Northwards through Spain and into France

Our next stop was Andujar in Cordoba province (the capital of Olive Oil) where it was lovely to meet up with Nina (an ex work colleague of Dave’s from Foodhall in Sheffield) and Ruari, Nina’s partner.- living in Spain for 8 months teaching English on a schools exchange programme. Great to see them and hear about their experiences of living and working in Spain, and in a bilingual school! We really enjoyed the lunch they prepared - a range of mixed and interesting salads - something we have missed recently 🤣 After a lovely walk we later opted for tapas at one of their favourite restaurants 😃


Couldn’t leave this region without visiting Cordoba, so as Nina and Ruari headed off to work in the morning we headed west. We wandered around the old city - saw the amazing Mosque-Cathedral, the latter being built within the walls of the mosque (a significant World Heritage Site); the old Alcazar, the magnificent Roman bridge, and the historic Jewish quarter. A bit of a flying visit as later we set off to start our journey northwards through Spain, saying goodbye to Andalcucia - for now - hasta luego 🤣

Alcazar walls


Cathedral within the Mosque



One of the Mosque gateways


Made it to Logrono that night, the  capital of Rioja - and also famous for its many tapas bars. Despite the torrential rain we  headed out and sampled a few local treats - our  last tapas in Spain on this trip 🥲


Logrono Tapas

Griddled mushrooms doused in garlic olive oil  - gorgeous 🤣 And as is typical, the only tapas served in that particular bar - different bars having their own speciality



Couldn't end the evening without Churros 🤣



The weather turned really wintry the next day - preparing us for home! The snowfall was quite heavy coming over the lower Pyrenees by Pamplona, but fortunately the snow ploughs and gritters were out, so roads were clear 👍

Over the Pyrenees

Loving the snow!

The lone walker - Pilgrim? - tickled Dave 🤣



Safely over the mountains we arrived in France, at Arcachon, where Rubes was booked in with the vet for her obligatory pre travel health check - all was well 🤣 Spent the night at Sanguinet lake just below Arcachon - by now the rain had stopped and the temperature had plummeted,  but beautiful - frosty and crispy in the morning - even the sand was frozen 🤣

Early morning at Sanguinet


Rubes not sure what the game is here 🤣


Decided to spend our final weekend around Fontanay-la-Comte and Vouvant (a Plus Beau Village) in Vendee - somewhere we had discovered last year on our journey home. Managed a bit of exploring, and a lovely bike ride along the Voie Verte Greenway, but by now the temperature had dropped to @zero during the day - so a bit too cold to be hanging around 🤣 

The beautiful countryside around Fontenay-la-Comte

A village we passed though on our cycle - not seen one of these before 🤣


Spent the evening in the lovely village bar in Vouvant before heading off in the morning for the last leg of ur journey home 😃 Although we had been sad to leave Spain we did find ourselves feeling really happy to be back in charming France - with its ease and familiarity - but more about our reflections on the whole trip in our next, and final blog post 😃



Icy cold - but Rubes loving it!

 


Comments

  1. Mandy25 January 2023 at 05:55

    Looks great, bet you are both really slim and fit with all the walking and cycling. Food sounds good too, are you looking forward to a good old Sunday roast ? 😃

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jane25 January 2023 at 23:43

      I wish! Some serious work to do now on both those fronts 🤣

      Delete

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