Hola; our Catalan adventure
Ever since we got here, we've been meaning to go to both Andorra and Spain, but we have just never found the time or opportunity.
Yesterday we decided to make the time, so we set off around 9:30 for the Andorran border. When you are about to cross from France into Andorra, you notice that you have suddenly gone above the tree-line. At that point in the Pyrenees, you are at about 3000 meters, which is less high than the Rockies in the U.S., but still pretty high up.
There is a border crossing, but we drove right across without being stopped as I don't think anyone is that interested by what you're taking into Andorra; all the action is for those who are leaving.
For my U.S. readers, you may wonder why this is; indeed, many of you may only have vaguely heard of Andorra, or not have heard of it at all.
Andorra is one of those "postage stamp" countries like Lichtenstein or Monaco. It is only about 45 or 50 km across and straddles the Pyrenees between Spain and France. There are 3 main reasons to go there for most people: skiing, banking and, the biggie for most folks around here-SHOPPING. Indeed, Andorra is basically a giant shopping mall in the mountains.
The interest is that despite its size, Andorra is a pretty rich country with no income tax, capital gains tax, gift or inheritance tax. There is sales tax on some things, but it is lower than in France or Spain. Thus, prices for many goods are also lower than in France or Spain. It's a particularly interesting place to go for people who drink or smoke, because both of those things are cheaper. My friends tell me that you can also get better prices on electronics and even things like sugar and butter.
We've always figured that the amount of gas we would spend (not to mention the time) would pretty much offset any gains, so we've never really gone out of our way. I have also heard that traffic returning from Andorra can be hideous and I just wasn't in the mood. And, that if you're not shopping or skiing, it's not all that interesting.
Still, we really wanted to check it out, so we headed for Pas de la Cas, which is the town just across the border from France. Hearing about it really doesn't prepare you for the amazing ugliness of the place. It is filled with 1960s era buildings and every square inch of the place is devoted to nothing but shopping. Even on a Tuesday morning in October with no snow, therefore no skiing, it was practically impossible to drive through town. There was not a parking space to be seen and my courage left me after about 15 minutes. For anyone who has been there, think Tijuana without the poverty.
Our plan was to push on to Andorre la Vella, the capital. We were unprepared for what we saw as we travelled the 30 kilometers between the two cities. The entire country, besides being a giant shopping mall, also appears to be a giant construction project! We felt as if we were running into cranes and earthmovers at every curve in the road. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like it before.
Finally we got to Andorra la Vella, which, while not quite as ugly as Pas de la Cas, was still pretty damned unattractive. We found a parking structure and got out to walk around. In fact, my goal in going there was to visit a pharmacy to see if a medication that I took for my fibromyalgia in the U.S. was available there or not. Indeed, the first big pharmacy that we went to confirmed that I could get it there. Now, a major benefit (different from going to Tijuana or Canada from the States), is that with a prescription from a French or Spanish doctor, one can legally buy drugs in Andorra as there is a treaty between the countries making licensed doctors in either France or Spain licensed in Andorra as well. So, I knew that once I got back to the Possum Kingdom I could go to my doctor, get a prescription, fax it to the pharmacy and get my prescription sent to me. All this, I might add, at a third the price of what the same medication costs in the U.S.
After that, we thought we would find a place for lunch. Unfortunately, Andorra is more on a Spanish schedule than a French one, so finding a restaurant that was serving food before 1 pm was a bit of a challenge. Luckily, around the corner from the pharmacy was a lovely little pastry shop that served food all day from breakfast onward. We had the "menu," which cost about 6.70€ per person. It was definitely Spanish/Catalan in style: ham and amazingly delicious Spanish melon, steak with potatoes sauteed in olive oil, a lovely flan, some of the best coffee I've had since moving here and a dish of water for Maggie! Quite a bargain to be sure.
As soon as we finished, we headed out for the Spanish border. You had to drive into a kind of giant underground bunker, where every car coming across was directed into a parking space while a customs official came over and asked you to pop your trunk. We had nothing in there (except the usual clutter) and he had me close it and was about to wave us through when he noticed Maggie in the backseat. We had her European Pet Passport, so I wasn't worried, but he didn't want to see any papers, just tapped on the window to say "hello." Unfortunately, the Diva's protective instincts kicked in and she started barking like she wanted to rip him to shreds!! Luckily, he thought that was pretty funny and just waved us on.
The countryside on the Spanish side of the border was lovely. The trees that high up in the mountains have all changed color and we saw some spectacular vistas. Sadly, the Spanish authorities do not seem to have been protective of the region as the French, and there are just rows after rows of condos ruining the view just about everywhere that you look. They were mostly built in stone and wood (lots of both around the area), but they are still not what you'd call "scenic." Although I know that some think the French are too difficult with building permits, I'd rather that they err on that side than go the way of the Spanish.
After about an hour of driving through Spain, we passed a sign that said "France 1 km" and after that kilometer, I guess we crossed the border, although it was impossible to tell! No customs, nothing on the road to indicate that we'd changed countries, except that the roadsigns were now all written in French rather than Spanish! When I talked to my doctor today, he told me that people in the region feel more as "one" country with this part of Spain than they do with French departments farther to the north, as everyone really considers themselves Catalan.
We continued to drive the twists and turns of the narrow roads of the Pyrenee, running into a detour 9 km outside of Axat that led us through a local "traffic" jam as a herd of cattle decided the road was theirs not ours! Also, Maggie thought she was in seventh heaven when "mobile bacon" in the form of a very cute little piglet crossed the road in front of us.
Still, at last we arrived back in our Possum Kingdom, with over 6 hours of driving under our belts. BUT, and this part got me, after driving through 3 countries in the space of less than half-a-day, we had put less than 200 miles on Beanie's odometer! The whole trip was less mileage than when I used to go to visit my mother in Hemet.
Imagine that.
Ciao for now.
Randy
Yesterday we decided to make the time, so we set off around 9:30 for the Andorran border. When you are about to cross from France into Andorra, you notice that you have suddenly gone above the tree-line. At that point in the Pyrenees, you are at about 3000 meters, which is less high than the Rockies in the U.S., but still pretty high up.
There is a border crossing, but we drove right across without being stopped as I don't think anyone is that interested by what you're taking into Andorra; all the action is for those who are leaving.
For my U.S. readers, you may wonder why this is; indeed, many of you may only have vaguely heard of Andorra, or not have heard of it at all.
Andorra is one of those "postage stamp" countries like Lichtenstein or Monaco. It is only about 45 or 50 km across and straddles the Pyrenees between Spain and France. There are 3 main reasons to go there for most people: skiing, banking and, the biggie for most folks around here-SHOPPING. Indeed, Andorra is basically a giant shopping mall in the mountains.
The interest is that despite its size, Andorra is a pretty rich country with no income tax, capital gains tax, gift or inheritance tax. There is sales tax on some things, but it is lower than in France or Spain. Thus, prices for many goods are also lower than in France or Spain. It's a particularly interesting place to go for people who drink or smoke, because both of those things are cheaper. My friends tell me that you can also get better prices on electronics and even things like sugar and butter.
We've always figured that the amount of gas we would spend (not to mention the time) would pretty much offset any gains, so we've never really gone out of our way. I have also heard that traffic returning from Andorra can be hideous and I just wasn't in the mood. And, that if you're not shopping or skiing, it's not all that interesting.
Still, we really wanted to check it out, so we headed for Pas de la Cas, which is the town just across the border from France. Hearing about it really doesn't prepare you for the amazing ugliness of the place. It is filled with 1960s era buildings and every square inch of the place is devoted to nothing but shopping. Even on a Tuesday morning in October with no snow, therefore no skiing, it was practically impossible to drive through town. There was not a parking space to be seen and my courage left me after about 15 minutes. For anyone who has been there, think Tijuana without the poverty.
Our plan was to push on to Andorre la Vella, the capital. We were unprepared for what we saw as we travelled the 30 kilometers between the two cities. The entire country, besides being a giant shopping mall, also appears to be a giant construction project! We felt as if we were running into cranes and earthmovers at every curve in the road. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like it before.
Finally we got to Andorra la Vella, which, while not quite as ugly as Pas de la Cas, was still pretty damned unattractive. We found a parking structure and got out to walk around. In fact, my goal in going there was to visit a pharmacy to see if a medication that I took for my fibromyalgia in the U.S. was available there or not. Indeed, the first big pharmacy that we went to confirmed that I could get it there. Now, a major benefit (different from going to Tijuana or Canada from the States), is that with a prescription from a French or Spanish doctor, one can legally buy drugs in Andorra as there is a treaty between the countries making licensed doctors in either France or Spain licensed in Andorra as well. So, I knew that once I got back to the Possum Kingdom I could go to my doctor, get a prescription, fax it to the pharmacy and get my prescription sent to me. All this, I might add, at a third the price of what the same medication costs in the U.S.
After that, we thought we would find a place for lunch. Unfortunately, Andorra is more on a Spanish schedule than a French one, so finding a restaurant that was serving food before 1 pm was a bit of a challenge. Luckily, around the corner from the pharmacy was a lovely little pastry shop that served food all day from breakfast onward. We had the "menu," which cost about 6.70€ per person. It was definitely Spanish/Catalan in style: ham and amazingly delicious Spanish melon, steak with potatoes sauteed in olive oil, a lovely flan, some of the best coffee I've had since moving here and a dish of water for Maggie! Quite a bargain to be sure.
As soon as we finished, we headed out for the Spanish border. You had to drive into a kind of giant underground bunker, where every car coming across was directed into a parking space while a customs official came over and asked you to pop your trunk. We had nothing in there (except the usual clutter) and he had me close it and was about to wave us through when he noticed Maggie in the backseat. We had her European Pet Passport, so I wasn't worried, but he didn't want to see any papers, just tapped on the window to say "hello." Unfortunately, the Diva's protective instincts kicked in and she started barking like she wanted to rip him to shreds!! Luckily, he thought that was pretty funny and just waved us on.
The countryside on the Spanish side of the border was lovely. The trees that high up in the mountains have all changed color and we saw some spectacular vistas. Sadly, the Spanish authorities do not seem to have been protective of the region as the French, and there are just rows after rows of condos ruining the view just about everywhere that you look. They were mostly built in stone and wood (lots of both around the area), but they are still not what you'd call "scenic." Although I know that some think the French are too difficult with building permits, I'd rather that they err on that side than go the way of the Spanish.
After about an hour of driving through Spain, we passed a sign that said "France 1 km" and after that kilometer, I guess we crossed the border, although it was impossible to tell! No customs, nothing on the road to indicate that we'd changed countries, except that the roadsigns were now all written in French rather than Spanish! When I talked to my doctor today, he told me that people in the region feel more as "one" country with this part of Spain than they do with French departments farther to the north, as everyone really considers themselves Catalan.
We continued to drive the twists and turns of the narrow roads of the Pyrenee, running into a detour 9 km outside of Axat that led us through a local "traffic" jam as a herd of cattle decided the road was theirs not ours! Also, Maggie thought she was in seventh heaven when "mobile bacon" in the form of a very cute little piglet crossed the road in front of us.
Still, at last we arrived back in our Possum Kingdom, with over 6 hours of driving under our belts. BUT, and this part got me, after driving through 3 countries in the space of less than half-a-day, we had put less than 200 miles on Beanie's odometer! The whole trip was less mileage than when I used to go to visit my mother in Hemet.
Imagine that.
Ciao for now.
Randy
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