Until now the Pyrenees to me were just a place that Phil Ligget rabbits on about in the Tour de France. Now I have been I understand why he waxes lyrical about their beauty. The mountains are heavily forested at the lower levels we have been driving through (around the 1000 metre mark), with the distant higher mountains in the background revealing their rocky outcrop. The Pyrenees are lush and verdant, and dotted with picturesque mountain villages and some splendid medieval towns.
Staying in the Parador
For our night in the Pyrennes we stayed in the Cardona Parador. The Paradors are a state run hotel chain, mostly of castles, convents, fortresses and other historic buildings. Franco had the idea to preserve some old monuments by turning them into hotels. Cardona was important from Roman times because of the deposits of rock salt, and salt mining continues today. The original fortress dates from around the 880s and was established by the intriguingly named Wilfred the Hairy, Count of Barcelona. I must confess to never having heard of Wilfred before now, but he is a big name in the region, being founder of the House of Barcelona, the forerunner of modern day Catalonia. Wilfred is also remembered for being the founder of hereditary passage of titles.
As to be expected the fortress is high on a hill overlooking the valley below and the hotel is in the medieval castello. Of course it is exquisite.
Our drive through the Pyrennes brought us to Barcelona, and along the way we encountered a bicycle tour. We stopped the car on the road side and enthusiastically clapped the contenders along their way, feeling just like Phil Ligget commentating the Tour de France.
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