Category: history

Catalonia and the Pyrenees – part 3 the Midi Pyrenees

After the drama of the Pyrenees the Midi Pyrenees of southern France more rolling hills. With:

Chateau de la Prade near Brams

Tree lined canals

 

The Midi Canal

 

With elegant locks

And deep gorges formed by the Alzou river

Gorge de l’Alzou

And as if hanging from the face of the mighty gorges,

The village of Rocamadour

Rocamadour, chateau, church and village

Rocamadour has its origins in the 4th century, and developed through the medieval times. It is a place of miracles,  shrine of the Black Madonna and survived the Cathar Wars which may be a miracle in itself.

The Midi Pyrenees opened the door to northern France, the beautiful Loire Valley,  and the bountiful fields running up to the Belgian border.

Rocamadour, has an amazing goat cheese, some say the best goat cheeze

Catalonia and the Pyrenees – part 2 the villages

  1. Parked outside the 12th century airbnb near Olot that was home for a couple of nights

The mountains of Catalonia are home to beautiful villages dating back to medieval times.

Villages built across Clifford tops

Castelifollit de la Rocca
Santa Pau

Still with ancient paths and trails through the forest

Bridge on the old trail from the village of Beguda to Olot

Ancient churches

Santa Pau

Villages that have stood millennia

Holding in their stony edifaces the history of Catalonia

The tale goes that James the 1st carried a golden shield when invading Catalonia

He was killed in battle

As he died his fingers dragged down shield leaving four bloodied stripes

The Catalonia flag four red stripes on a gold background.

The red star signifies support Catalonia independence by a socialist
The might breva parked in the old stable at the airbnb at Olot

Ps.

Thanks Judith and Juan for being wonderful hosts and Juan for sharing the tale of the Catalan flag.

Why Sete

Tucked down in the south west corner of France

A working port

A living fishing village

A city of grand canals

Sete canal

A city of art

A link.to Africa with car ferries to Morocco

And of course the stepping of from Europe in the Paris to Dakar motorcycle race.

Then the taste of Sete

Sweet muscat wine

Calamari stuffed with minced pork served on a bed of white beans

Fresh mussels, oysters and sea bass

A bit of reflection 

In the just over a week I have ridden through six countries in Europe

Open borders

Free travel

Wonderful friendly people

I’m reflecting on a this

And thinking of the past

The tragedy and waste of war so poignantly captured at the memorials at Villers Bretenneux

And the at the main train station at Nijmegen there was this sign

And I think

Let’s all just keep kissing

Let’s keep riding

And keep war and death in the past