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Leaving Spain today was not as hard as we would have imagined. The emotional part of the departure was filled with the thoughts of the south of France and Provence so we were quite excited. The physical part of leaving was quite straight forward. Once on the motorway we headed for the Pyrenees and Andorra.
We have had a great time in Spain seeing wonderful places, meeting people and listening to the language. We are quite amazed at how quickly the weather girls speak and can get through the forecast in one breath. But new adventures await us so we must move on.
Our next destination is a small town, Homps, east of Carcassonne. We have chosen a route through the Pyrenees which means going through the Tunel del Cadi, 5.3 kilometres long and toll charges of €11.63, and into the Principality of Andorra. Passing through the customs and immigration area for us was a breeze, not so the returning Spanish with their booty of cheap liquor and cigarettes. Our big purchase in this tax-free haven was a fill up of diesel and some groceries including beer. It appears the French and Spanish come to Andorra for a bit of
freedom from their own strict laws, including smoking in restaurants and going at great speed through the narrow streets of this small country. Tourism is alive and well in Andorra and a great deal of building is going on.
Leaving Andorra we took the zig zag route to a height of over 2400 metres; recent snow had been shifted from the road and the temperature was 6 degrees. Driving down into France we passed the last chance stop to stock up on duty free items. For us passing through the French customs check point was no problem but obviously the officers on duty were profiling occupants of cars and three young men were pulled over for a spot check. The traffic in both directions was quite hectic and thoughts were of the traffic in New Zealand heading away for this Queens Birthday Weekend.
Getting closer to Carcassonne, on the recommendation of previous travellers we stopped at the little town of Mirepoix. This medieval “bastide” town was alive and well when we arrived. The town square was set up for some type of celebration and shops had large displays set up under incredible verandahs. Words can’t really describe what we saw
so hopefully a photo will.
The journey had been long but quite straight forward until we were almost at Homps. Nothing should be easier than follow D610 and arrive at our destination. Not this time. For an unknown reason we were sent on a detour in the opposite direction along very narrow roads through fields of corn. Suddenly the deviation signs disappeared. We got out the GPS and finally got onto a road to reach our accommodation, a time share development, where an efficient receptionist advised us we were late and she was about to go home. With lots of apologies and explanations all was fine and we settled in for the next three nights.
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