3 May

I awoke after 7 but really didn’t want to get up and about. After spending yesterday being driven around and being taken care of, it was a struggle to realise that today I would be back to doing everything by myself. But I eventually got up and prepared myself for breakfast, to find that not only were Barry and Jean up, but lunch had already been prepared and breakfast was only waiting for me to arrive. [Whoops – forgot; I had better not describe such hospitality in glowing terms lest many other relatives take the opportunity to partake and Barry and Jean end up being swamped – so everyone can ignore those comments above.]
After a leisurely breakfast I was off after being seen off. I programmed the SatNav for Andorra (and no toll roads, thanks) and was predicted to arrive at 8:15. That seemed satisfactory so I followed the route given to me, which initially took me in entirely the wrong direction, but then I realised I wasn’t going through any residential areas, so I was going to get to the highway quicker. My fears were allayed and I quickly hit the highway (a lie – I drove smoothly onto the highway) and set off east, then north. I stopped to fill up with diesel at about 11:30 and took lunch into the cabin with me and ate that as I drove along. My observation that cruising at 120 km/hr was using fuel as a prodigious rate was correct (but as I have left the log book in the car and I’m currently typing this in the hotel room, it will have to wait until later to be calculated on the spreadsheet and officially entered in) and so a lot more fuel than I thought was needed went in.
Not long after, I was directed off the highway as it became a toll road. I don’t mind as I then get to go through countryside and towns and see the real country. Immediately the houses looked older and more run-down, there was less construction and the occupations became far more rural. At this point, two things occurred – I saw the name of a business that sent my into paroxysms of laughter (I won’t write what it was as sensibilities may be offended, and just wish I could have pulled off and taken a photo – but I will look up its telephone number to verify it does exist) and I found that I was passing directly by a McDonald’s. I called in but found it didn’t advertise anywhere it had WiFi, so I went straight out.
Later I found myself driving along the C12. It is a scenic route along the valley of the River L’Erbe and is worthy of note for just that. However, for some reason, it has radar cabinets about every two kilometres along the first sixty or so kilometres. That became very unnerving as I was seeing beautiful river sights and suddenly saw the camera and wondered whether I was travelling at the correct speed (it’s 100 km/hr along the road, but can be 60, 70 or 80 for a few hundred metres before and after intersections, and 50, 60 or 70 at the beginning and end of towns (and 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70 in the towns)). However, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
I did see a beautiful castle (ruined) which I photographed, which was at about the 45 kilometre post, and at the same time saw an irresistible ferry across the river – two longboats with a platform between them to carry cars, and you had to drive on and make a sudden quick turn so enough cars could fit on (and then stop suddenly so you were still on). Not far down the river at the eighty kilometre post was a nuclear power station – I didn’t realise Spain had many, and not hidden up near the Pyrenees.
Not long after this I was in a river valley, narrow, spectacular, with lots of tunnels and twisting road. There was a huge amount of traffic coming down and I couldn’t understand why. I got to the Andorran border (again, no-one at home) and on the other side all the cars were being searched by the Spanish officials. There was a huge backlog.
Just after I entered Andorra I saw why. Huge shopping centres, where I suppose goods are far cheaper than in Spain, and only certain amounts can be brought back – but of course many people want to bring back a lot more. I pulled over, went to the Information Centre (open until 8, and it wasn’t even 7 yet – I had made good time) and got a list of accommodation places. Then I went into Andorra La Vella to get tea – and found a Hungry Jack’s (not really, a Burger King, but close enough). While having tea (no, they didn’t have WiFi) I read through the list of accommodation options and found some had Internet. With price, Internet, parking and breakfast as criteria, I narrowed it down to three – and went to call and found … no mobile signal! I programmed the first full address of one I could find into the SatNav and found it was only five minutes away. I arrived there in ten (narrow streets, sudden intersections which can’t be seen until you’ve passed them and corners which aren’t obvious meant I had a few wrong turns – the SatNav wasn’t wrong, I was) and enquired. The price was right so I went on up and saw the room – okay – and the Internet was WiFi. I had parked just opposite and was assured that would be okay, so I took my stuff up, set up, got myself ready and uploaded all the photos, all the blogs, even this one (but not until after I had written it), caught up on emails and then went to sleep with the resounding swoosh of the river right across the road in my ears. Tomorrow I intend to have a quick look around Andorra after breakfast, see if there are any souvenirs worth getting and then I’ll be heading off to Millau to cross the longest highest bridge in the world, before then heading towards Italy!