I was in Marseille in southernmost France and decided to rent a car and drive to Paris through the French countryside in a rather more leisurely and devious manner than taking the express train and zipping there in a relatively few hours. So, of course, I headed for Spain in the opposite direction as a start. The drive to Barcelona is fairly direct although I had to detour to Sete near the border to explore the colorful port town that gets so much postcard attention.
Barcelona has very much to offer the tourist and a few days could easily be spent exploring Gaudi's works, the recent Olympic venues and the city's rich historical and contemporary attractions. Photos of Barcelona A cautious note, however, as I was almost robbed twice in the same day on the street in broad daylight. It would not hurt any traveler to be alert to the many Tourist scams that are employed daily to separate the visitor and his valuables.
After a relatively brief visit, the vehicle was finally headed north toward the Pyrenees and Andorra which is a tiny but prosperous principality situated astride the mountainous Spanish/French border. The country is engaged in an apparently lucrative duty-free type of trade combined with a variety of sports activities such as hiking and skiing. Its few large towns are strung out along the narrow valley floor and consist largely of shops, hotels and a steady stream of vehicular traffic. After the towns, the summit of the pass through the Pyrenees was completely in fog for about a dozen miles before the road dropped down to the rolling French foothill country north of the east-west trending mountain range.
Heading further to the west was the next goal of Lourdes, the pilgrimmage capital of France, and its grotto. It is sobering to see the endless lines of people in wheel chairs of all types shuttling between the town, hospitals and holy places. next
Then its north to Bordeaux a pleasant port city on the Garonne and the Atlantic. Of course, the region is famous for its wine production and it might be interesting to note that I bought five liters at a small shop in one of the many towns along the road for something like a dollar a liter! If you're not a proficient drinker that can last for quite a while.
Bordeaux was one of about ten sites for the World Cup soccer matches and even as I write this on the eve of the finals between France and Brazil, I can still feel the excitement of the events in today's soccer capital of the world. Some 172 countries started the competition and now it is down to two and one of those two is the defending champion and the other is the host country. Quite a scenario.
The western part of France is very comforting. It tends to be rolling hills but level enough to allow the roads to be rather straightforward and I found that I could make just as good time on secondary roads as on the toll roads. Incidentally, if I haven't mentioned it, gas in France costs over $4 per gallon, probably the most expensive in Europe. One starts to appreciate the small cars so popular on the continent.
Next target was Mont St. Michel, the postcard perfect tied-island monastery on the Atlantic shore . It was low tide so quite a bit of parking was available and it was a most pleasant walk up the small winding path of the island.
Now it was time to turn east for Paris (guide) with a stop at Chartres to see the cathedral and its famous glass windows. Paris still has a charm even if one is caught in their rotaries/roundabouts in heavy traffic. There should be an easily obtained sign in French that says 'beginner' or student driver so that they will know to beware the visitor. Perhaps the parade at the Etoile was as much a victory for foreign drivers as it was for WWII.
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posted 7/18/98
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