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Among the Basque

Among the Basque

  • Travel
We cruised through Euskal Herria (Basque Country) today. The Basque are an ethnic group that lives in an area that spans France and Spain on the Bay of Biscay at the western end of the Pyrenees.

We stopped in three places: the small fishing village of Getaria, the large and

Bilbao – This and That

Bilbao – This and That

  • Travel
Excusez-moi, Président Bush, mais vous envahissez le mauvais pays!

France

Tomorrow we return to France. Mary Anne and I love France, but many ‘mericans don’t. Maybe it’s because the French refuse to go along with some of our less-than-well-thought-out plans.

But we showed them! Freedom fries! How’d

Guggenheim – Bilbao

Guggenheim – Bilbao

  • Travel
Everybody talks about the Guggenheim art museum in Bilbao. Designed by Frank Gehry, the same guy who gave us the Experience Music Project (now MoPop) in Seattle, the Guggenheim has garnered accolades for its design.

In its short lifetime, the museum has joined a rarified list of places that folks

Pamplona

Pamplona

  • Travel
Bullfighting. Meh.

Look, I get it. Bulls are big, have pointy things on their heads, and can be dangerous if provoked. If you want to show your skill at dancing with death, I suppose annoying a bull makes as much sense as free climbing or Formula 1 racing or whatever.

Zaragoza

Zaragoza

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Zaragoza dates back to 14 BC when it was established by the Romans. There’s little left from that period, but there is a spectacular basilica, a Moorish palace, a Goya museum, and enough general interest material to make a stop worthwhile.

But let’s begin with a quick look

Barcelona Cathedral

Barcelona Cathedral

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There is a claim that this cathedral dates to the fourth century, but I think that’s kind of playing with numbers. The current structure was likely built on the ruins of something earlier, or greatly expanded it. The real action started in the fourteenth century. Practically yesterday.

Rick Steve’

OK, OK, OK

OK, OK, OK

  • Travel
We decided that we couldn’t leave town without taking another look at this amazing place. 125 years or so since construction began, it’s still going strong. Two new towers are rising (look for their flat tops in the photos). There are eight towers now and a whopping eighteen
Where Ya Going?

Where Ya Going?

  • Travel

Thanks to road construction, police blockades, and loss of GPS signal, it took forever to escape Andorra. It was worth it to return to lovely Barcelona.

On the Road to Andorra

On the Road to Andorra

  • Travel
Andorra is a tiny country of about 80,000 souls tucked into the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. It has a reputation as a place to live if you want to avoid paying tax, but this may be less true these days. Quite a few professional bike racers call
Not Collioure

Not Collioure

  • Travel
There’s a joke about places that are quiet in the evenings and on weekends, it goes: “I went to xxx once, but it was closed.” When I lived in New Zealand, you could fill in the name of anyplace in the country.

Today we had a similar experience in

Perpignan

Perpignan

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This is La Mas Bresson, a former stable that will be our home for the next three days. As you can see, it’s been improved. We share it with a German couple and a couple of Canadians from Montreal.

After settling in, we drove to an auberge a few

Carcassone

Carcassone

  • Travel
I know, I know, I know. Another day, another damned walled medieval city. But look, the Medieval period went on for a long time, plenty long enough to build a lot of these places. And even though they’re similar, there are enough differences to make each one interesting. Carcassone,
Toulouse II

Toulouse II

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We booked one of those around-the-city bus tours for this morning. I thought I’d be taking a ton of photos, but took none. Although we saw a lot, the bus never put passengers in a position to take photos of the things we passed.

So let me take up

Toulouse I

Toulouse I

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We arrived at our AirBnB apartment in Toulouse after a nerve-wracking two hour drive from Rocamadour. Why nerve-wracking? Not because of the French drivers, they are on the whole much better and much more courteous than in Seattle. Not because of the Autoroute speed. One hundred thirty kilometers per hour
Rocamadour

Rocamadour

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I wouldn’t blame you if you’re getting a little tired of medieval towns hung on cliffs. I think Rocamadour will be the last – at least for a while.

We drove an hour east to visit this place because Mary Anne read that it is the second most visited