The weather didn’t turn out to be as bad as predicted, but I
still woke up to low, grey clouds and a bit of rain in Andorra la Vella. I decided to have a driving day and get into
southern France as I’m still hoping to cover a fair amount of ground before
returning to England in 11 days.
The morning that I woke up to...not overly inspiring.
Starting to head out of the capital. There's a gondola for a ski resort going up and over that mountain along the snowline you can see from the middle of the mountain above the buildings up and to the right.
Just outside of Andorra la Vella.
I knew that Andorra has a few ski resorts, and since there
aren’t many roads in this country, it wasn’t surprising that I would pass by a
few. Being a Saturday, which turned into
a sunny day, there were many foreigners and locals getting out to shred.
I thought this was interesting...a gas station right at the top of the pass. The ski resort is on both faces of the mountain.
The big, treeless bowls of Granlavira.
Starting down from the pass.
That's a lot of skiable terrain! You can see the chairlift going up the middle of the photo.
The resort is behind me now.
Within an hour I was at the border and passed by a few other resorts in France.
The French border, which was unmanned.
Bonjour France!
There's another ski resort, French this time, on the right.
That looks pretty nice.
Then it was a long, curvy road that followed a river with steep rock walls on either side. It was at least 45 minutes of driving through this canyon in the shade of the sun. Unfortunately, Octi’s fan for heat is either not blowing much (on settings 1, 2 & 3), or blasting while making a loud noise on setting 4…so I was getting a bit chilly by the time I drove into some sunlight!
I don't know the name of this gorge, but it was a welcomed surprise. Unfortunately, my phone didn't focus properly.
Nice natural tunnel.
I arrived at my camp spot by a small river in Esperaza
(sounds more like a Spanish town than a French one) in the late afternoon.It was just a driving day, but a nice
one.I sure was a bit jealous of those
people hitting the slopes though!
From Figueres I drove west, running parallel to south of the
Pyrenees, before the road took me north into the tiny country of Andorra.
Seeing the snowcapped mountains of the Pyrenees, not to far from Figueres.
Getting closer...
Into a Winter Wonderland!
Hard to see, but that's La Molina ski resort. I could see a few chairlifts, and it was the first place to have a ski lift in Spain back in 1943!
Nice chalet at La Molina.
Some lovely mountains in the distance.
I was a bit worried that I might be driving into that precipitation. If I do, will it be rain or snow?
Arriving at the Andorran border.
I didn't have to stop, but it was manned by border police and I think licence plates are photographed.
Andorra!
Andorra is
the sixth-smallest state in Europe, with an area
of 468 square kilometres and a population around 90,000. For a crazy comparison, my home country
Canada, the second largest country in the world is 9.984 million square kilometres
which is over 21,300 times bigger!
My camping spot, right in town.
After settling in at the main campground in the capital, Andorra la Vella, I
went for a walk into the city centre which is flanked by mountains on all
sides.
A sports complex right near the campground.
This is the main road running through Andorra la Vella, with an alternating middle lane. It doesn't look busy in this photo, but it was constant traffic.
That's not a road on my right, it's a river.
Near the start of my walk into the city centre.
Interesting to see a massive billboard sign advertising cigarettes...obviously some different laws in Andorra.
This is Salvador Dalí's "The Nobility of Time" sculpture, right in the heart of Andorra la Vella.
And behind the statue is this interesting bridge...I'll show it in a video later.
They had one of those "selfie posts" which I took advantage of.
A couple of restaurant pubs by the statue which is in the shade on the right.
The city does have some fancy buildings.
Heading up the main shopping street.
Andorra is famed for its tax-free shopping, so many items are available at lower prices than in many other European countries. This is because Andorra is not a member of the European Union and thus does not have the same VAT obligations. Made me feel like I was in an airport!
This is a perfume store...there were many of those.
Shopping, shopping, shopping...
A bit of a contrast here...Taco Bell next to a Rolex store...
Rolex got their target marketing a bit off...paraglider pilots are the types to buy expensive watches! I haven't even worn one in almost 40 years.
Some fancy apartments.
This is the Caldea Spa Complex that has natural hot springs. Looks like some repairs happening on their triangular spire.
I like the "Walk" - "Don't Walk" signs.
Coming from the other direction to the bridge in previous photos.
It was an interesting bridge as it was supporting to roads at different angles to each other.
Those restaurants from earlier from the other direction.
I liked the crosswalk at this triangular intersection...the striped lines covered all of the road.
The shops just did not stop.
There's another Rolex store, with the same paragliding advertising photos, but this time, instead of a Taco Time neighbour, it's a shop mainly selling baseball hats.
A skiing flower bear...of course.
This is the rooftop of the Administrative Building of Andorran Government and it looks like it is set up to host events at times. It doesn't look like a rooftop here, but behind and to the left of this angle is an area that is a few storeys above the street below. I guess they have to try and maximize their space in this hilly country.
At the end of the rooftop.
This is the view down from the sign in the last photo. The seven yellow figures sitting on posts are supposed to be poets...as the spot is called "Plaza of the 7 Poets"
A lovely church in the city.
A nice looking pub on a quiet pedestrian street.
Crossing back over the river, almost back at the campground.
The Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina were on in the evening and I happened to catch Andorra's team walking out.
The forecast is for rain tomorrow, so it looks like I’m going to cut short my time in Andorra and drive north into France. Still, it was a nice drive to get here and I enjoyed a quick visit to this tiny country.
