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Geo: 42.6338, 0.218476
Joyeux anniversaire Etats Unis d'Amerique!
As much as we hated to leave Saint-Lary-Soulan in France, we had a long ride scheduled and the weather forecasted a 40%!c(MISSING)hance of rain. When traveling through the mountains rain is something to take seriously.
We wanted to head back into Spain to check out the Valley de Pineta and stop at the Hotel Parador Bielsa de Monte Perdido that John recommended to us. We wound our way 20km up D-173 from St. Lary thru the little village of Aragnouet, to the mile-long Bielsa-Aragnouet Tunnel which would take us into Spain again. The tunnel is being renovated, so lane controls gave us an 11 minute delay. We were only one of five vehicles waiting to enter.
Proceeding down a winding stretch of A-138 for 10 km, we entered the little village of Bielsa and followed the signs to the Parador Bielsa. (There are 93 government-owned Paradors around Spain. Some are castles, estates, or historical buildings operated as a hotel (usually 3-star) and run by private companies, similar to the lodges in our national parks.
After riding 12km into the beautiful Alpine Valley de Pineta lined with granite peaks and waterfalls, we came to the 3-story hotel, sitting on a bluff above the river, at the base of the surrounding mountains, in the Monte Perdido (Lost mountain) nature reserve. It was easily reminiscent of Yosemite Valley, with the towering cliffs and waterfalls from the snow melt. The wood and stone structure was originally built at the turn of the century. We sat out on the balcony in the sunshine and enjoyed a coffee and an apple pastry.
Vowing to make a point of staying in Bielsa on our next trip to Spain, we headed back into France, winding our way down the Aure Valley. We decided to changed our planned route back into the Pyrenees National Forrest, opting instead to take the most direct route back to Toulouse to avoid getting stuck in the pending storm.
Two hours later we were navigating the freeways coming into Toulouse and merged onto the wrong interchange. We took the first off ramp in an effort to backtrack to the correct interchange. Unfortunately, the French don't design their highways with full interchanges at every exit, so we ended up going another 5 miles along surface streets through downtown (again). Fortunately I had printed a bunch
Leaving Bielsa
The village of Bielsa, Spain of large scale Google maps before we left home, so decided to take the surface streets to Paul's house in north-east Toulouse.
We stopped to consult the map, and when I went to start the bike back up I got the clicking from the starter. As I closed my eyes and said a prayer the first rain drops started to fall on us. Plus, we were not on an incline so jump starting the bike would be tough.
3-2-1. I hit the starter button and the engine fired! Praise the Lord! A half hour later we rolled through the construction barricades on our street and made it to the house. Once we got inside, we dropped everything, peeled off our gear and opened a bottle of wine from the region. It was the end of another long but challenging day in our ongoing adventure.
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