...Then we travelled north to Andorra. The land became more elevated and rugged.
We arrived just south of the town of Soldeu and stayed in an out of season ski resort hotel. That's our balcony, second from the left in the middle....
....and here it is from the inside.
It was a lovely hotel. It suffered from being off season and the staff were a bit casual about our arrival but they cheered up when the Andorran Government Minister's daughter arrived for her wedding in one of the RRs owned by the hotel owner. Andorra is making a great effort to encourage tourists in the summer to help to balance out the immense income provided by the Ski Tourism and the Duty Free Trade. On our way over the Pyrenees northwards to France we were faced by a steady stream of traffic heading up the hills to fill their fuel tanks and then their boots with the cheaper supplies.
As you can see, there is a chair lift to the top of the piste, which goes up the mountain just outside our hotel. Then you just ski back down!
Just up the road were telecabins and they were working on the weekends in the summer to provide access for sight-seers like us, downhill-mountain bikers and golfers.
We had a great time driving round the mountains and visiting pretty towns, monasteries, "Pyrenees" the department store and the "Melting Clock" statue donated to Andorra by Dali.
It stands quietly on a bridge in the centre of Andorra La Vella. You can walk up to it, touch it, feel it and appreciate it at close range.
We drove on to France but I have to show you what we have done to the front door when we came home and I shall show you Carcassonne later.
We have had a screen door added to the front door. You Ozzies will wonder how we have coped without one. There have been quite a few wasps and bluebottles this summer and we have decided that Billy is to be an indoor cat now that he is "Billy-Eight-Lives".
It does blur the door from the front a bit but it is much better than DJ expected and just as I had hoped.
As you can see, it is a bit of a puzzle to Billy.
But he has worked it out. He still can't understand what the mesh is made of and why he can't get through it , but it allows us to have the fresh air into the house and I have always loved to have the door open.
I hope this continues to go well. Billy is coping well with being an indoor cat and I am more relaxed too.
We have spent a couple of days trimming the yard and hanging the tomatoes in the shed...
It is impossible to grow and ripen tomatoes outdoors in the northeast of England. These have been outside in a lovely warm summer but they still need to go on ripening in the shed for a while. Next year our plan is to grow them in a poly-house on wheels so that it can be dragged around the sunshine patches in the courtyard!
Soon more news on Carcassonne. It was the highlight of the tour for me...
Cheers Gillian
We walked around the walls and through the small streets and alleyways inside. Great restoration work has been done. The view of these tiled roofs attracted me.
And snippets of the outer town from the windows were lovely too...
After dinner at the hotel we returned for a walk to see the lights.
And indulged in a selfie...
Cheers
