No Place like Home
After a road trip of 2, 400 kilometres, we are home again, safe and sound. As I stated in the first of this series, I would not normally take to the roads during peak driving times when everybody and his brother are out and touring, but because we have a friend who now lives in France, we took the risk. However, our timing was such that we allowed all of the madding crowd to go ahead of us, and we came home after they did, leaving us with normal traffic.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with our friend. Before she moved she was always near at hand, but now that she lives in another country we realise what a truly wonderful person she is, and we miss her dearly.
We were together on the day of the Royal Wedding, and it was so nice to see that people all over the world joined in with street parties and celebrations all of their own. The curious thing was that I think it was both a wedding and homage to William’s mother who was taken from us far too soon.
Diana’s funeral brought out a side of the great British public that no-one knew they were capable of, and after all these years they still care. By giving our love and best wishes and unqualified support to her oldest son, we somehow were able to express our continuing admiration to Lady Di, Queen of Hearts.
We left our friend on Saturday to drive back to Valencia, and although with two of us driving we could have made the trip in about twelve hours, we took two days by driving through places of interest. From the area of Poitiers we headed south to Pau, in France, a charming little town that sits at the base of the Pyrenees Mountains. We took our time and followed National roads all the way, being very careful to obey traffic signs and speed limits, because the police were very much in evidence.
After a comfortable night, we continued on our journey that took us through and over the mountains, along some of the most pleasant, and challenging roads one could ask for. When it came time to cross the border we did so on the inside of a tunnel that was 8.9 kilometres long. It was our intention to spend the night in Alcañiz, a busy little town with a grand Parador in Spain. Spending the night there was a lovely experience and a fitting last night away from home.
From Alcañiz we simply headed for Valencia, and home. It had been a wonderful way to spend the Easter holiday. We were able to do so without serious incident, and our choice of route was both interesting and informative. On the way to our destination in France we spent about twenty-five euros in tolls. On the way back, we spent zero on tolls, but it really is a shame about the fine of 100 euros I picked up by finally getting caught by radar.
Ah well!
Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael
After a road trip of 2, 400 kilometres, we are home again, safe and sound. As I stated in the first of this series, I would not normally take to the roads during peak driving times when everybody and his brother are out and touring, but because we have a friend who now lives in France, we took the risk. However, our timing was such that we allowed all of the madding crowd to go ahead of us, and we came home after they did, leaving us with normal traffic.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with our friend. Before she moved she was always near at hand, but now that she lives in another country we realise what a truly wonderful person she is, and we miss her dearly.
We were together on the day of the Royal Wedding, and it was so nice to see that people all over the world joined in with street parties and celebrations all of their own. The curious thing was that I think it was both a wedding and homage to William’s mother who was taken from us far too soon.
Diana’s funeral brought out a side of the great British public that no-one knew they were capable of, and after all these years they still care. By giving our love and best wishes and unqualified support to her oldest son, we somehow were able to express our continuing admiration to Lady Di, Queen of Hearts.
We left our friend on Saturday to drive back to Valencia, and although with two of us driving we could have made the trip in about twelve hours, we took two days by driving through places of interest. From the area of Poitiers we headed south to Pau, in France, a charming little town that sits at the base of the Pyrenees Mountains. We took our time and followed National roads all the way, being very careful to obey traffic signs and speed limits, because the police were very much in evidence.
After a comfortable night, we continued on our journey that took us through and over the mountains, along some of the most pleasant, and challenging roads one could ask for. When it came time to cross the border we did so on the inside of a tunnel that was 8.9 kilometres long. It was our intention to spend the night in Alcañiz, a busy little town with a grand Parador in Spain. Spending the night there was a lovely experience and a fitting last night away from home.
From Alcañiz we simply headed for Valencia, and home. It had been a wonderful way to spend the Easter holiday. We were able to do so without serious incident, and our choice of route was both interesting and informative. On the way to our destination in France we spent about twenty-five euros in tolls. On the way back, we spent zero on tolls, but it really is a shame about the fine of 100 euros I picked up by finally getting caught by radar.
Ah well!
Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael
