Friday 18th April 2008 – The Road to Andorra

The day was overcast but the drive from Carcassonne to Foix along the route of the Le Tour was very pleasant. The tree lined roads, the bright yellow of Canola fields contrasting with the bright green of the barley and vegetable crops and the stunning hilltop villages all combined to make for a pleasant and relaxing drive.

We stopped in Foix and again we encountered “market day”. We brought cheese, baguettes and local sausage before heading on towards Andorra.

As we approached Andorra the winds picked up and the first few spots of rain progressively developed in snow and as we entered the Principality it was covered with a thick layer of fresh snow.

Upon descent into La Vella itself the snow disappeared only to be replaced by steady by constant rain. When we think of Andorra we will probably think of Queenstown on a gigantic scale but with more Audi’s per metre of road than anywhere on this earth.

Tonight was our first night outside French territory for sometime so we were anxious to see what the food would be like. It proved immediately to be completely different and absolutely delicious. The waiters were anxious to point out that we were being served Mediterranean food. We have been seeing an enormous amount of white Asparagus (Asperes) in the markets. Tonight Bernie had the opportunity to have it served with a Rochford cheese sauce as an entrée… she is still smiling a couple of hours later. We also have seen a lot of fresh strawberries in the markets and have been buying them as snacks – they are large and extremely sweet – I am not certain whether it is just the holidays but they do seem much superior to those that we get at home.

Thursday 17th April – the Medieval City

The morning was cold – who in the hell suggested that we carry a minimum of clothes? The wind blasted us as we walked across the old bridge from the new city ot Carcassonne into La Cite - the medieval city. It screamed at us in broken French “what in the hell have you got ourselves into? What on earth are you doing here? – don’t you know even winter in Australia is warmed than it is here?” .

So what was it that kept us going as we climbed the hill to the entrance … it was without a doubt, the majesty of the 15 meter defensive walls and the 25 meter towers that were dotted along its length. From a distance and indeed from within the walls itself this is an impressive piece of history. The site is a credit to the early French government officials that established the historic monuments restoration organisation in the early 1800’s.

We think that preservation of our history is a recent phenomenon but the forethought of these people who as early as 1810 recognised that the state needed to invest heavily in the restoration of the historical sites is something that took me by complete surprise. La Cite was a restoration project that took almost 70 years from about 1820 to around 1890. The result is a stunning representation of how medieval communities defended themselves.

Did the wind really die down during in our visit to La Cite or was it just that we return across the bridge with a better understanding of why we needed to walk the walk to and from the Medieval City. What ever the reason the return back to the new city (founded in around 1600) was really quite pleasant.