I took the day off today…

6-10-10

Well sorta. I still rode 120 miles, but that wasn’t my intention. When I woke up, it was raining, windy, and blah-ful. I trudged 50 meters down the street to do laundry. While waiting for the machine to stop going round, I dropped in a café and had my morning brew. (Ya know, as good as coffee is here, I still miss my good ol’ American cuppa Joe at the Pannikin. There’s nothing like a big full cup of tasty caffeine. Somehow, this stuff doesn’t get me going.) At a nearby patisserie, I bought a delicious raisin roll and an apple turnover for later. Then it was off to an Internet café to check emails. By that time it was after noon and the weather was clearing.

I figured I’d just ride up the hill and see what the valley looks like from above. Yeah, sure. By the time I stopped, I was at the top of a 1700 meter pass. 1761, to be exact. It was really chilly up there, but clear and beautiful. There’s still snow on some of the mountains. I took the long way down the hill, and the next thing I knew, I was looking for another fun road. I found a little town called Evol. It’s on the list of “Most Beautiful Villages in France.” It is very nice. Flowers everywhere, and a nice stone ambience.

After that, it seemed easy to go farther West. There’s a little piece of land in a valley not far from here that is an anomaly. It’s part of Spain, but totally enclosed by France. When borders changed eons ago, somehow this little piece was forgotten. There are only a couple of towns. The main one is Llivia. I figured it might make it on my list of tiny independent countries to visit. That was only a hop, skip, and a jump further than where I was.  OK, so it was also over a 1866 meter pass in more cold rain, but what the heck. Finding that gas is 30 cents a liter cheaper there helped. It’s a tiny place, just a few miles square, but it really is Spain. Things look just the same as the rest of the valley, but the language is different.

Taking the highway, it was only an hour back to Prades. I finished off the day with another fine meal, this time at El Patio. Fish soup and a green salad with a pichet (small carafe) of red wine. The fish soup was outstanding, and the salad was just a pile of the freshest little lettuce leaves and an oil & vinegar dressing, but with some special herbs mixed in. Just right.  Oh yeah, I got back to town just in time to pick up desert at a choclatier I found, so that was waiting in my room. A decadent cake of raspberries covered with chocolate.

And now to bed.