Blogs from Aquitaine, France, Europe - page 71

Crossing the Pyrenees proved dramatic. The van coped well with the upward climb out of Spain. We stopped at the top to take in the breathtaking views. There was even a shepherd with a huge flock of sheep on a high peak. On the way down however I overused the brakes on the steep twisting turns and there was suddenly the horrible smell of overheating brakes. We stopped for twenty minutes but they overheated again within two kilometres. We made a painful slow decent at last reaching the valley. Panic over we continued serenely on our way. The route was marked by many farms selling the local cheese. We ended up in Laruns in the valley of d'Ossau which is surrounded by tall mountains. The town was setting up for the eveing market, however a torrential ... read more

On the way to Valencia we drove through the Pyrenees, the mountain side is beautiful, we managed to stop along the way and grab some shots. The one thing that you do really appreciate is the amazing road, tunnel and bridge structures that navigate themselves along these massive mountains.... read more

Voilà mon arrivée en France après un voyage de nuit en train au départ de Madrid. J'ai du abandonné Fred à ces propres aventures car mon budget s'amenuisait trop rapidement. je n'y suis resté qu'une matinée avant de partir chez Julie dans les Landes.... read more

WELCOME TO BORDEAUX! well after a flight over to Halifax and a 5 hr lay over then a stop in Newfoundland then a 7 hr flight to London. it was amazing to see Ian waiting for me at the Heathrow Airport. You all would love to see us walking around with our backpacks full of all our belongings for 2 mounths. So we spent the day in London. The train station had a place where we stored our backpacks and we were off to explore. London is so nice and busy! We ended up at a bar called the "Maple Leaf" its a canadian bar ... it was pretty fun; caught up and watched a CFL game followed by some world cup action. Then we went out for some drinks with NIck, one of Ians fraternity ... read more

Onto Bordeaux. Perhaps the most famous wine region in the world. We got to one chateau at which we could taste one thimble of wine but it was enough to make me buy a bottle anyway. The tour through the cellars and winery got us so thirsty that the tasting was not enough so we needed to buy some wine to rehydrate. I am sure this was their marketing strategy. The city itself was fantastic and flat which was a welcome change to those pushing me around after Lisbon. Quite strangely, another claim to fame in Bordeaux is that they have the longest shopping street in the world which the girls loved (it took them 3.5 hrs to do half its length, compared to 45 mins for us guys to cover its full length, as there ... read more