It's Alright, He Comes From Barcelona

Craig Writes;
26/08/13

After having driven around the South of France for the last few days then having spent eight hours on the road driving through to Spain I can say with a certain amount of authority that drivers in the South of France are the most arrogant, inconsiderate, dangerous and rude sons of bitches I have ever come across. And I've got about 6000 miles of driving through several different countries under my belt to compare.  While the maniacs in South East Asia are outright crazy, they're ALL crazy so they're predictable.  And, there's no malice or rudeness. In the South of France you don't know whether it's the little VW shopping carts with motors or the big BMW's or Audis that are going to pull a crazy manoeuvre on you. They're highly unpredictable and bad mannered with it. Screw you you crazy froggie maniacs. Now where was I.

27/08/13 Finally,we arrive in Etxarri, a small village about 45 minutes out of San Sebastian Spain, to meet up with our friends Tracey and Tony and their kids Emma and Hamish.  Great for us to finally catch up with some friends from back in the old country and good for the kids to have someone else to play with.

Some high stakes chess action, don't let the innocent faces fool you, they're good

Callum cutting the cheese, look at the anticipation on their faces

Bonus for me was I had some motivation to push my lazy arse out of bed for a half decent run and someone to push me up a few hills.  Thanks Tony. 

No big plans today.  Lunch in the little village, a couple of wines and a catch up day for journaling and blogging.

28/08/13 We all headed into San Sebastián today.  A gorgeous and very popular seaside town of about 190,000 people. It sits in the belly of the Urgull, Ulia and Adarra Mountains in the Basque country that lies in the North of Spain. We went to ride the Igeldo Mountain Funicular and check out the Funfair.  It was a grey, overcast and drizzly day and the crowds were down.  Lonely sideshow stall holders sat reading newspapers and called desperately to anyone within ears reach that looked like they had a euro to spend.  We shouted the kids  to a "river boat" ride but that was it. 

Not exactly class four rapids but the kids loved it and the view was awesome

One thing the weather could not dampen was the stunning view of the town and it's surroundings. The old city sits nestled in the arms of the surrounding mountains while the fortified hill of Mount Urgull, with it's famed twelve metre high statue of Christ, stands guard,looking out to the distant aqua blue horizon of the Bay Of Biscay, the view was incomparable.

Looking out over the Bay of Biscay

A wonderful memory

Small boats bobbed at their moorings and squadrons of manoeuvring kayakers could be seen negotiating the little inlets of the island that lies in the Bay Of La Concha.  

From here we ventured into the city in search for the famous Spanish tapas, we were not disappointed. 

Searching the streets for that perfect tapas bar

Suddenly they're everywhere, but very crowded

There is bar after bar after restaurant all serving up the most delicious little morsels. The hard part was deciding where to go. Oddly enough the place we finally settled in was probably the only place that didn't do tapas. HAHAHA. But, with a party of eight and everyone now seated and hungry we decided to stay and made our own tapas plates by ordering heaps of entrees. Same thing really.  It was all superb.

Afterwards we did a slow trawl around the city and ended up on the shores of the Bay watching schools of fish swim amongst the rocks and locals jump from a nearby jetty. 

Everywhere you turned there were calories, calories and more calories

It was a stunning sunny day. The slow long arch of beach was  surprisingly quiet. I leaned against the warm railing pondering what the chances would be of jumping from the quay into the school of fish and grabbing one with my bare hands. Just a thought.

29/08/13 We had plans to go into Pamplona to see where the running of the bulls happened and grab some lunch while the Metcalf's headed back to San Sebastian to take in some of that beautiful beachyness from yesterday. Unfortunately, after they had headed off, we discovered that the house key had been misplaced and we couldn't leave without locking the place up. So, we googled running of the bulls and had a look at a very impressive map of where they ran.  Not quite the same but what can you do.  They got back from the beach around four pm and Tracey finds the key in the one spot of the entire house I didn't look. Aaarrgghh. 

Christina and I headed in anyway.  It was our last day here, the sun doesn't go down till late and the restaurants don't even open till eight so, why not. We were told most of Spain is on holiday till September and I think that is more the case in Pamplona than anywhere else we have been.  The place was deserted. Still we found a really nice park to walk around. It was built over the Bastion of Taconera.  The gardens here are quite famous but it was the menagerie of animals that were kept in the grassed area between the two walls of the old fortress that were fascinating. Geese and deer and partridges, swans and ducks and chickens. I'm guessing they're there for when the city council has a formal dinner.

The larder for the local council

Still, it was nice to have a walk around by ourselves. The boys stayed backed with Tony and Tracey, Emma and Hamish. 

Last night tonight before we pack and head to Barcelona. A very big thank you to our wonderful friends, The Metcalfes,for sharing their beautiful farmhouse with us and allowing us to be part time intruders. It was a real treat.

Da girls

BARCELONA

30/08/13. Another six hours in the car today. You pay through the nose for the privilege of driving on the roads in France and Spain and while the continual gouging of the toll booths gets a little monotonous, when you can average 150km an hour and it feels like your still in third gear, thats kinda worth it.

You don't see a ten story bull everyday

We have landed in Barcelona for a few days before we head to our cruise ship and twelve magical days sailing the seas, not driving, not catching trains and not lugging suitcases. Oh Bliss.

Barcelona is quite the city.  Established in the 3rd century BC by Hannibals dad, Hamical Barca, it is now the second biggest city in Spain with a population of over 1.6 million and is one of the worlds leading tourist, science, media, fashion and cultural/sport mecas.

The name Antoni Gaudi is stamped all over the place.  From his magnum opus, The Sagrada Familia, The Church of the Holy Family, to the totally surreal Casa Batllo and the bizarre 17 hectare Park Guell which is now a UNESCO World Heritage listed site.

Born in 1852, he died in 1926 with the Sagrada Familia only 20% finished. Building was interrupted over the 20th century by wars, wars and more wars. Namely, WW1 and Two and the Spanish Civil War, 1936 to 1939. It is now back on track and due to be finished in 2026.  The centenary of his death. 

Christina has once again excelled at apartment locationism.  We are literally two minutes walk from the Sagrada Familia and a throng of restaurants but enough off the tourist track to not be bothered by crowds.

The local Paella is ok,  but nothing on The Smedleys or Janet S's back in Perth

Finally, the family together, fittingly in the shadow of Gaudi's, Sagrada Familia

The detail is extraordinary, he must be a very happy Gaudi

1/09/13

We headed off early to see Casa Batllo, one of the many Gaudi masterpieces. The pictures on the internet while intriguing and magnetic, were nothing compared to the real thing.  It was like walking into the architectural love child of Tim Burton and Salvador Dali. It was gothic meets curvaceous modernism, from the smooth melting walls to the curved oak doors, from the irregular oval windows with stained glass and the flowing sculptured stone work to the golden oranges and greenish blues of the scaly dragons back that decorated the external facade. 

From the very first step, it's like walking into a dream

The famous Mushroom shape courting area, couple to the right, chaperone to the left

This place had the boys full attention

The central light shaft was a work of genius

Just a simple Gaudi door

Even the chimney stacks got the full Gaudi treatment

The man did not like straight lines

Unfortunately the  true colour is a little lost here

It is like walking through a dream. Outside, the massive turret and cross dominate the facade. It is supposed to represent the lance of the patron saint of Catalonia, Saint George, plunged into the back of the dragon. The balconies could be anything from the Mardi Gra masks of Carnivale to the skull of some mythical creature. Only Gaudi and his small team really knew. The house is the proverbial enigma cloaked by intrigue and wrapped up in mystery.

It was truly one of the man made highlights of our trip.

From here I was desperate for a coffee and the nearest thing was McDonalds.  I remember in the US that as a back up they were passable so I thought why not.  I have obviously been spoilt since being in Europe. Absolute dishwater.

It was a beautiful day so we thought lets head to the beach. I must say there is something endearing about a people who embrace the culture of topless bathing as heartily as the Spanish do. The sun was warm, there was a puff of a cool sea breeze and with the seagulls and the bobbing boats there was plenty to look.  We took our time and meandered down the boardwalk before jumping in a cab and heading back home. 

I apologise for the lack of nudity, I was not in control of the camera

There was a seafood place around the corner from our apartment that served up seafood that was still swimming that morning.  You buy it by the kilo and they cook it up and serve it with a salad.  I am happy to go record as saying it is the best seafood I have ever had in my life.  Oysters, Tiger Prawns, Calamari, Squid and Razor Clams, some fried, most grilled. It was the best Jerry, the best!

You buy it by the pound here and...

.... they serve it up freshly cooked here.

2/9/13 Last day in Barcelona. Christina's folks, Mike and Eleanora are joining us today to sail off into twelve sunsets on the newest liner in the Princess fleet, The Princess Royal.

Mike giving me some tips on what it takes to be a successful cruiser

OMG. We arrived at the port today to be met by this massive floating palace, The Royal Princess.  The scale of this thing is enormous. It is the newest in the Princess fleet having only been christened by Employee Of The Month, Kate Middelton, in June of this year. At a whopping 141,000 tonnes, it is by all accounts the jewel in the crown. 

I don't want to rave here about all the "stuff" this behemoth has. Needless to say, we won't be going hungry and we wont be getting bored.

The rooms are very generous in size with a queens size bed, very clever use of space and  a decent size balcony to swan around on when the mood strikes.  The gym is bloody fantastic. Huge range of equipment, tonnes of weights and the best view in the world.

I look forward to sharing more about this floating Club Med in our next post.

Avignon- I cant say that without thinking of Brian Ferry

Craig Writes;

21/08/13 Nine hours of train travel today. We have three changes but only one is a confirmed booking and on two of the legs we have less than 10 minutes to get the four of us off one train, drag four freaking heavy cases through hordes of commuters along one platform, down stairs, up stairs and down another platform filled with more hordes.  What could possibly go wrong.

Well better that things turn to shit from the start I guess. We had ten minutes to make our first change and that was blown straight out of the water when they couldn't close one of the train doors on our first train and we left twenty minutes late. On top of that it was a regional train that we couldn't reserve seats for so we end up in the toilet compartment between carriages for four hours standing sitting and leaning on our luggage. Which, oddly enough ended up being the next best thing to a proper seat because the train was that full people were crammed into the narrow aisles with their luggage piled around them and people continually stepping over them.  While we weren't exactly swimming in space  we had a lot more than they did. And, as an added bonus the toilet in our compartment wasn't working so we weren't getting bothered by people coming and laying big stinkies right where we were camped. In fact as it turns out none of the toilets on the train worked.  Nice one Italirail.

Sure enough we missed all of out connecting trains and tried vainly to play catch up from there. We kissed our previously paid reservation fee goodbye and parted with another $100 to reserve more seats on the next train. We finally got to our hotel at 9.30pm, miraculously only an hour later than planned. As it turns out that was the last of our train trips. It is all car, boat and plane from here in.

We are staying at a gorgeous little boutique hotel called Le Cadran Solaire in the Graveson Provence run by Jean Claude and his delightful wife Elisa. There are only ten rooms in this charming little 16th century coach house.  The gardens are full of beautiful trees and flowering plants are in abundance.  Wisteria and roses add colour and fragrance to the traditional Provincial colour schemes of cremes, terracottas and the faded blues and greens of the painted shutters. I'm so glad we opted for an out of the way place as opposed to one of the more touristy traps of Nice or the Cote d Azur. 

This is where we had breakfast each morning

Quiet spot for a drink or a chat

Or a lie down and a read

22/08/13 Thought we'd take a drive out to The Pont Du Gare today. What was originally going to be a one hour return trip drive-by turned into a three and a half hour enthralling excursion.

This amazing piece of architecture was built two thousand years ago and in an astoundingly short five years.  It was the largest ancient aqueduct system in the world. The Romans used it as part of their 50km underground aqueduct system to bring water from the river Uzes to the Roman colony of Nimes.  For five centuries this systen delivered over 44,000,000 gallons of water daily to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nimes.

They built this massive aquaduct in under five years

Believe it or not, this scraggly hunk of tree is over 900 years old

Bloody astounding when you think of it.

The museum was really interesting and had some great displays showing how the construction would have unfolded. The cinema had a film running on a continuous loop that I'm guessing would have been nicely informative.  It's a pity the production budget didn't stretch to some sub titles.

The town of Graveson is tiny. A few shops, restaurants and that's about it. Tonight we're trying one of the restaurants Jean Claude has recommended.

Just a very quiet and quaint town

Rush hour in Graveson

23/08/13 Out to the very cute town of Saint-Remy today, birthplace and home of Nostradamus.  I wonder if he knew we were coming?

There's not a lot to do here except wander the narrow laneways with a gelati in your hand looking at the little boutiques, craft shops and art galleries. Maybe grab a coffee in an alfresco cafe under a big shady tree and watch the crowd roll by or just dip your toes into one of the many little fountains. Nostradamus has his only little fountain. 

Nostradamus's fountain, more like a big bird bath really

I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you splashed a little of the cool water on your brow. There are a couple of small museums to while away a little time. We went in for a lazy lunch and a bit of a wander and easily lost a few hours.

We discovered some alternate uses for a snail shell holder, this...

Or this...

Some people even use it for this.

24/08/13 Who would have thought. Les Baux de Provence is a tiny little commune in the South of France in the province of Provence. It is a rocky outcrop at the top of the mountain that is a perfect place to fortify a dwelling and as such humans have been doing so since 6000BC.

The hillside fortress of Les Baux de Provence

What was once the seat of a feudal lordship in control of over 79 towns and villages is now  a thriving tourist attraction with the population of the village now well down on it's peak of 4000.  Twenty two people live in the village but the hundreds of thousands of tourists that visit every year keep the place thriving and on it's toes.  The ruins of the castle are very interesting and although most of the original village dwellings are now shop fronts they have lost none of their 15th century charm. There are many examples of medieval siege machines and weaponry. In fact on the weekends there are demonstrations on how some of them actually worked. They fire up a fully working Trebuchet, and there is a working couillard, baliste and bricole.  

It's like a massive sling shot on steroids

Your good old fashion ramming machine

All basically giant slingshots in one form or another.  There is a very entertaining little role play involving some duelling Counts using actual weapons. The swordplay is very realistic and from the clanging swords, it's pretty full on. 

So, when you've got your sister down, grab her pigtail in your left hand and then...

I dont mean to spoil the ending but... the guy in blue wins

There is even the opportunity to fire off a replica cross bow. Our family blowpipe specialist, Christina, once again showed herself to be the marksperson of the family. I once again completely missed the target.  Callum and Charlie both did better than me. 

The family sharp shooter at it again

We finished our stay at the village and the castle with some Violet, Lavender and Ferere Rocher gelati before heading down the road to what has been one of the visual highlights of the trip.

It was like licking Lavender

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to literally skip along the giant score sheet of a Chopin concerto, to actually step from one Monet lily to another or to stand in the middle of a gigantic blossoming Chagall rose.  For those of you that have been fortunate to see some of the great masters of the Impressionist era you'll know what I mean when I say that such is the seduction of these works of art, such is their ability to capture the light and the essence of the scenes they recreate that you feel you could just fall into the painting. 

Words fail me

Unfortunately no simple photo can do this place justice

If ever you can, then you must

Well the Carrieres de Lumieres at Les Baux de Provence has been able to achieve just that sensation, and more. A  disused bauxite and limestone quarry has been converted to immerse the spectator in the most unique multi media presentation in the world. The 45 minute show is projected onto over 7000 square metres of towering quarry walls and huge expansive floors and takes you on a journey that incorporates not only the Master Impressionists but also a film which transports you on a fascinating voyage through the elements from raging tornados to the dark and amazing depths of the oceans to the wonder of the far reaches of outer space. 

It was truly a unique experience heightened by the accompanying music that varied from classical to 20'S swing to some haunting Billy Holliday.  

25/08/13

Avignon has a rather special claim to fame. This small city of 95,000 is also called the City of Popes because during the turbulent years of the Catholic Shiism from 1309 to 1423 the Popes of Rome were relocated to Avignon. The ramparts of the walled city are still in tact and about 12,000 people still live within the city walls.

The Popes Palace in Avignon. Nice, but it's no Vatican. No wonder they moved back.

We had read the reviews for visiting the Popes Palace and combining the poor reviews with the fact we had seen a few palaces and cathedrals we opted to not pay the 40 euros and just had a good look from outside.

Looking for a little something different to eat for lunch we walked past a hundred restaurants selling the same thing until we came across a French Vietnamese Restaurant. Why not we thought.

Matt Preston popped in to give us his take on the Vietnamese fare

We were glad we did. It was typical Vietnamese fare. Light, tasty and delicious. 

Home from here for our last afternoon at our beautiful little hotel.  One last French pizza for dinner, an early night and up early ready for a seven hour drive to Spain tomorrow.

Delicious French pizza, who woulda thought