allowed the English to push back the French.
12. Canon batteries are impressive!
I took the road south again and spent Christmas Eve on the pretty Jekyll Island where I have not seen Mr Hide..!
13. Bridge that provides access to Jekyll Island.
I had a nice New Year Eve at my campfire with two girls whose pick-up stoped not far away from VLV. Before that, I had the chance to observe quite a bit of birds, including a beautiful red-breasted woodpeker.
14. What is that thing which looks at me?!
15. I watch it from the corner of the eye…
16. But I continue to flush out my meal!
17. there were also cardinals. here the male with bright colors!
18. And the female…
19. And a wild dove…
20. Not to mention that watching me constantly!
21. A little further, I saw coming a white ibis…
22. … then two.
23. A heavy rain ended my observation…
I then took the road to Florida to visit a friend, poking me in the land and the bad weather. To discover in the next update… 😉
D5 Creation