Day 79 – to Capestang (France)

A morning of chores; supermarket in La Seu, then through Andorra to fuel up cheaply, and pick up a couple of bottles of Talisker. I did the latter in Encamp. I had been in Andorra last year with my T5, as well as cycling through it on Bike Spain 17 years ago. It certainly has changed in between those times, and the traffic of heavy and not easy to drive in either, at least until you depart for the steep climb after Encamp. At this time there is the option of the expensive tunnel through the mountain, would have been 15 euros for me, but I was keen to climb the pass also. The top is at 2400 metres, and there was plenty of snow, certainly enough to provide a couple of hours fun for the dog and I. Actually, Roja got into a photo-shoot. There were a few cars parked up at the usually crazy busy pass, but most people walked a hundred metres or less, perhaps not surprising as it was -5C. We went on a couple of miles on the ski roads, and met a few guys working there, preparing for opening. One guy was a Spaniard who lived in Andorra and was a professional photographer. He roped the dog into a few shots.

We then drove into France and on the beautiful Route de Cols over to Carcassonne. I had intended to stop short of the town, but decided on driving an extra hour into the darkness, something I usually don’t like doing, as it’s more difficult to find a place to pull over. This time of year though, it isn’t so difficult, especially in France, where campervans are made much more welcome. Most villages have a parking area for vans, and in Capestang it was the theatre car park. We arrived about 7 pm, and walked into the village for a beer before settling down for the night.