Pyrenees Tour with Photos
Discussion
Preparation
‘’How about driving to Spain?’’ I ask hopefully as we discuss our holiday arrangements; our Lotus Elise of the last 7 years had just enjoyed a sizeable service and with a new cambelt and a couple of minor performance additions, I am hoping to spend our valued 2 week holiday on a driving trip to Spain. Surprisingly, Mrs Hat immediately agrees – She no doubt having visions of a casual drive with the wind in her hair, me thinking of being on the edge of control on a mountainous pass, tyres squealing as we do battle with the road ahead!
I avoid reading any HGF posts on PH and use the car on the very occassional sunny days during the summer of 2007. On a hot Sunday morning in early June, disaster strikes – travelling at a fairly sedate pace, a Range Rover pulls into my path and the Lotus looks to be a write off. I put my dreams of tackling endless mountain passes to the back of my mind and sulk like a teenager.
SPAIN IS ON!
£7,500.00 of insurance money later and £3,000.00 of my hard earned funds result in a completely re-sprayed and re-finished car – Spain won’t know what’s hit it.
We decide to take the ferry from Plymouth to Santander to get to the sunshine as quickly as possible. The ferry booked, I note how much luggage we are likely to take, and after a few forum investigations, invest in a number of overpriced plastic bags that can be used to compress clothing – these have the unhelpful dual use of creasing any item of clothing beyond recognition. After what seemed to be an age ,the night prior to departure was reminiscent of a refugee leaving their home forever – do we really need so many clothes? (no, but one look and we take them anyway) Can we afford the space for an extra book? (no, but one look and we take them anyway) I dreamt that night of spectacular HGF failure in deepest Spain, the Lotus stranded forever in a Spanish barn only to be discovered by a practical classics nerd in 2030…….
The Trip Begins
Living in deepest East London, we knew that we would have to make good time if we were to manage a swift half in Plymouth that night – An essential pastime that was to become a theme in the following 2 weeks. The traffic on the M25 was bearable and before we knew it, we were cruising on the M4 with a beautiful sunset on the horizon. We stopped at M&S on the M4, ate a salad in the Lotus (let the ‘Lotus landfill site’ begin). We arrived at our hotel in Plymouth at 10.40 and after our swift half, settled down for a good night’s sleep. I resisted the temptation to check the car before I nod off.
Brittany Ferries to Santander
We awoke in good time for the midday Brittany Ferry, many interesting cars queuing next us and a general excitement in the air. I was worried that the Car would struggle with the ramp up to the ferry, due to its slightly lowered suspension, but this was no issue. We parked up and then stayed in the ferry bar for 5 hours (not that messy). We had a brief rest until 8.00pm and then drank some more and enjoyed a surprisingly good meal on board – Mrs Hat had the good sense to book the restaurant after the first round earlier that day.
The crossing continued at a healthy pace across a perfectly smooth sea and we nodded off expecting an early start.
At 6.45am, we were awoken by a rather bizarre selection of piped pagan music and opened the curtains in our cabin to see the Spanish coast basking in the early morning sun. The fishing boats in the bay waved as we sailed through and we were called to disembark. The Lotus started up, coughing and popping in its usual style.
Spain – Santander to Zaragoza
I had purchased a map of Spain prior to departure and assumed (why?) that the scale would be similar to my trusty road atlas of the UK. Not so. Spain is comparatively large (no shit) and it soon became apparent that a smaller scale map would be preferable. However, we considered our options and decided to head from town to town using road signs – this was a bit tricky as we soon discovered that the Spanish are keen not to promote neighbouring towns and so they often did not appear on the road signage! It still amazes me that having invested thousands on the holiday, I was too tight to buy a better map!
On the Road – Day 1
We headed south west on the N623, a relatively new road that flows through the rolling hills and mountains that separate the rest of Northern Spain from the coast. The land is very lush here and reminded us of Germany or Switzerland.
Traffic flow was generally minor and presumably with the assistance of some considerable European funding, the brand new elevated sections traversed extremely high spans – at times we were looking down into the clouds below! At the A67 junction, we were obliged to leave the new section of road due to the autoroute being incomplete and joined the N611, a road which hugs the steep, rocky valley walls. This road offered good tarmac, little on coming traffic and some serious twisties – very entertaining, especially with the exhaust reverberating against the cliff faces.
We re-joined the new motorway a few miles later, climbing again finally leaving the road at the CA171 travelling toward Ona. This road was totally deserted, broad smooth tarmac with plenty of view of the road ahead. High speeds were easy to achieve although we did endeavour to respect the (seemingly) ludicrous slow speed limits in the small villages that passed every 5km or so. The steppe was an amazing experience, quite unlike my previous image of Spain with features such as vast lakes surrounded by grazing horses. The air was cool with an alpine feel, the colour of the landscape pale and dry.
We decided to join the N232 towards our destination 100 miles south east of Zaragoza and as we dropped from the plateau, the scenery changed to a far more Mediterranean style appearance. The road finish along the early sections of the N232 was appalling, and as such it was also difficult to overtake safely, but the attractive countryside compensated well. We stopped in Ona for a picnic lunch where Mrs Hat’s casual holiday wear (very nice too) was clearly a bit racy for the ageing locals.Our equipment expanded to accommodate a penknife and bottle opener, as any Elise owner will tell you, storage is somewhat frugal!
We headed along the N232 for some time, the traffic was light by UK standards and it was easy to pass slower traffic.The road was not particularly characterful and the scenery gradually changed to the drier desert like plains, the roads accordingly straightening and we either endured the lorry crawl on the N road or paid a small toll for the AP68 auto route – a wise investment for this bland driving environment.
Arriving at Zaragoza, I had hoped to bypass the city using the ring road, capitalising on Mrs Hat’s map reading skills. Once again, the signage was poor (Euro grant request coming up) and hot and bothered, I finally realised that I would have to drive through the city, noting that Mrs Hat had not only spotted where I had stowed the penknife but was also getting ready to use it.
Travelling through Zaragoza is made possible via a four-lane high road which you share with racing locals, large goods vehicles and buses, all showing various scars from prior cross-town skirmishes. With concrete barriers lining the roadway to ensure that there is no escape from the other competitors ,roadworks on a scale that would embarrass Baghdad and locals keen to show us how to do automotive battle in an urban environment, we were relieved to hit the open road East of Zaragoza 25 minutes later.
The N232 continues along congested roads through dry barren land for 60 miles or so, there really is very little to see here although the desert like conditions were quite an experience. You would be brave to take any chances with fuel for the greater part of this route, I have no idea who would help you (Although I would have expected the AA to find someone!), it was similar terrain to that seen in Mad Max 2, complete with the occasional lunatic who had escaped Zaragoza.
At Alcaniz, The road climbs into the hills and the route becomes more interesting; long sweeping bends with plenty of room for overtakes flow throughout this area. We joined the A231 towards Valderrobres and arrived there soon after – the road conditions were as good as perfect with plenty of twists and turns flowing in between the wooded hills. Mrs Hat had pre-booked a most excellent hotel (La Torre del Visco) which foodies will love. We swept through the lightly forested roads at pace and drove along the 5km (very) dusty track to our hotel. After excellent food, drink and a hearty breakfast, we drove the car back along the 5km track of dust and headed toward Valencia for what I had understood would be a fairly leisurely drive ( where I had developed this opinion is anyone’s guess as I hadn’t asked anyone, including my navigator).
We joined the A1414 west, another road that starts lazily winding its way up the mountainous terrain and ends in some hairpins towards the town of Monroyo – at times the lotus felt like it was lifting a wheel due to the pitch of the hill, the camber and tight turns. We topped up with fuel here and headed back along the N232 towards Vinaros . The N 232 passes over many high peaks whilst only rising or falling gently and traffic levels were low – we were able to maintain high speeds and did not encounter any authorities that were hoping to catch us out. The scenery was broadly interesting and it was hot, hot, hot. After passing over the last of the higher peaks, we enjoyed a watered down experience of the Stelvio pass and raced towards the coast – it was clear that we were running late.
Accordingly, we joined the AP7-E15 at Vinaros and maintained a 3 figure average speed for the next hour or so. The Autoroute seems to offer the worst examples of poor driving skills that we saw while away, tailgating at extremely high speeds with sudden and violent lane changing – The lotus can eat the miles at this speed, but fully laden, it will not out accelerate a 5 litre Merc driven by an Eastern European drug dealer, keen to spend his earnings on the Costas!
We followed the Autoroute past Valencia to the dock, saddened that the Spanish have decimated their coast with concrete and excessive development. Arriving with just 15 minutes to spare, it is wise to warn fellow travellers that all pre-booked tickets need to be collected from the ticket office which takes at least 10 minutes – we only had 20 minutes to spare!
Valencia to Ibiza
The ferry staff were keen to ensure that the Lotus boarded the ferry without incident and directed us onto the boat at an angle. We were then awarded a parking space of our own, some 30 feet away from all of the other vehicles – I would be surprised if a Spaniard received the same gentlemanly treatment in the UK if they were driving a car not usually seen on our roads. It was great to note their enthusiasm.
The ferry took a couple of hours or so and we then went incommunicado in IBZ for the next 4 days – the island is relatively small and there are not any roads that justify any special mention. I was probably best not trying to operate anything beyond a sun bed.
Back to the Mainland.
We set off from IBZ at 6.30 am, taking a ferry to Barcelona via Mallorca. We arrived in Barcelona at lunchtime and then endeavoured to head north – I would discourage anyone from sticking around the Barcelona road system as it is a chaotic, high speed experience. We got on the Autoroute until Vildreres and then joined the GI 682 at Lloret de Mar. Once again the coastline is heavily developed almost continuously, but from Tossa de Mar to Sant Feliu the GI 682 twists and turns along the coast and is an enjoyable drive with plenty of view points across the Med.
The car seemed to love this terrain, hugging the cliff faces and bringing a smile to many faces. Although I had visions of putting the car through its paces, it was just as much fun taking the road at a manageable pace and enjoying the scenery. A couple of very brief sparring sessions with motorbikes bought nods and friendly waves.
We milled around the coast at a nice hotel (El Far) in Llafranc and generally took life at a pretty easy pace, boring Mrs Hat at various holiday destinations of my youth – Aigua Blava, Begur etc.
After 3 days of rest, we awoke to head north towards Cadaques – It rained for the first time during our trip , but it passed by the afternoon. We joined the GI 614 and really enjoyed the 10 miles or so over the mountain to Cadaques, this route is really twisty, but there is plenty of road to see without meeting something on a blind bend. For the first time, the other vehicles on the road were German and Italian sportscars. Cadaques is an excellent town for a couple of days, with good restaurants and some chilled out late night drinking places.
A few days later, we headed inland on the N260 toward Figueres. The road is fairly uneventful for the run up to the hills and a good place to stop for the night is Besalu. This pretty town has a large square where we picked up some tapas for next to nothing – even a litre of wine was just £ 2.50 ( ! ). We stayed in a budget hotel just as you enter the town, £ 40.00 for the pair of us including a rather basic breakfast which looked as if it had been visited by a swarm of locusts just before we got up.
We headed out of town on the A26 and decided to leave the main road at Olot. As we left the elevated dual carriageway, the road invited us warmly. From the sports bikes that were resting in the local Cafes, it was clear that this region was going to be entertaining. We joined the N260 and steadily climbed into the hills with broad views of healthy forests. The road surface was excellent, the visibility generally uninterrupted and there was little or no traffic (apart from the odd biker). I can safely say that the drive throughout that morning is amongst the most pleasurable that I have enjoyed, we climbed and climbed and then wound our way across the hills, the Elise revelling in the cooler mountain air, the exhaust barking across the landscape – I would not hesitate to drive this road again. As we entered the town of Ripoll, we soon nipped off to the west along the C26 which is delightful, but sadly let down by a poor surface (this appeared to be under repair/ resurfacing). The drive between Lesllosses and Vilada would be very involving with a serviceable covering, although the scenery can offer similar levels of enjoyment at lower speeds!
When we reached Berga, we returned to ‘flatter’ roads, continuing along the C26 for many miles. Once again the temperature rose as we left the hills and travelling during the siesta period allowed us to really keep up a good pace – we did not encounter any authorities which was just as well!
We followed this route toward Solsona, playing tag with a German biker who seemed to be surprised at the cornering ability of the Elise – with the hot tarmac and open roads, it was possible to carry serious speed through the long, sweeping, bends.
At Solsona we stopped for a coke, on a Sunday afternoon it was lacking a bit of life, and so before long left town on the C26 toward Oliana. As we climbed the hill out of town, a biker soothingly waved his palm up and down and thankfully I noticed – The Police were a kilometre or so along the road with a radar gun; from previous experience, if you have a sports exhaust, the sound alone can get you a 150 euro fine together with a speeding ticket without any proof of the speed that you were supposedly travelling at!
We joined the road to Andorra (My colleague had driven here earlier in the year and said don’t bother), we drove along the C14 dropping a gear in all the tunnels like a teenager. As we headed toward the border, we nipped off at Coll de Nargo and decided to stay at (Need to ask Mrs Hat what this one was called!) which we had read about in a guide book – comfortable accommodation, reasonably priced and good food, we decided to stay for a couple of nights.
We left early in the morning a couple of days later along the L 511 towards Tremp. Another belter of a road, we didn’t see a car for the next hour or so. We continued to Pont de Suert on the N260, we joined a steep, twisty road through the first of the mountains; not bad, but it didn’t flow too well and there were some fairly alarming drops on the other side of the hill. The temperature dropped and we headed toward a more ‘Northern European’ climate. We joined the N230 toward the Vielha tunnel, which was apparently dug by political prisoners after the last world war – miserable, dark and damp. The roads all around here are choked by HGV’s and I believe that there are far more pleasant passes in to France to the east.
Our tour continued through France at an easy pace for the next week or so, staying with big daddy Hat in France and across the Dourdogne and Loire valleys – I had changed to holiday pace by now and so the pace and road obsession seemed to melt away………..Try it, you’ll love it!
Tin Hat.
‘’How about driving to Spain?’’ I ask hopefully as we discuss our holiday arrangements; our Lotus Elise of the last 7 years had just enjoyed a sizeable service and with a new cambelt and a couple of minor performance additions, I am hoping to spend our valued 2 week holiday on a driving trip to Spain. Surprisingly, Mrs Hat immediately agrees – She no doubt having visions of a casual drive with the wind in her hair, me thinking of being on the edge of control on a mountainous pass, tyres squealing as we do battle with the road ahead!
I avoid reading any HGF posts on PH and use the car on the very occassional sunny days during the summer of 2007. On a hot Sunday morning in early June, disaster strikes – travelling at a fairly sedate pace, a Range Rover pulls into my path and the Lotus looks to be a write off. I put my dreams of tackling endless mountain passes to the back of my mind and sulk like a teenager.
SPAIN IS ON!
£7,500.00 of insurance money later and £3,000.00 of my hard earned funds result in a completely re-sprayed and re-finished car – Spain won’t know what’s hit it.
We decide to take the ferry from Plymouth to Santander to get to the sunshine as quickly as possible. The ferry booked, I note how much luggage we are likely to take, and after a few forum investigations, invest in a number of overpriced plastic bags that can be used to compress clothing – these have the unhelpful dual use of creasing any item of clothing beyond recognition. After what seemed to be an age ,the night prior to departure was reminiscent of a refugee leaving their home forever – do we really need so many clothes? (no, but one look and we take them anyway) Can we afford the space for an extra book? (no, but one look and we take them anyway) I dreamt that night of spectacular HGF failure in deepest Spain, the Lotus stranded forever in a Spanish barn only to be discovered by a practical classics nerd in 2030…….
The Trip Begins
Living in deepest East London, we knew that we would have to make good time if we were to manage a swift half in Plymouth that night – An essential pastime that was to become a theme in the following 2 weeks. The traffic on the M25 was bearable and before we knew it, we were cruising on the M4 with a beautiful sunset on the horizon. We stopped at M&S on the M4, ate a salad in the Lotus (let the ‘Lotus landfill site’ begin). We arrived at our hotel in Plymouth at 10.40 and after our swift half, settled down for a good night’s sleep. I resisted the temptation to check the car before I nod off.
Brittany Ferries to Santander
We awoke in good time for the midday Brittany Ferry, many interesting cars queuing next us and a general excitement in the air. I was worried that the Car would struggle with the ramp up to the ferry, due to its slightly lowered suspension, but this was no issue. We parked up and then stayed in the ferry bar for 5 hours (not that messy). We had a brief rest until 8.00pm and then drank some more and enjoyed a surprisingly good meal on board – Mrs Hat had the good sense to book the restaurant after the first round earlier that day.
The crossing continued at a healthy pace across a perfectly smooth sea and we nodded off expecting an early start.
At 6.45am, we were awoken by a rather bizarre selection of piped pagan music and opened the curtains in our cabin to see the Spanish coast basking in the early morning sun. The fishing boats in the bay waved as we sailed through and we were called to disembark. The Lotus started up, coughing and popping in its usual style.
Spain – Santander to Zaragoza
I had purchased a map of Spain prior to departure and assumed (why?) that the scale would be similar to my trusty road atlas of the UK. Not so. Spain is comparatively large (no shit) and it soon became apparent that a smaller scale map would be preferable. However, we considered our options and decided to head from town to town using road signs – this was a bit tricky as we soon discovered that the Spanish are keen not to promote neighbouring towns and so they often did not appear on the road signage! It still amazes me that having invested thousands on the holiday, I was too tight to buy a better map!
On the Road – Day 1
We headed south west on the N623, a relatively new road that flows through the rolling hills and mountains that separate the rest of Northern Spain from the coast. The land is very lush here and reminded us of Germany or Switzerland.
Traffic flow was generally minor and presumably with the assistance of some considerable European funding, the brand new elevated sections traversed extremely high spans – at times we were looking down into the clouds below! At the A67 junction, we were obliged to leave the new section of road due to the autoroute being incomplete and joined the N611, a road which hugs the steep, rocky valley walls. This road offered good tarmac, little on coming traffic and some serious twisties – very entertaining, especially with the exhaust reverberating against the cliff faces.
We re-joined the new motorway a few miles later, climbing again finally leaving the road at the CA171 travelling toward Ona. This road was totally deserted, broad smooth tarmac with plenty of view of the road ahead. High speeds were easy to achieve although we did endeavour to respect the (seemingly) ludicrous slow speed limits in the small villages that passed every 5km or so. The steppe was an amazing experience, quite unlike my previous image of Spain with features such as vast lakes surrounded by grazing horses. The air was cool with an alpine feel, the colour of the landscape pale and dry.
We decided to join the N232 towards our destination 100 miles south east of Zaragoza and as we dropped from the plateau, the scenery changed to a far more Mediterranean style appearance. The road finish along the early sections of the N232 was appalling, and as such it was also difficult to overtake safely, but the attractive countryside compensated well. We stopped in Ona for a picnic lunch where Mrs Hat’s casual holiday wear (very nice too) was clearly a bit racy for the ageing locals.Our equipment expanded to accommodate a penknife and bottle opener, as any Elise owner will tell you, storage is somewhat frugal!
We headed along the N232 for some time, the traffic was light by UK standards and it was easy to pass slower traffic.The road was not particularly characterful and the scenery gradually changed to the drier desert like plains, the roads accordingly straightening and we either endured the lorry crawl on the N road or paid a small toll for the AP68 auto route – a wise investment for this bland driving environment.
Arriving at Zaragoza, I had hoped to bypass the city using the ring road, capitalising on Mrs Hat’s map reading skills. Once again, the signage was poor (Euro grant request coming up) and hot and bothered, I finally realised that I would have to drive through the city, noting that Mrs Hat had not only spotted where I had stowed the penknife but was also getting ready to use it.
Travelling through Zaragoza is made possible via a four-lane high road which you share with racing locals, large goods vehicles and buses, all showing various scars from prior cross-town skirmishes. With concrete barriers lining the roadway to ensure that there is no escape from the other competitors ,roadworks on a scale that would embarrass Baghdad and locals keen to show us how to do automotive battle in an urban environment, we were relieved to hit the open road East of Zaragoza 25 minutes later.
The N232 continues along congested roads through dry barren land for 60 miles or so, there really is very little to see here although the desert like conditions were quite an experience. You would be brave to take any chances with fuel for the greater part of this route, I have no idea who would help you (Although I would have expected the AA to find someone!), it was similar terrain to that seen in Mad Max 2, complete with the occasional lunatic who had escaped Zaragoza.
At Alcaniz, The road climbs into the hills and the route becomes more interesting; long sweeping bends with plenty of room for overtakes flow throughout this area. We joined the A231 towards Valderrobres and arrived there soon after – the road conditions were as good as perfect with plenty of twists and turns flowing in between the wooded hills. Mrs Hat had pre-booked a most excellent hotel (La Torre del Visco) which foodies will love. We swept through the lightly forested roads at pace and drove along the 5km (very) dusty track to our hotel. After excellent food, drink and a hearty breakfast, we drove the car back along the 5km track of dust and headed toward Valencia for what I had understood would be a fairly leisurely drive ( where I had developed this opinion is anyone’s guess as I hadn’t asked anyone, including my navigator).
We joined the A1414 west, another road that starts lazily winding its way up the mountainous terrain and ends in some hairpins towards the town of Monroyo – at times the lotus felt like it was lifting a wheel due to the pitch of the hill, the camber and tight turns. We topped up with fuel here and headed back along the N232 towards Vinaros . The N 232 passes over many high peaks whilst only rising or falling gently and traffic levels were low – we were able to maintain high speeds and did not encounter any authorities that were hoping to catch us out. The scenery was broadly interesting and it was hot, hot, hot. After passing over the last of the higher peaks, we enjoyed a watered down experience of the Stelvio pass and raced towards the coast – it was clear that we were running late.
Accordingly, we joined the AP7-E15 at Vinaros and maintained a 3 figure average speed for the next hour or so. The Autoroute seems to offer the worst examples of poor driving skills that we saw while away, tailgating at extremely high speeds with sudden and violent lane changing – The lotus can eat the miles at this speed, but fully laden, it will not out accelerate a 5 litre Merc driven by an Eastern European drug dealer, keen to spend his earnings on the Costas!
We followed the Autoroute past Valencia to the dock, saddened that the Spanish have decimated their coast with concrete and excessive development. Arriving with just 15 minutes to spare, it is wise to warn fellow travellers that all pre-booked tickets need to be collected from the ticket office which takes at least 10 minutes – we only had 20 minutes to spare!
Valencia to Ibiza
The ferry staff were keen to ensure that the Lotus boarded the ferry without incident and directed us onto the boat at an angle. We were then awarded a parking space of our own, some 30 feet away from all of the other vehicles – I would be surprised if a Spaniard received the same gentlemanly treatment in the UK if they were driving a car not usually seen on our roads. It was great to note their enthusiasm.
The ferry took a couple of hours or so and we then went incommunicado in IBZ for the next 4 days – the island is relatively small and there are not any roads that justify any special mention. I was probably best not trying to operate anything beyond a sun bed.
Back to the Mainland.
We set off from IBZ at 6.30 am, taking a ferry to Barcelona via Mallorca. We arrived in Barcelona at lunchtime and then endeavoured to head north – I would discourage anyone from sticking around the Barcelona road system as it is a chaotic, high speed experience. We got on the Autoroute until Vildreres and then joined the GI 682 at Lloret de Mar. Once again the coastline is heavily developed almost continuously, but from Tossa de Mar to Sant Feliu the GI 682 twists and turns along the coast and is an enjoyable drive with plenty of view points across the Med.
The car seemed to love this terrain, hugging the cliff faces and bringing a smile to many faces. Although I had visions of putting the car through its paces, it was just as much fun taking the road at a manageable pace and enjoying the scenery. A couple of very brief sparring sessions with motorbikes bought nods and friendly waves.
We milled around the coast at a nice hotel (El Far) in Llafranc and generally took life at a pretty easy pace, boring Mrs Hat at various holiday destinations of my youth – Aigua Blava, Begur etc.
After 3 days of rest, we awoke to head north towards Cadaques – It rained for the first time during our trip , but it passed by the afternoon. We joined the GI 614 and really enjoyed the 10 miles or so over the mountain to Cadaques, this route is really twisty, but there is plenty of road to see without meeting something on a blind bend. For the first time, the other vehicles on the road were German and Italian sportscars. Cadaques is an excellent town for a couple of days, with good restaurants and some chilled out late night drinking places.
A few days later, we headed inland on the N260 toward Figueres. The road is fairly uneventful for the run up to the hills and a good place to stop for the night is Besalu. This pretty town has a large square where we picked up some tapas for next to nothing – even a litre of wine was just £ 2.50 ( ! ). We stayed in a budget hotel just as you enter the town, £ 40.00 for the pair of us including a rather basic breakfast which looked as if it had been visited by a swarm of locusts just before we got up.
We headed out of town on the A26 and decided to leave the main road at Olot. As we left the elevated dual carriageway, the road invited us warmly. From the sports bikes that were resting in the local Cafes, it was clear that this region was going to be entertaining. We joined the N260 and steadily climbed into the hills with broad views of healthy forests. The road surface was excellent, the visibility generally uninterrupted and there was little or no traffic (apart from the odd biker). I can safely say that the drive throughout that morning is amongst the most pleasurable that I have enjoyed, we climbed and climbed and then wound our way across the hills, the Elise revelling in the cooler mountain air, the exhaust barking across the landscape – I would not hesitate to drive this road again. As we entered the town of Ripoll, we soon nipped off to the west along the C26 which is delightful, but sadly let down by a poor surface (this appeared to be under repair/ resurfacing). The drive between Lesllosses and Vilada would be very involving with a serviceable covering, although the scenery can offer similar levels of enjoyment at lower speeds!
When we reached Berga, we returned to ‘flatter’ roads, continuing along the C26 for many miles. Once again the temperature rose as we left the hills and travelling during the siesta period allowed us to really keep up a good pace – we did not encounter any authorities which was just as well!
We followed this route toward Solsona, playing tag with a German biker who seemed to be surprised at the cornering ability of the Elise – with the hot tarmac and open roads, it was possible to carry serious speed through the long, sweeping, bends.
At Solsona we stopped for a coke, on a Sunday afternoon it was lacking a bit of life, and so before long left town on the C26 toward Oliana. As we climbed the hill out of town, a biker soothingly waved his palm up and down and thankfully I noticed – The Police were a kilometre or so along the road with a radar gun; from previous experience, if you have a sports exhaust, the sound alone can get you a 150 euro fine together with a speeding ticket without any proof of the speed that you were supposedly travelling at!
We joined the road to Andorra (My colleague had driven here earlier in the year and said don’t bother), we drove along the C14 dropping a gear in all the tunnels like a teenager. As we headed toward the border, we nipped off at Coll de Nargo and decided to stay at (Need to ask Mrs Hat what this one was called!) which we had read about in a guide book – comfortable accommodation, reasonably priced and good food, we decided to stay for a couple of nights.
We left early in the morning a couple of days later along the L 511 towards Tremp. Another belter of a road, we didn’t see a car for the next hour or so. We continued to Pont de Suert on the N260, we joined a steep, twisty road through the first of the mountains; not bad, but it didn’t flow too well and there were some fairly alarming drops on the other side of the hill. The temperature dropped and we headed toward a more ‘Northern European’ climate. We joined the N230 toward the Vielha tunnel, which was apparently dug by political prisoners after the last world war – miserable, dark and damp. The roads all around here are choked by HGV’s and I believe that there are far more pleasant passes in to France to the east.
Our tour continued through France at an easy pace for the next week or so, staying with big daddy Hat in France and across the Dourdogne and Loire valleys – I had changed to holiday pace by now and so the pace and road obsession seemed to melt away………..Try it, you’ll love it!
Tin Hat.
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