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| Matthew, Tess, Andre, Bo and Dino |
We are not in Spain yet, but this is our last day with the family here. This evening their friends Andre, Marcelle and Dino come to stay for two weeks so we have agreed to move out. Tomorrow we set off for Spain.
This morning we went to the Fête du Blé in Maurs to see a tractor rally.
There were also two large oxen yoked together – huge - an amazing sight!
The girls were disappointed that the ‘Jeux perdous et retrouves’ had not turned up and so was I.
The friends arrived safe and sound and we all enjoyed a meal together.
Monday 26th.
We left Rufus in the care of ‘Wags and Whiskers’ in Marminiac and continued our journey to Carcassonne. We stayed in the Hotel Bristol, centrally placed but not as good as Ibis. We spent the afternoon exploring the town.
Next day we walked to La Cité. The delights of which are best expressed in pictures.
Do any members of CADS remeber this view of Carcassonne?
In the evening we brought back many happy memories of our canal holidays by a trip up the Canal du Midi on a barge.
After a hairy start where Kate (GPS) sent us along a street facing two lines of oncoming traffic we set off for Spain. We had a long journey if we were to get there in one go and it was very hot already.
We made L’Olleria by late afternoon and Eddie had the cold beers waiting. He later took us to The Olive Branch’ a delightful place run by Brits. Jim and Eddie had fish and chips!
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| Eddie's Terrace |
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| The Pool |
Over the next few days we had dips in the pool, more cold beers, excellent meals out and enjoyed the company of several of Eddie’s friends, particularly, Ken and Corinne and Tom and Brenda. During the days following the loss of Mavis, who sadly died a few days before we arrived, these friends have proved their worth, keeping him company and providing him with meals.
On our last day in L’Olleria we took a trip to Bocarainte – a hillside town.
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| lost? |
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| no - this way? |
lost
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| or - was it this? |
Sadly, the glass factory with it’s lovely shop was closed, whether permanently or not we weren’t sure. They specialise in recycling glass. We had hoped to buy more stuff as presents to take back home. (Since our return I have found that they have a website: www.ecoglass.ws/website), so all may not be lost.
On our return we stopped for two nights in Barcelona (the stay in the hotel was a gift from Matthew and Saskia).
A day and a half is not enough time to ‘do’ Barcelona. We concentrated mainly on the Sagrada Familia and Casa Batlló, a building restored by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, built in the year 1877 and remodelled in the years 1904–1906; located at 43, Passeig de Gràcia. Both were great, but I preferred the house as religious architecture is not really to my liking.
Sagrada Familia
Casa Balltó
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| Facade |
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| Stairwell |
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| Salon with gentleman |
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| View into courtyard garden |
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| Attic room - my favourite! |
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| Chimneys |
When we no longer had the energy to walk we caught the tour bus and did it the easy way.
The next day, on to Toulouse and IKEA. Friday morning we collected Rufus and went to Gourdon for lunch where we were alerted by a phone call that someone was anxious to view the Moulin. Nothing for it but to dash home and do the business.
Spent a pleasant evening chatting to Marcelle and Andre before they left early next morning.
Gosh a real action packed travelog! You are having a whale of time. Barcelona is great bu I've never done the tour and only seen the house from the outside. Glad you made it back safely to the Mill. Must be a strange feeling returning home by going North! What is the flower? I should know but of course don't. Still looking through your pictures makes me quite glad of our clouds and cooling rain.
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