After a couple of days at Guy’s parents which involved a very big bonfire to get rid of some bamboo and a happy 88th birthday, we moved on this morning towards the Pyrenees.
For some reason, we expected the rain to turn to snow as we drove up into the mountains – no chance! Water, water, everywhere. Each river, stream, or babbling brook is a raging torrent. Grey and miserable everywhere.
The Col du Somport was closed for some reason, so for the first time ever, we had to come through the boring tunnel into Spain. There’s a bit of snow on the mountain tops but nothing like we’ve seen in previous years.
Landed in Jaca and thought we’d have another look around the citadel, the only surviving Spanish star fortress. We’ve been inside before, but now there’s a charge of €8 each so we walked around the outside which is probably the more interesting bit anyway. The almost perfectly preserved walls form a pentagon shape with a deep moat all the way around. Strangely, there’s a herd of deer wandering around in what effectively for them is a featureless prison! They seem to be well fed though.
Looked inside the cathedral next, which was also quite impressive once the lights came on.
The rain forced us back to the van to spend the evening poring over weather maps trying to decide which route to take next.
