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#romans — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #romans, aggregated by home.social.

  1. BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻 @[email protected] ·

    Marcus Aurelius Monday! Selected Quotes!

    Drum Roll! Here is this week’s quote from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – known as the "Philosopher King".

    "That which isn't good for the hive, isn't good for the bee."

    #FamousQuotes #WordstoLiveBy #MarcusAurelius #PhilosopherKing #Romans #LifeLessons

    #famousquotes #wordstoliveby #marcusaurelius #philosopherking #romans #lifelessons
  2. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    Andorra and Occitanie

    For this mission our focus had been on Spain and Portugal, but we took the opportunity to briefly transit Andorra and to visit those western parts of Occitanie we didn’t have time for on our previous trip into France.

    Coordinates

    Andorra

    Andorra in a nutshell

    Andorra isn’t an EU country (so there was a border crossing from Spain and no EU roaming—46€ per SMS—just robbery!), but it uses the Euro by agreement. It has a similar GDP per capita to NZ, with a population of ~80,000 who speak Catalan as a first language (most of whom also speak Spanish and/or French). Andorra is a co-principality (with largely ceremonial co-princes being the President of France and Spain’s Bishop of Urgel), governed as a parliamentary democracy.

    🧭 Exploring

    Andorra la Vella, the capital, put on a damp and cold welcome after weeks of sunshine in Spain and Portugal (📷1). It does have geothermal waters (Caldea in contiguous Escaldes-Engordany is one of Europe’s largest thermal spa complexes) but isn’t regarded as a traditional spa town. We found it:

    • Like Spain, but less dry and warm—possibly unfair given our limited transit.
    • Like France, but without old stones—much of Barri Antic appears comparatively modern (📷2) and there are no Roman ruins (although Casa de la Vall, a former parliament building, dates from 1580)
    • Like Monaco, but without yachts—although a fast-flowing river runs through this valley-confined city (📷3)
    • Like Dubai, but without sand—although money passes through fingers here similarly in this shopping mecca, due to low taxes (📷4).

    A machete with your charge cable?

    We are at a loss to explain why most electronic stores also sell “personal weapons” (knives, guns, etc…). We find this both weird and scary!

    🤔 Curiosity

    Andorra is more than a country of one city: ~94% of the land and ~73% of the population are outside Andorra la Vella. Vall del Madriu-Perafita-Claror | Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley is Andorra’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed as a cultural landscape. We accessed it via the official “Volta a Ràmio” trail. From parking above the village of Engolasters it was a steep 35min climb through pine forest to Coll de Jovell at 1,780m, from where we began descending into the glacier-formed valley. At the 2km mark we reached Ràmio in the valley’s bottom end (📷1). The valley makes up ~9% of Andorra and is regarded as a time capsule for traditional mountain usage with limited modern development. Ràmio gave us a first glimpse into how people shaped the high Pyrenees over centuries through pastoralism, farming and communal land management (📷2). The trail continued up the valley, mostly alongside the Riu Madriu to the constant roar of white water, with ever-present granite underfoot/ in dry-stone walls and the scent of damp moss and pine needles in the air. At just over 4km/ 2h 10min into the hike we came to Refugi de Fontverd, not unlike a NZ-style DOC hut, at 1,875m elevation (📷3). We returned to the Coll via a higher path, which gave us superior views back up the valley (📷4). The 9km loop hike took us 4h 15min.

    As we drove back down from Engolasters we stopped to snap the top end of Escaldes-Engordany, which illustrates its rather dramatic valley confinement (📷1). A switchback sequence took us to Mirador Roc del Quer near Canillo, where we appreciated the views in several directions, such as this (📷2), without paying 6€ pp to stand on a suspended platform. Just beyond Canillo we stopped again at Sant Joan de Caselles, said to be a fine example of old Andorran architecture (📷3) and inside, one of the best preserved Romanesque interiors; the door was however bolted. We exited Andorra by heading for Col de Puymorens at 1,915m in the French Pyrénées (📷4); you can avoid the pass via a tolled tunnel.

    Occitanie

    A piece of Spain—inside France!

    After reaching Occitanie we transited the Spanish/ Catalonian enclave of Llívia, a town of some 13 square kilometres that was excluded from transfer to France in the Treaty of the Pyrénées (1659) because the said border agreement only specified the transfer of “villages”!

    🧭 Exploring

    We parked for our first night in Occitanie in Mont-Louis, beneath the walls of the town (📷1); at ~1,600m elevation it’s France’s highest fortified town and together with the c. 1679 citadel—an active commando training facility—is part of the “Fortifications of Vauban” UNESCO listing. Villefranche-de-Conflent is another of 12 UNESCO-listed fortified sites designed by military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, together representing a coherent defensive system across France. It’s considerably more tourist-oriented; we took the opportunity to walk the restored late 17th C. ramparts (📷2) and stroll through the town’s medieval streets (📷3). Next up was Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel | Tautavel Prehistory Museum, featuring rather dated and underwhelming exhibits (cf. Altamira) around findings from La Caune de l’Arago | the Arago Cave. People seasonally camped here from ~690,000 years ago, as imagined in this unconvincing “facsimile” cave set 500,000 years ago (📷4). All displayed human bones (including the signature “Tautavel Man”, possibly a Homo erectus subspecies, compiled from fragments of ~20 individuals) are moulds. We also drove to the actual limestone cave in nearby Gouleyrous gorge, situated in the middle of a cliff, but you can’t access it.

    Château de Quéribus at Cucugnan (📷1) and nearby Château de Peyrepertuse at Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse (📷2) are two of eight “Royal Fortresses of Languedoc” aspiring to UNESCO World Heritage status. Languedoc was shaped by Roman rule, became a centre of medieval Occitan culture, was devastated by the Albigensian Crusade before being integrated into the French kingdom. Château de Peyrepertuse sits on a limestone ridge at 800m elevation and is first mentioned in records from 1020 CE (📷3); this view is from parking close to the ticket gate (we decided not to go inside). It came into royal possession in 1240 CE, its former owner William of Peyrepertuse having been excommunicated for supporting the Cathars (a medieval Christian sect in southern Europe who believed in strict division between a good spiritual realm and an evil material world, leading the Pope to label them heretics). After the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees the castle lost its strategic importance; it was finally abandoned during the French Revolution. There’s free access to a lookout platform from which you can see the ruin of Château de Quéribus and beyond it, the Mediterranean Sea (📷4).

    Upon leaving Château de Peyrepertuse bound for Carcassonne we took the D14, a narrow winding backroad between hills cloaked in forest and meadows, intermittently punctuated with small villages. One such village is Bugarach, on the outskirts of which is a 700m path to Pont Romain, a single-arch stone bridge across a limestone basin on the Roman road linking the village to Rennes-les-Bains (📷1). Although the original was probably Gallo-Roman, it was destroyed in 1992 by flooding but faithfully restored the following year. What caught our eye was the trailside orchids, three of which were new to us. All native, first up is Neotinea ustulata | the burnt-tip orchid, which can be found up to 2,400m elevation in the mountains of central and southern Europe (📷2). The aptly-named Serapias lingua | tongue orchid is found throughout the Mediterranean (📷3). Ophrys scolopax | the woodcock orchid is recognisably a bee orchid given its morphology (📷4); it can be found in both the Mediterranean and Middle East. We also re-identified Orchis mascula | the early-purple orchid (📷5).

    Cité de Carcassonne is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town (📷1). First fortified in the Gallo-Roman period ~3rd–4th C. CE, it underwent extensive restorations in the 19th C. Set upon a hill overlooking the modern urban sprawl, the compact site is protected by ~3km of double walls and 52 defensive towers (📷2); it’s 19 € pp to walk the ramparts/ visit the restored château, but free to walk between the rows (without climbing on the outer battlements). The enclosed town is very touristy, filled with trinket shops and eateries, but also offers some architectural curiosities (📷3). Later, at nearby Trèbes, we walked alongside Canal du Midi, a ~360km network of navigable waterways linking the Atlantic (via Garonne) to the Mediterranean using locks, aqueducts, bridges and reservoirs. The canal is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, created through the vision of Pierre-Paul Riquet during 1667–94. The Trèbes Orbiel aqueduct (📷4) was designed by Vauban in 1688 and the town’s staircase lock dates from ~1674.

    Lagrasse is listed among Les Plus Beaux Villages de France | the Most Beautiful Villages of France; S had enjoyed her visit ~20 years ago and wanted to return to this relatively quiet locale, surrounded by hills on the Orbieu River (📷1). It developed around Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse, a Benedictine abbey founded during the 8th C. (📷2), becoming an important religious and economic hub. The village is compact, with stone houses/ artisan shops (in Jul/ Aug it is filled with tourists) and a medieval open-air market hall (📷3). On the path between camp and village we also discovered a new-to-us native orchid, Serapias vomeracea | the long-lipped serapias (📷4).

    Bonus pictures of pretty Lagrasse. A monk in the courtyard of Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse; it’s still an active religious site (📷1). A grey heron fishing in the Orbieu River (📷2). The 40m high fortified bell tower (clocher fortifié) of the abbey church, featuring buttresses with curved flyers; it was heavily modified in the late Middle Ages when the monastery was adapted for defense during periods like the Hundred Years’ War (📷3). Entrance on Rue de la Porte d’Eau, through which typical stone buildings can be seen (📷4). A view from the old bridge, looking back towards the hill on which we camped (📷5). A random village door (📷6). Anacamptis pyramidalis | the pyramidal orchid, with the monastery in the background (📷7).

    Our “small of the day” was captured when S went to empty the toilet cassette—not when you expect to hear “Quick, bring the camera!” This is a native moth, Arctia villica | the cream-spot tiger (📷1). We made our way to Salins de Saint-Martin outside of Gruissan on the Gulf of Lion, although being too early for florid algal blooms, colour differences between salt ponds were subtle (📷2). We followed the marked path 2.1km out to Plage de la Vieille Nouvelle (📷3). En route we did identify a number of birds, mostly at a distance: Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo; Anarhynchus alexandrinus | Kentish plover; Chlidonias hybrida | whiskered tern; Motacilla flava | western yellow wagtail; and Milvus migrans | the black kite. Later we stopped in Béziers, where we watched as boats navigated “Les 9 écluses de Fonseranes”, one of the most impressive engineering features of the Canal du Midi (📷4). Originally a sequence of nine locks (a “staircase”) completed in 1697, seven are typically in use, raising or lowering vessels ~21.5 meters over a short distance.

    Etang Des Mouettes is a a coastal lagoon in Frontignan, formerly a salt production pond with over 600 years of service, now gradually rewilding (📷1). On our dawn walk we found a heron stalking in the shallows (📷2), but there wasn’t enough light to be sure of the species. As the sun rose it illuminated flocks of Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo traversing the pond, with their distinctive long necks, large kinked bills, trailing long pink legs and striking deep pink/ black underside wing plumage (📷3). A look at Frontignan Plage before departing the Mediterranean shore (📷4).

    We drove to the Mont Aigoual summit at 1,565m elevation in Parc national des Cévennes | Cevennes National Park; the park is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Our route up via Nant and Dourbies was long, winding and frankly tedious, so despite views towards the coast (📷1) and further inland (📷2) we felt less appreciative than we should have. We decided against our intended hike in 7°C and headed down via Gorges de la Jonte. En route the road verge was decorated with numerous native Dactylorhiza sambucina | the elder-flowered orchid, in shades of yellow, deep purple and pink (we first saw it in Theth, Albania). As is common practice, some of the formations in the gorge are named; this is Arcade des Bergers | Shepherds’ Arcade (📷3). The hamlet of Le Truel, where terraces once held vineyards, orchards and vegetable gardens, while sheep and goats grazed sloping pastures (📷4). Gyps fulvus | griffon vultures soar from the cliffs above, seemingly untroubled by the loss of a traditional way of life.

    Gorges du Tarn, also within Parc nationaldes Cévennes, is a canyon carved by the Tarn ~50km long and up to 500m deep. Large parts of the gorge are also included within the UNESCO-listed “Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape”. We began the scenic drive at Le Rozier, working our way west to east via cliffs and tunnels, with frequent stops at viewpoints towards Sainte-Enimie. Hameau semi-troglodyte d’Eglazines | the “semi-troglodyte hamlet of Eglazines” was first to catch our eye (📷1). Although not as high, the hamlet of La Sablière is on the opposite bank of the Tarn, so access/ supplies is via a cableway (📷2). The larger settlement of La Malène is billed as a Petite Cité de Caractère | “Little City of Character” (📷3). Sainte-Enimie is listed as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”; this view is from the river beach (📷4).

    From Sainte-Enimie we entered “Home” into the nav system and headed out of Occitaine. After 8,217km this tour was complete. Related missions logs are as follows:

    Plans for our next trip are uncertain as we await easing of global disruption.

    #2026 #andorra #camperVan #europe #france #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #occitanie #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #andorra #campervan #europe #france #hiking #nationalpark
  3. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    Andorra and Occitanie

    For this mission our focus had been on Spain and Portugal, but we took the opportunity to briefly transit Andorra and to visit those western parts of Occitanie we didn’t have time for on our previous trip into France.

    Coordinates

    Andorra

    Andorra in a nutshell

    Andorra isn’t an EU country (so there was a border crossing from Spain and no EU roaming—46€ per SMS—just robbery!), but it uses the Euro by agreement. It has a similar GDP per capita to NZ, with a population of ~80,000 who speak Catalan as a first language (most of whom also speak Spanish and/or French). Andorra is a co-principality (with largely ceremonial co-princes being the President of France and Spain’s Bishop of Urgel), governed as a parliamentary democracy.

    🧭 Exploring

    Andorra la Vella, the capital, put on a damp and cold welcome after weeks of sunshine in Spain and Portugal (📷1). It does have geothermal waters (Caldea in contiguous Escaldes-Engordany is one of Europe’s largest thermal spa complexes) but isn’t regarded as a traditional spa town. We found it:

    • Like Spain, but less dry and warm—possibly unfair given our limited transit.
    • Like France, but without old stones—much of Barri Antic appears comparatively modern (📷2) and there are no Roman ruins (although Casa de la Vall, a former parliament building, dates from 1580)
    • Like Monaco, but without yachts—although a fast-flowing river runs through this valley-confined city (📷3)
    • Like Dubai, but without sand—although money passes through fingers here similarly in this shopping mecca, due to low taxes (📷4).

    A machete with your charge cable?

    We are at a loss to explain why most electronic stores also sell “personal weapons” (knives, guns, etc…). We find this both weird and scary!

    🤔 Curiosity

    Andorra is more than a country of one city: ~94% of the land and ~73% of the population are outside Andorra la Vella. Vall del Madriu-Perafita-Claror | Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley is Andorra’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed as a cultural landscape. We accessed it via the official “Volta a Ràmio” trail. From parking above the village of Engolasters it was a steep 35min climb through pine forest to Coll de Jovell at 1,780m, from where we began descending into the glacier-formed valley. At the 2km mark we reached Ràmio in the valley’s bottom end (📷1). The valley makes up ~9% of Andorra and is regarded as a time capsule for traditional mountain usage with limited modern development. Ràmio gave us a first glimpse into how people shaped the high Pyrenees over centuries through pastoralism, farming and communal land management (📷2). The trail continued up the valley, mostly alongside the Riu Madriu to the constant roar of white water, with ever-present granite underfoot/ in dry-stone walls and the scent of damp moss and pine needles in the air. At just over 4km/ 2h 10min into the hike we came to Refugi de Fontverd, not unlike a NZ-style DOC hut, at 1,875m elevation (📷3). We returned to the Coll via a higher path, which gave us superior views back up the valley (📷4). The 9km loop hike took us 4h 15min.

    As we drove back down from Engolasters we stopped to snap the top end of Escaldes-Engordany, which illustrates its rather dramatic valley confinement (📷1). A switchback sequence took us to Mirador Roc del Quer near Canillo, where we appreciated the views in several directions, such as this (📷2), without paying 6€ pp to stand on a suspended platform. Just beyond Canillo we stopped again at Sant Joan de Caselles, said to be a fine example of old Andorran architecture (📷3) and inside, one of the best preserved Romanesque interiors; the door was however bolted. We exited Andorra by heading for Col de Puymorens at 1,915m in the French Pyrénées (📷4); you can avoid the pass via a tolled tunnel.

    Occitanie

    A piece of Spain—inside France!

    After reaching Occitanie we transited the Spanish/ Catalonian enclave of Llívia, a town of some 13 square kilometres that was excluded from transfer to France in the Treaty of the Pyrénées (1659) because the said border agreement only specified the transfer of “villages”!

    🧭 Exploring

    We parked for our first night in Occitanie in Mont-Louis, beneath the walls of the town (📷1); at ~1,600m elevation it’s France’s highest fortified town and together with the c. 1679 citadel—an active commando training facility—is part of the “Fortifications of Vauban” UNESCO listing. Villefranche-de-Conflent is another of 12 UNESCO-listed fortified sites designed by military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, together representing a coherent defensive system across France. It’s considerably more tourist-oriented; we took the opportunity to walk the restored late 17th C. ramparts (📷2) and stroll through the town’s medieval streets (📷3). Next up was Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel | Tautavel Prehistory Museum, featuring rather dated and underwhelming exhibits (cf. Altamira) around findings from La Caune de l’Arago | the Arago Cave. People seasonally camped here from ~690,000 years ago, as imagined in this unconvincing “facsimile” cave set 500,000 years ago (📷4). All displayed human bones (including the signature “Tautavel Man”, possibly a Homo erectus subspecies, compiled from fragments of ~20 individuals) are moulds. We also drove to the actual limestone cave in nearby Gouleyrous gorge, situated in the middle of a cliff, but you can’t access it.

    Château de Quéribus at Cucugnan (📷1) and nearby Château de Peyrepertuse at Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse (📷2) are two of eight “Royal Fortresses of Languedoc” aspiring to UNESCO World Heritage status. Languedoc was shaped by Roman rule, became a centre of medieval Occitan culture, was devastated by the Albigensian Crusade before being integrated into the French kingdom. Château de Peyrepertuse sits on a limestone ridge at 800m elevation and is first mentioned in records from 1020 CE (📷3); this view is from parking close to the ticket gate (we decided not to go inside). It came into royal possession in 1240 CE, its former owner William of Peyrepertuse having been excommunicated for supporting the Cathars (a medieval Christian sect in southern Europe who believed in strict division between a good spiritual realm and an evil material world, leading the Pope to label them heretics). After the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees the castle lost its strategic importance; it was finally abandoned during the French Revolution. There’s free access to a lookout platform from which you can see the ruin of Château de Quéribus and beyond it, the Mediterranean Sea (📷4).

    Upon leaving Château de Peyrepertuse bound for Carcassonne we took the D14, a narrow winding backroad between hills cloaked in forest and meadows, intermittently punctuated with small villages. One such village is Bugarach, on the outskirts of which is a 700m path to Pont Romain, a single-arch stone bridge across a limestone basin on the Roman road linking the village to Rennes-les-Bains (📷1). Although the original was probably Gallo-Roman, it was destroyed in 1992 by flooding but faithfully restored the following year. What caught our eye was the trailside orchids, three of which were new to us. All native, first up is Neotinea ustulata | the burnt-tip orchid, which can be found up to 2,400m elevation in the mountains of central and southern Europe (📷2). The aptly-named Serapias lingua | tongue orchid is found throughout the Mediterranean (📷3). Ophrys scolopax | the woodcock orchid is recognisably a bee orchid given its morphology (📷4); it can be found in both the Mediterranean and Middle East. We also re-identified Orchis mascula | the early-purple orchid (📷5).

    Cité de Carcassonne is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town (📷1). First fortified in the Gallo-Roman period ~3rd–4th C. CE, it underwent extensive restorations in the 19th C. Set upon a hill overlooking the modern urban sprawl, the compact site is protected by ~3km of double walls and 52 defensive towers (📷2); it’s 19 € pp to walk the ramparts/ visit the restored château, but free to walk between the rows (without climbing on the outer battlements). The enclosed town is very touristy, filled with trinket shops and eateries, but also offers some architectural curiosities (📷3). Later, at nearby Trèbes, we walked alongside Canal du Midi, a ~360km network of navigable waterways linking the Atlantic (via Garonne) to the Mediterranean using locks, aqueducts, bridges and reservoirs. The canal is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, created through the vision of Pierre-Paul Riquet during 1667–94. The Trèbes Orbiel aqueduct (📷4) was designed by Vauban in 1688 and the town’s staircase lock dates from ~1674.

    Lagrasse is listed among Les Plus Beaux Villages de France | the Most Beautiful Villages of France; S had enjoyed her visit ~20 years ago and wanted to return to this relatively quiet locale, surrounded by hills on the Orbieu River (📷1). It developed around Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse, a Benedictine abbey founded during the 8th C. (📷2), becoming an important religious and economic hub. The village is compact, with stone houses/ artisan shops (in Jul/ Aug it is filled with tourists) and a medieval open-air market hall (📷3). On the path between camp and village we also discovered a new-to-us native orchid, Serapias vomeracea | the long-lipped serapias (📷4).

    Bonus pictures of pretty Lagrasse. A monk in the courtyard of Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse; it’s still an active religious site (📷1). A grey heron fishing in the Orbieu River (📷2). The 40m high fortified bell tower (clocher fortifié) of the abbey church, featuring buttresses with curved flyers; it was heavily modified in the late Middle Ages when the monastery was adapted for defense during periods like the Hundred Years’ War (📷3). Entrance on Rue de la Porte d’Eau, through which typical stone buildings can be seen (📷4). A view from the old bridge, looking back towards the hill on which we camped (📷5). A random village door (📷6). Anacamptis pyramidalis | the pyramidal orchid, with the monastery in the background (📷7).

    Our “small of the day” was captured when S went to empty the toilet cassette—not when you expect to hear “Quick, bring the camera!” This is a native moth, Arctia villica | the cream-spot tiger (📷1). We made our way to Salins de Saint-Martin outside of Gruissan on the Gulf of Lion, although being too early for florid algal blooms, colour differences between salt ponds were subtle (📷2). We followed the marked path 2.1km out to Plage de la Vieille Nouvelle (📷3). En route we did identify a number of birds, mostly at a distance: Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo; Anarhynchus alexandrinus | Kentish plover; Chlidonias hybrida | whiskered tern; Motacilla flava | western yellow wagtail; and Milvus migrans | the black kite. Later we stopped in Béziers, where we watched as boats navigated “Les 9 écluses de Fonseranes”, one of the most impressive engineering features of the Canal du Midi (📷4). Originally a sequence of nine locks (a “staircase”) completed in 1697, seven are typically in use, raising or lowering vessels ~21.5 meters over a short distance.

    Etang Des Mouettes is a a coastal lagoon in Frontignan, formerly a salt production pond with over 600 years of service, now gradually rewilding (📷1). On our dawn walk we found a heron stalking in the shallows (📷2), but there wasn’t enough light to be sure of the species. As the sun rose it illuminated flocks of Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo traversing the pond, with their distinctive long necks, large kinked bills, trailing long pink legs and striking deep pink/ black underside wing plumage (📷3). A look at Frontignan Plage before departing the Mediterranean shore (📷4).

    We drove to the Mont Aigoual summit at 1,565m elevation in Parc national des Cévennes | Cevennes National Park; the park is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Our route up via Nant and Dourbies was long, winding and frankly tedious, so despite views towards the coast (📷1) and further inland (📷2) we felt less appreciative than we should have. We decided against our intended hike in 7°C and headed down via Gorges de la Jonte. En route the road verge was decorated with numerous native Dactylorhiza sambucina | the elder-flowered orchid, in shades of yellow, deep purple and pink (we first saw it in Theth, Albania). As is common practice, some of the formations in the gorge are named; this is Arcade des Bergers | Shepherds’ Arcade (📷3). The hamlet of Le Truel, where terraces once held vineyards, orchards and vegetable gardens, while sheep and goats grazed sloping pastures (📷4). Gyps fulvus | griffon vultures soar from the cliffs above, seemingly untroubled by the loss of a traditional way of life.

    Gorges du Tarn, also within Parc nationaldes Cévennes, is a canyon carved by the Tarn ~50km long and up to 500m deep. Large parts of the gorge are also included within the UNESCO-listed “Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape”. We began the scenic drive at Le Rozier, working our way west to east via cliffs and tunnels, with frequent stops at viewpoints towards Sainte-Enimie. Hameau semi-troglodyte d’Eglazines | the “semi-troglodyte hamlet of Eglazines” was first to catch our eye (📷1). Although not as high, the hamlet of La Sablière is on the opposite bank of the Tarn, so access/ supplies is via a cableway (📷2). The larger settlement of La Malène is billed as a Petite Cité de Caractère | “Little City of Character” (📷3). Sainte-Enimie is listed as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”; this view is from the river beach (📷4).

    From Sainte-Enimie we entered “Home” into the nav system and headed out of Occitaine. After 8,217km this tour was complete. Related missions logs are as follows:

    Plans for our next trip are uncertain as we await easing of global disruption.

    #2026 #andorra #camperVan #europe #france #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #occitanie #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #andorra #campervan #europe #france #hiking #nationalpark
  4. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    Andorra and Occitanie

    For this mission our focus had been on Spain and Portugal, but we took the opportunity to briefly transit Andorra and to visit those western parts of Occitanie we didn’t have time for on our previous trip into France.

    Coordinates

    Andorra

    Andorra in a nutshell

    Andorra isn’t an EU country (so there was a border crossing from Spain and no EU roaming—46€ per SMS—just robbery!), but it uses the Euro by agreement. It has a similar GDP per capita to NZ, with a population of ~80,000 who speak Catalan as a first language (most of whom also speak Spanish and/or French). Andorra is a co-principality (with largely ceremonial co-princes being the President of France and Spain’s Bishop of Urgel), governed as a parliamentary democracy.

    🧭 Exploring

    Andorra la Vella, the capital, put on a damp and cold welcome after weeks of sunshine in Spain and Portugal (📷1). It does have geothermal waters (Caldea in contiguous Escaldes-Engordany is one of Europe’s largest thermal spa complexes) but isn’t regarded as a traditional spa town. We found it:

    • Like Spain, but less dry and warm—possibly unfair given our limited transit.
    • Like France, but without old stones—much of Barri Antic appears comparatively modern (📷2) and there are no Roman ruins (although Casa de la Vall, a former parliament building, dates from 1580)
    • Like Monaco, but without yachts—although a fast-flowing river runs through this valley-confined city (📷3)
    • Like Dubai, but without sand—although money passes through fingers here similarly in this shopping mecca, due to low taxes (📷4).

    A machete with your charge cable?

    We are at a loss to explain why most electronic stores also sell “personal weapons” (knives, guns, etc…). We find this both weird and scary!

    🤔 Curiosity

    Andorra is more than a country of one city: ~94% of the land and ~73% of the population are outside Andorra la Vella. Vall del Madriu-Perafita-Claror | Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley is Andorra’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed as a cultural landscape. We accessed it via the official “Volta a Ràmio” trail. From parking above the village of Engolasters it was a steep 35min climb through pine forest to Coll de Jovell at 1,780m, from where we began descending into the glacier-formed valley. At the 2km mark we reached Ràmio in the valley’s bottom end (📷1). The valley makes up ~9% of Andorra and is regarded as a time capsule for traditional mountain usage with limited modern development. Ràmio gave us a first glimpse into how people shaped the high Pyrenees over centuries through pastoralism, farming and communal land management (📷2). The trail continued up the valley, mostly alongside the Riu Madriu to the constant roar of white water, with ever-present granite underfoot/ in dry-stone walls and the scent of damp moss and pine needles in the air. At just over 4km/ 2h 10min into the hike we came to Refugi de Fontverd, not unlike a NZ-style DOC hut, at 1,875m elevation (📷3). We returned to the Coll via a higher path, which gave us superior views back up the valley (📷4). The 9km loop hike took us 4h 15min.

    As we drove back down from Engolasters we stopped to snap the top end of Escaldes-Engordany, which illustrates its rather dramatic valley confinement (📷1). A switchback sequence took us to Mirador Roc del Quer near Canillo, where we appreciated the views in several directions, such as this (📷2), without paying 6€ pp to stand on a suspended platform. Just beyond Canillo we stopped again at Sant Joan de Caselles, said to be a fine example of old Andorran architecture (📷3) and inside, one of the best preserved Romanesque interiors; the door was however bolted. We exited Andorra by heading for Col de Puymorens at 1,915m in the French Pyrénées (📷4); you can avoid the pass via a tolled tunnel.

    Occitanie

    A piece of Spain—inside France!

    After reaching Occitanie we transited the Spanish/ Catalonian enclave of Llívia, a town of some 13 square kilometres that was excluded from transfer to France in the Treaty of the Pyrénées (1659) because the said border agreement only specified the transfer of “villages”!

    🧭 Exploring

    We parked for our first night in Occitanie in Mont-Louis, beneath the walls of the town (📷1); at ~1,600m elevation it’s France’s highest fortified town and together with the c. 1679 citadel—an active commando training facility—is part of the “Fortifications of Vauban” UNESCO listing. Villefranche-de-Conflent is another of 12 UNESCO-listed fortified sites designed by military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, together representing a coherent defensive system across France. It’s considerably more tourist-oriented; we took the opportunity to walk the restored late 17th C. ramparts (📷2) and stroll through the town’s medieval streets (📷3). Next up was Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel | Tautavel Prehistory Museum, featuring rather dated and underwhelming exhibits (cf. Altamira) around findings from La Caune de l’Arago | the Arago Cave. People seasonally camped here from ~690,000 years ago, as imagined in this unconvincing “facsimile” cave set 500,000 years ago (📷4). All displayed human bones (including the signature “Tautavel Man”, possibly a Homo erectus subspecies, compiled from fragments of ~20 individuals) are moulds. We also drove to the actual limestone cave in nearby Gouleyrous gorge, situated in the middle of a cliff, but you can’t access it.

    Château de Quéribus at Cucugnan (📷1) and nearby Château de Peyrepertuse at Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse (📷2) are two of eight “Royal Fortresses of Languedoc” aspiring to UNESCO World Heritage status. Languedoc was shaped by Roman rule, became a centre of medieval Occitan culture, was devastated by the Albigensian Crusade before being integrated into the French kingdom. Château de Peyrepertuse sits on a limestone ridge at 800m elevation and is first mentioned in records from 1020 CE (📷3); this view is from parking close to the ticket gate (we decided not to go inside). It came into royal possession in 1240 CE, its former owner William of Peyrepertuse having been excommunicated for supporting the Cathars (a medieval Christian sect in southern Europe who believed in strict division between a good spiritual realm and an evil material world, leading the Pope to label them heretics). After the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees the castle lost its strategic importance; it was finally abandoned during the French Revolution. There’s free access to a lookout platform from which you can see the ruin of Château de Quéribus and beyond it, the Mediterranean Sea (📷4).

    Upon leaving Château de Peyrepertuse bound for Carcassonne we took the D14, a narrow winding backroad between hills cloaked in forest and meadows, intermittently punctuated with small villages. One such village is Bugarach, on the outskirts of which is a 700m path to Pont Romain, a single-arch stone bridge across a limestone basin on the Roman road linking the village to Rennes-les-Bains (📷1). Although the original was probably Gallo-Roman, it was destroyed in 1992 by flooding but faithfully restored the following year. What caught our eye was the trailside orchids, three of which were new to us. All native, first up is Neotinea ustulata | the burnt-tip orchid, which can be found up to 2,400m elevation in the mountains of central and southern Europe (📷2). The aptly-named Serapias lingua | tongue orchid is found throughout the Mediterranean (📷3). Ophrys scolopax | the woodcock orchid is recognisably a bee orchid given its morphology (📷4); it can be found in both the Mediterranean and Middle East. We also re-identified Orchis mascula | the early-purple orchid (📷5).

    Cité de Carcassonne is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town (📷1). First fortified in the Gallo-Roman period ~3rd–4th C. CE, it underwent extensive restorations in the 19th C. Set upon a hill overlooking the modern urban sprawl, the compact site is protected by ~3km of double walls and 52 defensive towers (📷2); it’s 19 € pp to walk the ramparts/ visit the restored château, but free to walk between the rows (without climbing on the outer battlements). The enclosed town is very touristy, filled with trinket shops and eateries, but also offers some architectural curiosities (📷3). Later, at nearby Trèbes, we walked alongside Canal du Midi, a ~360km network of navigable waterways linking the Atlantic (via Garonne) to the Mediterranean using locks, aqueducts, bridges and reservoirs. The canal is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, created through the vision of Pierre-Paul Riquet during 1667–94. The Trèbes Orbiel aqueduct (📷4) was designed by Vauban in 1688 and the town’s staircase lock dates from ~1674.

    Lagrasse is listed among Les Plus Beaux Villages de France | the Most Beautiful Villages of France; S had enjoyed her visit ~20 years ago and wanted to return to this relatively quiet locale, surrounded by hills on the Orbieu River (📷1). It developed around Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse, a Benedictine abbey founded during the 8th C. (📷2), becoming an important religious and economic hub. The village is compact, with stone houses/ artisan shops (in Jul/ Aug it is filled with tourists) and a medieval open-air market hall (📷3). On the path between camp and village we also discovered a new-to-us native orchid, Serapias vomeracea | the long-lipped serapias (📷4).

    Bonus pictures of pretty Lagrasse. A monk in the courtyard of Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse; it’s still an active religious site (📷1). A grey heron fishing in the Orbieu River (📷2). The 40m high fortified bell tower (clocher fortifié) of the abbey church, featuring buttresses with curved flyers; it was heavily modified in the late Middle Ages when the monastery was adapted for defense during periods like the Hundred Years’ War (📷3). Entrance on Rue de la Porte d’Eau, through which typical stone buildings can be seen (📷4). A view from the old bridge, looking back towards the hill on which we camped (📷5). A random village door (📷6). Anacamptis pyramidalis | the pyramidal orchid, with the monastery in the background (📷7).

    Our “small of the day” was captured when S went to empty the toilet cassette—not when you expect to hear “Quick, bring the camera!” This is a native moth, Arctia villica | the cream-spot tiger (📷1). We made our way to Salins de Saint-Martin outside of Gruissan on the Gulf of Lion, although being too early for florid algal blooms, colour differences between salt ponds were subtle (📷2). We followed the marked path 2.1km out to Plage de la Vieille Nouvelle (📷3). En route we did identify a number of birds, mostly at a distance: Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo; Anarhynchus alexandrinus | Kentish plover; Chlidonias hybrida | whiskered tern; Motacilla flava | western yellow wagtail; and Milvus migrans | the black kite. Later we stopped in Béziers, where we watched as boats navigated “Les 9 écluses de Fonseranes”, one of the most impressive engineering features of the Canal du Midi (📷4). Originally a sequence of nine locks (a “staircase”) completed in 1697, seven are typically in use, raising or lowering vessels ~21.5 meters over a short distance.

    Etang Des Mouettes is a a coastal lagoon in Frontignan, formerly a salt production pond with over 600 years of service, now gradually rewilding (📷1). On our dawn walk we found a heron stalking in the shallows (📷2), but there wasn’t enough light to be sure of the species. As the sun rose it illuminated flocks of Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo traversing the pond, with their distinctive long necks, large kinked bills, trailing long pink legs and striking deep pink/ black underside wing plumage (📷3). A look at Frontignan Plage before departing the Mediterranean shore (📷4).

    We drove to the Mont Aigoual summit at 1,565m elevation in Parc national des Cévennes | Cevennes National Park; the park is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Our route up via Nant and Dourbies was long, winding and frankly tedious, so despite views towards the coast (📷1) and further inland (📷2) we felt less appreciative than we should have. We decided against our intended hike in 7°C and headed down via Gorges de la Jonte. En route the road verge was decorated with numerous native Dactylorhiza sambucina | the elder-flowered orchid, in shades of yellow, deep purple and pink (we first saw it in Theth, Albania). As is common practice, some of the formations in the gorge are named; this is Arcade des Bergers | Shepherds’ Arcade (📷3). The hamlet of Le Truel, where terraces once held vineyards, orchards and vegetable gardens, while sheep and goats grazed sloping pastures (📷4). Gyps fulvus | griffon vultures soar from the cliffs above, seemingly untroubled by the loss of a traditional way of life.

    Gorges du Tarn, also within Parc nationaldes Cévennes, is a canyon carved by the Tarn ~50km long and up to 500m deep. Large parts of the gorge are also included within the UNESCO-listed “Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape”. We began the scenic drive at Le Rozier, working our way west to east via cliffs and tunnels, with frequent stops at viewpoints towards Sainte-Enimie. Hameau semi-troglodyte d’Eglazines | the “semi-troglodyte hamlet of Eglazines” was first to catch our eye (📷1). Although not as high, the hamlet of La Sablière is on the opposite bank of the Tarn, so access/ supplies is via a cableway (📷2). The larger settlement of La Malène is billed as a Petite Cité de Caractère | “Little City of Character” (📷3). Sainte-Enimie is listed as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”; this view is from the river beach (📷4).

    From Sainte-Enimie we entered “Home” into the nav system and headed out of Occitaine. After 8,217km this tour was complete. Related missions logs are as follows:

    Plans for our next trip are uncertain as we await easing of global disruption.

    #2026 #andorra #camperVan #europe #france #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #occitanie #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #andorra #campervan #europe #france #hiking #nationalpark
  5. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    Andorra and Occitanie

    For this mission our focus had been on Spain and Portugal, but we took the opportunity to briefly transit Andorra and to visit those western parts of Occitanie we didn’t have time for on our previous trip into France.

    Coordinates

    Andorra

    Andorra in a nutshell

    Andorra isn’t an EU country (so there was a border crossing from Spain and no EU roaming—46€ per SMS—just robbery!), but it uses the Euro by agreement. It has a similar GDP per capita to NZ, with a population of ~80,000 who speak Catalan as a first language (most of whom also speak Spanish and/or French). Andorra is a co-principality (with largely ceremonial co-princes being the President of France and Spain’s Bishop of Urgel), governed as a parliamentary democracy.

    🧭 Exploring

    Andorra la Vella, the capital, put on a damp and cold welcome after weeks of sunshine in Spain and Portugal (📷1). It does have geothermal waters (Caldea in contiguous Escaldes-Engordany is one of Europe’s largest thermal spa complexes) but isn’t regarded as a traditional spa town. We found it:

    • Like Spain, but less dry and warm—possibly unfair given our limited transit.
    • Like France, but without old stones—much of Barri Antic appears comparatively modern (📷2) and there are no Roman ruins (although Casa de la Vall, a former parliament building, dates from 1580)
    • Like Monaco, but without yachts—although a fast-flowing river runs through this valley-confined city (📷3)
    • Like Dubai, but without sand—although money passes through fingers here similarly in this shopping mecca, due to low taxes (📷4).

    A machete with your charge cable?

    We are at a loss to explain why most electronic stores also sell “personal weapons” (knives, guns, etc…). We find this both weird and scary!

    🤔 Curiosity

    Andorra is more than a country of one city: ~94% of the land and ~73% of the population are outside Andorra la Vella. Vall del Madriu-Perafita-Claror | Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley is Andorra’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed as a cultural landscape. We accessed it via the official “Volta a Ràmio” trail. From parking above the village of Engolasters it was a steep 35min climb through pine forest to Coll de Jovell at 1,780m, from where we began descending into the glacier-formed valley. At the 2km mark we reached Ràmio in the valley’s bottom end (📷1). The valley makes up ~9% of Andorra and is regarded as a time capsule for traditional mountain usage with limited modern development. Ràmio gave us a first glimpse into how people shaped the high Pyrenees over centuries through pastoralism, farming and communal land management (📷2). The trail continued up the valley, mostly alongside the Riu Madriu to the constant roar of white water, with ever-present granite underfoot/ in dry-stone walls and the scent of damp moss and pine needles in the air. At just over 4km/ 2h 10min into the hike we came to Refugi de Fontverd, not unlike a NZ-style DOC hut, at 1,875m elevation (📷3). We returned to the Coll via a higher path, which gave us superior views back up the valley (📷4). The 9km loop hike took us 4h 15min.

    As we drove back down from Engolasters we stopped to snap the top end of Escaldes-Engordany, which illustrates its rather dramatic valley confinement (📷1). A switchback sequence took us to Mirador Roc del Quer near Canillo, where we appreciated the views in several directions, such as this (📷2), without paying 6€ pp to stand on a suspended platform. Just beyond Canillo we stopped again at Sant Joan de Caselles, said to be a fine example of old Andorran architecture (📷3) and inside, one of the best preserved Romanesque interiors; the door was however bolted. We exited Andorra by heading for Col de Puymorens at 1,915m in the French Pyrénées (📷4); you can avoid the pass via a tolled tunnel.

    Occitanie

    A piece of Spain—inside France!

    After reaching Occitanie we transited the Spanish/ Catalonian enclave of Llívia, a town of some 13 square kilometres that was excluded from transfer to France in the Treaty of the Pyrénées (1659) because the said border agreement only specified the transfer of “villages”!

    🧭 Exploring

    We parked for our first night in Occitanie in Mont-Louis, beneath the walls of the town (📷1); at ~1,600m elevation it’s France’s highest fortified town and together with the c. 1679 citadel—an active commando training facility—is part of the “Fortifications of Vauban” UNESCO listing. Villefranche-de-Conflent is another of 12 UNESCO-listed fortified sites designed by military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, together representing a coherent defensive system across France. It’s considerably more tourist-oriented; we took the opportunity to walk the restored late 17th C. ramparts (📷2) and stroll through the town’s medieval streets (📷3). Next up was Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel | Tautavel Prehistory Museum, featuring rather dated and underwhelming exhibits (cf. Altamira) around findings from La Caune de l’Arago | the Arago Cave. People seasonally camped here from ~690,000 years ago, as imagined in this unconvincing “facsimile” cave set 500,000 years ago (📷4). All displayed human bones (including the signature “Tautavel Man”, possibly a Homo erectus subspecies, compiled from fragments of ~20 individuals) are moulds. We also drove to the actual limestone cave in nearby Gouleyrous gorge, situated in the middle of a cliff, but you can’t access it.

    Château de Quéribus at Cucugnan (📷1) and nearby Château de Peyrepertuse at Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse (📷2) are two of eight “Royal Fortresses of Languedoc” aspiring to UNESCO World Heritage status. Languedoc was shaped by Roman rule, became a centre of medieval Occitan culture, was devastated by the Albigensian Crusade before being integrated into the French kingdom. Château de Peyrepertuse sits on a limestone ridge at 800m elevation and is first mentioned in records from 1020 CE (📷3); this view is from parking close to the ticket gate (we decided not to go inside). It came into royal possession in 1240 CE, its former owner William of Peyrepertuse having been excommunicated for supporting the Cathars (a medieval Christian sect in southern Europe who believed in strict division between a good spiritual realm and an evil material world, leading the Pope to label them heretics). After the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees the castle lost its strategic importance; it was finally abandoned during the French Revolution. There’s free access to a lookout platform from which you can see the ruin of Château de Quéribus and beyond it, the Mediterranean Sea (📷4).

    Upon leaving Château de Peyrepertuse bound for Carcassonne we took the D14, a narrow winding backroad between hills cloaked in forest and meadows, intermittently punctuated with small villages. One such village is Bugarach, on the outskirts of which is a 700m path to Pont Romain, a single-arch stone bridge across a limestone basin on the Roman road linking the village to Rennes-les-Bains (📷1). Although the original was probably Gallo-Roman, it was destroyed in 1992 by flooding but faithfully restored the following year. What caught our eye was the trailside orchids, three of which were new to us. All native, first up is Neotinea ustulata | the burnt-tip orchid, which can be found up to 2,400m elevation in the mountains of central and southern Europe (📷2). The aptly-named Serapias lingua | tongue orchid is found throughout the Mediterranean (📷3). Ophrys scolopax | the woodcock orchid is recognisably a bee orchid given its morphology (📷4); it can be found in both the Mediterranean and Middle East. We also re-identified Orchis mascula | the early-purple orchid (📷5).

    Cité de Carcassonne is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town (📷1). First fortified in the Gallo-Roman period ~3rd–4th C. CE, it underwent extensive restorations in the 19th C. Set upon a hill overlooking the modern urban sprawl, the compact site is protected by ~3km of double walls and 52 defensive towers (📷2); it’s 19 € pp to walk the ramparts/ visit the restored château, but free to walk between the rows (without climbing on the outer battlements). The enclosed town is very touristy, filled with trinket shops and eateries, but also offers some architectural curiosities (📷3). Later, at nearby Trèbes, we walked alongside Canal du Midi, a ~360km network of navigable waterways linking the Atlantic (via Garonne) to the Mediterranean using locks, aqueducts, bridges and reservoirs. The canal is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, created through the vision of Pierre-Paul Riquet during 1667–94. The Trèbes Orbiel aqueduct (📷4) was designed by Vauban in 1688 and the town’s staircase lock dates from ~1674.

    Lagrasse is listed among Les Plus Beaux Villages de France | the Most Beautiful Villages of France; S had enjoyed her visit ~20 years ago and wanted to return to this relatively quiet locale, surrounded by hills on the Orbieu River (📷1). It developed around Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse, a Benedictine abbey founded during the 8th C. (📷2), becoming an important religious and economic hub. The village is compact, with stone houses/ artisan shops (in Jul/ Aug it is filled with tourists) and a medieval open-air market hall (📷3). On the path between camp and village we also discovered a new-to-us native orchid, Serapias vomeracea | the long-lipped serapias (📷4).

    Bonus pictures of pretty Lagrasse. A monk in the courtyard of Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse; it’s still an active religious site (📷1). A grey heron fishing in the Orbieu River (📷2). The 40m high fortified bell tower (clocher fortifié) of the abbey church, featuring buttresses with curved flyers; it was heavily modified in the late Middle Ages when the monastery was adapted for defense during periods like the Hundred Years’ War (📷3). Entrance on Rue de la Porte d’Eau, through which typical stone buildings can be seen (📷4). A view from the old bridge, looking back towards the hill on which we camped (📷5). A random village door (📷6). Anacamptis pyramidalis | the pyramidal orchid, with the monastery in the background (📷7).

    Our “small of the day” was captured when S went to empty the toilet cassette—not when you expect to hear “Quick, bring the camera!” This is a native moth, Arctia villica | the cream-spot tiger (📷1). We made our way to Salins de Saint-Martin outside of Gruissan on the Gulf of Lion, although being too early for florid algal blooms, colour differences between salt ponds were subtle (📷2). We followed the marked path 2.1km out to Plage de la Vieille Nouvelle (📷3). En route we did identify a number of birds, mostly at a distance: Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo; Anarhynchus alexandrinus | Kentish plover; Chlidonias hybrida | whiskered tern; Motacilla flava | western yellow wagtail; and Milvus migrans | the black kite. Later we stopped in Béziers, where we watched as boats navigated “Les 9 écluses de Fonseranes”, one of the most impressive engineering features of the Canal du Midi (📷4). Originally a sequence of nine locks (a “staircase”) completed in 1697, seven are typically in use, raising or lowering vessels ~21.5 meters over a short distance.

    Etang Des Mouettes is a a coastal lagoon in Frontignan, formerly a salt production pond with over 600 years of service, now gradually rewilding (📷1). On our dawn walk we found a heron stalking in the shallows (📷2), but there wasn’t enough light to be sure of the species. As the sun rose it illuminated flocks of Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo traversing the pond, with their distinctive long necks, large kinked bills, trailing long pink legs and striking deep pink/ black underside wing plumage (📷3). A look at Frontignan Plage before departing the Mediterranean shore (📷4).

    We drove to the Mont Aigoual summit at 1,565m elevation in Parc national des Cévennes | Cevennes National Park; the park is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Our route up via Nant and Dourbies was long, winding and frankly tedious, so despite views towards the coast (📷1) and further inland (📷2) we felt less appreciative than we should have. We decided against our intended hike in 7°C and headed down via Gorges de la Jonte. En route the road verge was decorated with numerous native Dactylorhiza sambucina | the elder-flowered orchid, in shades of yellow, deep purple and pink (we first saw it in Theth, Albania). As is common practice, some of the formations in the gorge are named; this is Arcade des Bergers | Shepherds’ Arcade (📷3). The hamlet of Le Truel, where terraces once held vineyards, orchards and vegetable gardens, while sheep and goats grazed sloping pastures (📷4). Gyps fulvus | griffon vultures soar from the cliffs above, seemingly untroubled by the loss of a traditional way of life.

    Gorges du Tarn, also within Parc nationaldes Cévennes, is a canyon carved by the Tarn ~50km long and up to 500m deep. Large parts of the gorge are also included within the UNESCO-listed “Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape”. We began the scenic drive at Le Rozier, working our way west to east via cliffs and tunnels, with frequent stops at viewpoints towards Sainte-Enimie. Hameau semi-troglodyte d’Eglazines | the “semi-troglodyte hamlet of Eglazines” was first to catch our eye (📷1). Although not as high, the hamlet of La Sablière is on the opposite bank of the Tarn, so access/ supplies is via a cableway (📷2). The larger settlement of La Malène is billed as a Petite Cité de Caractère | “Little City of Character” (📷3). Sainte-Enimie is listed as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”; this view is from the river beach (📷4).

    From Sainte-Enimie we entered “Home” into the nav system and headed out of Occitaine. After 8,217km this tour was complete. Related missions logs are as follows:

    Plans for our next trip are uncertain as we await easing of global disruption.

    #2026 #andorra #camperVan #europe #france #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #occitanie #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #vanlife #unesco #travel #spain #romans #roadtrip
  6. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    Andorra and Occitanie

    For this mission our focus had been on Spain and Portugal, but we took the opportunity to briefly transit Andorra and to visit those western parts of Occitanie we didn’t have time for on our previous trip into France.

    Coordinates

    Andorra

    Andorra in a nutshell

    Andorra isn’t an EU country (so there was a border crossing from Spain and no EU roaming—46€ per SMS—just robbery!), but it uses the Euro by agreement. It has a similar GDP per capita to NZ, with a population of ~80,000 who speak Catalan as a first language (most of whom also speak Spanish and/or French). Andorra is a co-principality (with largely ceremonial co-princes being the President of France and Spain’s Bishop of Urgel), governed as a parliamentary democracy.

    🧭 Exploring

    Andorra la Vella, the capital, put on a damp and cold welcome after weeks of sunshine in Spain and Portugal (📷1). It does have geothermal waters (Caldea in contiguous Escaldes-Engordany is one of Europe’s largest thermal spa complexes) but isn’t regarded as a traditional spa town. We found it:

    • Like Spain, but less dry and warm—possibly unfair given our limited transit.
    • Like France, but without old stones—much of Barri Antic appears comparatively modern (📷2) and there are no Roman ruins (although Casa de la Vall, a former parliament building, dates from 1580)
    • Like Monaco, but without yachts—although a fast-flowing river runs through this valley-confined city (📷3)
    • Like Dubai, but without sand—although money passes through fingers here similarly in this shopping mecca, due to low taxes (📷4).

    A machete with your charge cable?

    We are at a loss to explain why most electronic stores also sell “personal weapons” (knives, guns, etc…). We find this both weird and scary!

    🤔 Curiosity

    Andorra is more than a country of one city: ~94% of the land and ~73% of the population are outside Andorra la Vella. Vall del Madriu-Perafita-Claror | Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley is Andorra’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed as a cultural landscape. We accessed it via the official “Volta a Ràmio” trail. From parking above the village of Engolasters it was a steep 35min climb through pine forest to Coll de Jovell at 1,780m, from where we began descending into the glacier-formed valley. At the 2km mark we reached Ràmio in the valley’s bottom end (📷1). The valley makes up ~9% of Andorra and is regarded as a time capsule for traditional mountain usage with limited modern development. Ràmio gave us a first glimpse into how people shaped the high Pyrenees over centuries through pastoralism, farming and communal land management (📷2). The trail continued up the valley, mostly alongside the Riu Madriu to the constant roar of white water, with ever-present granite underfoot/ in dry-stone walls and the scent of damp moss and pine needles in the air. At just over 4km/ 2h 10min into the hike we came to Refugi de Fontverd, not unlike a NZ-style DOC hut, at 1,875m elevation (📷3). We returned to the Coll via a higher path, which gave us superior views back up the valley (📷4). The 9km loop hike took us 4h 15min.

    As we drove back down from Engolasters we stopped to snap the top end of Escaldes-Engordany, which illustrates its rather dramatic valley confinement (📷1). A switchback sequence took us to Mirador Roc del Quer near Canillo, where we appreciated the views in several directions, such as this (📷2), without paying 6€ pp to stand on a suspended platform. Just beyond Canillo we stopped again at Sant Joan de Caselles, said to be a fine example of old Andorran architecture (📷3) and inside, one of the best preserved Romanesque interiors; the door was however bolted. We exited Andorra by heading for Col de Puymorens at 1,915m in the French Pyrénées (📷4); you can avoid the pass via a tolled tunnel.

    Occitanie

    A piece of Spain—inside France!

    After reaching Occitanie we transited the Spanish/ Catalonian enclave of Llívia, a town of some 13 square kilometres that was excluded from transfer to France in the Treaty of the Pyrénées (1659) because the said border agreement only specified the transfer of “villages”!

    🧭 Exploring

    We parked for our first night in Occitanie in Mont-Louis, beneath the walls of the town (📷1); at ~1,600m elevation it’s France’s highest fortified town and together with the c. 1679 citadel—an active commando training facility—is part of the “Fortifications of Vauban” UNESCO listing. Villefranche-de-Conflent is another of 12 UNESCO-listed fortified sites designed by military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, together representing a coherent defensive system across France. It’s considerably more tourist-oriented; we took the opportunity to walk the restored late 17th C. ramparts (📷2) and stroll through the town’s medieval streets (📷3). Next up was Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel | Tautavel Prehistory Museum, featuring rather dated and underwhelming exhibits (cf. Altamira) around findings from La Caune de l’Arago | the Arago Cave. People seasonally camped here from ~690,000 years ago, as imagined in this unconvincing “facsimile” cave set 500,000 years ago (📷4). All displayed human bones (including the signature “Tautavel Man”, possibly a Homo erectus subspecies, compiled from fragments of ~20 individuals) are moulds. We also drove to the actual limestone cave in nearby Gouleyrous gorge, situated in the middle of a cliff, but you can’t access it.

    Château de Quéribus at Cucugnan (📷1) and nearby Château de Peyrepertuse at Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse (📷2) are two of eight “Royal Fortresses of Languedoc” aspiring to UNESCO World Heritage status. Languedoc was shaped by Roman rule, became a centre of medieval Occitan culture, was devastated by the Albigensian Crusade before being integrated into the French kingdom. Château de Peyrepertuse sits on a limestone ridge at 800m elevation and is first mentioned in records from 1020 CE (📷3); this view is from parking close to the ticket gate (we decided not to go inside). It came into royal possession in 1240 CE, its former owner William of Peyrepertuse having been excommunicated for supporting the Cathars (a medieval Christian sect in southern Europe who believed in strict division between a good spiritual realm and an evil material world, leading the Pope to label them heretics). After the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees the castle lost its strategic importance; it was finally abandoned during the French Revolution. There’s free access to a lookout platform from which you can see the ruin of Château de Quéribus and beyond it, the Mediterranean Sea (📷4).

    Upon leaving Château de Peyrepertuse bound for Carcassonne we took the D14, a narrow winding backroad between hills cloaked in forest and meadows, intermittently punctuated with small villages. One such village is Bugarach, on the outskirts of which is a 700m path to Pont Romain, a single-arch stone bridge across a limestone basin on the Roman road linking the village to Rennes-les-Bains (📷1). Although the original was probably Gallo-Roman, it was destroyed in 1992 by flooding but faithfully restored the following year. What caught our eye was the trailside orchids, three of which were new to us. All native, first up is Neotinea ustulata | the burnt-tip orchid, which can be found up to 2,400m elevation in the mountains of central and southern Europe (📷2). The aptly-named Serapias lingua | tongue orchid is found throughout the Mediterranean (📷3). Ophrys scolopax | the woodcock orchid is recognisably a bee orchid given its morphology (📷4); it can be found in both the Mediterranean and Middle East. We also re-identified Orchis mascula | the early-purple orchid (📷5).

    Cité de Carcassonne is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town (📷1). First fortified in the Gallo-Roman period ~3rd–4th C. CE, it underwent extensive restorations in the 19th C. Set upon a hill overlooking the modern urban sprawl, the compact site is protected by ~3km of double walls and 52 defensive towers (📷2); it’s 19 € pp to walk the ramparts/ visit the restored château, but free to walk between the rows (without climbing on the outer battlements). The enclosed town is very touristy, filled with trinket shops and eateries, but also offers some architectural curiosities (📷3). Later, at nearby Trèbes, we walked alongside Canal du Midi, a ~360km network of navigable waterways linking the Atlantic (via Garonne) to the Mediterranean using locks, aqueducts, bridges and reservoirs. The canal is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, created through the vision of Pierre-Paul Riquet during 1667–94. The Trèbes Orbiel aqueduct (📷4) was designed by Vauban in 1688 and the town’s staircase lock dates from ~1674.

    Lagrasse is listed among Les Plus Beaux Villages de France | the Most Beautiful Villages of France; S had enjoyed her visit ~20 years ago and wanted to return to this relatively quiet locale, surrounded by hills on the Orbieu River (📷1). It developed around Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse, a Benedictine abbey founded during the 8th C. (📷2), becoming an important religious and economic hub. The village is compact, with stone houses/ artisan shops (in Jul/ Aug it is filled with tourists) and a medieval open-air market hall (📷3). On the path between camp and village we also discovered a new-to-us native orchid, Serapias vomeracea | the long-lipped serapias (📷4).

    Bonus pictures of pretty Lagrasse. A monk in the courtyard of Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse; it’s still an active religious site (📷1). A grey heron fishing in the Orbieu River (📷2). The 40m high fortified bell tower (clocher fortifié) of the abbey church, featuring buttresses with curved flyers; it was heavily modified in the late Middle Ages when the monastery was adapted for defense during periods like the Hundred Years’ War (📷3). Entrance on Rue de la Porte d’Eau, through which typical stone buildings can be seen (📷4). A view from the old bridge, looking back towards the hill on which we camped (📷5). A random village door (📷6). Anacamptis pyramidalis | the pyramidal orchid, with the monastery in the background (📷7).

    Our “small of the day” was captured when S went to empty the toilet cassette—not when you expect to hear “Quick, bring the camera!” This is a native moth, Arctia villica | the cream-spot tiger (📷1). We made our way to Salins de Saint-Martin outside of Gruissan on the Gulf of Lion, although being too early for florid algal blooms, colour differences between salt ponds were subtle (📷2). We followed the marked path 2.1km out to Plage de la Vieille Nouvelle (📷3). En route we did identify a number of birds, mostly at a distance: Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo; Anarhynchus alexandrinus | Kentish plover; Chlidonias hybrida | whiskered tern; Motacilla flava | western yellow wagtail; and Milvus migrans | the black kite. Later we stopped in Béziers, where we watched as boats navigated “Les 9 écluses de Fonseranes”, one of the most impressive engineering features of the Canal du Midi (📷4). Originally a sequence of nine locks (a “staircase”) completed in 1697, seven are typically in use, raising or lowering vessels ~21.5 meters over a short distance.

    Etang Des Mouettes is a a coastal lagoon in Frontignan, formerly a salt production pond with over 600 years of service, now gradually rewilding (📷1). On our dawn walk we found a heron stalking in the shallows (📷2), but there wasn’t enough light to be sure of the species. As the sun rose it illuminated flocks of Phoenicopterus roseus | greater flamingo traversing the pond, with their distinctive long necks, large kinked bills, trailing long pink legs and striking deep pink/ black underside wing plumage (📷3). A look at Frontignan Plage before departing the Mediterranean shore (📷4).

    We drove to the Mont Aigoual summit at 1,565m elevation in Parc national des Cévennes | Cevennes National Park; the park is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Our route up via Nant and Dourbies was long, winding and frankly tedious, so despite views towards the coast (📷1) and further inland (📷2) we felt less appreciative than we should have. We decided against our intended hike in 7°C and headed down via Gorges de la Jonte. En route the road verge was decorated with numerous native Dactylorhiza sambucina | the elder-flowered orchid, in shades of yellow, deep purple and pink (we first saw it in Theth, Albania). As is common practice, some of the formations in the gorge are named; this is Arcade des Bergers | Shepherds’ Arcade (📷3). The hamlet of Le Truel, where terraces once held vineyards, orchards and vegetable gardens, while sheep and goats grazed sloping pastures (📷4). Gyps fulvus | griffon vultures soar from the cliffs above, seemingly untroubled by the loss of a traditional way of life.

    Gorges du Tarn, also within Parc nationaldes Cévennes, is a canyon carved by the Tarn ~50km long and up to 500m deep. Large parts of the gorge are also included within the UNESCO-listed “Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape”. We began the scenic drive at Le Rozier, working our way west to east via cliffs and tunnels, with frequent stops at viewpoints towards Sainte-Enimie. Hameau semi-troglodyte d’Eglazines | the “semi-troglodyte hamlet of Eglazines” was first to catch our eye (📷1). Although not as high, the hamlet of La Sablière is on the opposite bank of the Tarn, so access/ supplies is via a cableway (📷2). The larger settlement of La Malène is billed as a Petite Cité de Caractère | “Little City of Character” (📷3). Sainte-Enimie is listed as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”; this view is from the river beach (📷4).

    From Sainte-Enimie we entered “Home” into the nav system and headed out of Occitaine. After 8,217km this tour was complete. Related missions logs are as follows:

    Plans for our next trip are uncertain as we await easing of global disruption.

    #2026 #andorra #camperVan #europe #france #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #occitanie #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #andorra #campervan #europe #france #hiking #nationalpark
  7. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    The wild reaches of Aragón

    About half the size of Portugal, we knew very little of Spain’s Aragón region. That was about to change as our road from Extremadura led us through its northern reaches bound for the co-principality of Andorra.

    Coordinates

    Into Aragón

    From Aranjuez we began our journey northeast towards Zaragoza, noting changes in the landscape once we had escaped the spaghetti junctions, slow traffic and industrialized zones in Madrid’s orbit. We saw red earth in the hills near Medinaceli (📷1) and green fields further along the A-2 near Arcos de Jalón (📷2), both in the Castile and León region. Crossing into Aragón we came to the spa town of Alhama de Aragón, a name derived from Arabic, although its thermal springs were known in Roman times (📷3). A bridge crossing on Embalse de la Tranquera | Tranquillity Reservoir, which certainly lives up to its name, as we approached pitch in Nuévalos (📷4).

    Monasterio de Piedra near Nuévalos is a former monastery (now part ruin and part hotel) and Romantic landscaped park containing trees, waterfalls and caves along the Piedra River; this is Cascada la Caprichosa (📷1). The combination of Cascade Cola de Caballo (📷2) with Gruta Iris behind its curtain (📷3), reached via a staircase cut into the cliff, was easily the highlight. Some of the scenery was decidedly more tranquil, but no less dramatic (📷4). Visiting the ruin of Santa Maria de Piedra is included in the entry ticket; it was occupied by Cistercian monks from 1218 CE for 617 years, until confiscated by the Spanish Government in 1835 and coming into private ownership. Within the ruin there’s a museum about wine making and exhibit on the introduction of chocolate to Europe. Note that the site only reopened a year ago after severe flood damage in late 2024; it’s mass tourism-oriented, so an early start helps avoid the crowds.

    Zaragoza

    After leaving Nuévalos we enjoyed seeing semi-arid agricultural landscapes (📷1) before joining motorways bound for the metropolitan sprawl of Zaragoza. Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar is the city’s defining landmark, a huge baroque basilica with domes overlooking the Ebro, seen here behind 15th C. bridge of Puente de Piedra (📷2); the Romans had also bridged the Ebro here when the town was known as Caesaraugusta. The 11th C. Islamic Aljafería Palace is part of the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragón UNESCO listing (📷3); it was unfortunately closed for siesta when we arrived—having been caught out a few times by this already! La Seo Cathedral | Cathedral of the Saviour is also part of the UNESCO listing, being built atop the Roman forum and serving as a mosque—evident in its exterior Mudéjar wall (📷4)—before expansion as a Christian cathedral; the interior (€) mixes Romanesque, Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

    Los Monegros

    The Ruta Jubierre | Jubierre track is an unpaved route that leads into the Barrancos de Jubierre, a badlands area within Aragón’s semi-arid Los Monegros region (it’s not technically a desert). We began from the southern end near the village of Castejón de Monegros, heading northward to exit onto the A-131 towards Sariñena. To visit Tozal Solitario, an isolated rock formation, we wisely left the van on the main track and walked to the formation (📷1). Tozal de Colásico is larger and can be seen without leaving the main track (📷2); you can also drive right up to it. Tozales de Los Pedregales is a collection of four eroded clay formations and ravines reached via a short but well-marked hike (📷3); this is formation no. 4. Tozal de la Cobeta is apparently the most photographed formation (📷4); we drove off the main track right up to this one, avoiding a hot 6km return hike. It took us ~3h to make the drive at ~30km/h max and to take short hikes to the formations. It had been dry so the dirt was very compacted and we had no concerns about clearance in our 2WD camper; we used the width of the road to avoid ruts and corrugations, as traffic was light. There was no avoiding the dust though!

    Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara

    The pretty but touristy village of Alquézar lies within Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara | Natural Park of the Sierra and Canyons of Guara; it’s crowned by Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor and Castillo Torre (📷1). The 6 € pp 3km Pasarelas de Alquézar descend from the ticket gate at the town hall into the adjacent Río Vero canyon, where we noted native Ramonda myconi | the Pyrenean violet in flower (📷2). We gained access to the clear-running river at Cueva Picamartillo (📷3) before taking the first of several gangways suspended over the riverbed (📷4).

    Continuing in the pasarelas, the hand of man is evident in the canyon, with industrial remnants including a weir and canal that was part of a small hydroelectric plant completed in 1913 (📷1); it reused an old mill and today’s visitor trail began as service paths. The dramatic limestone canyon itself however is of natural karst geology and the metal gangways purpose-built for tourism (📷2). Aphyllanthes monspeliensis | the blue aphyllanthes is endemic to the western Mediterranean (📷3). A look back towards town from Mirador del Vero as a thunderstorm approaches; you can see more of the gangways on the riverside cliffs (📷4). This was a 6.3km/ 2h 20min loop walk from the campsite.

    Our next hike in Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara was the S-3 Circular, anticlockwise, from the trailhead at Rodellar. We descended into Barranco del Mascún | the Mascún River gorge, noting rock climbers scaling sheer cliffs on both sides of the valley and gradually improving our view of the first of several rock windows we’d see on the trail (📷1). On reaching the riverbed we joined the Camino de Otín. There’s a nice view back to the window from near Surgencia de Mascún | the spring where Río Mascún stops being underground (📷2); shortly after the spring the intimidating Espolón de la Virgen via ferrata begins. Native Helianthemum apenninum | white rock-rose seemed to like living in the valley floor (📷3). We had views to Torre de Santiago for some time before reaching the formation (📷4).

    Ascending the S-3 trail beside Torre de Santiago (📷1). We found the lengthy and uneven climb from the riverbed to Mirador del Mascún (📷2) rather tough, but greatly enjoyed ever-changing perspectives on the Torre. Native Polygala calcarea | the chalk milkwort favoured living at elevation (📷3). At the abandoned village of Otín we turned towards Dolmen de la Losa Mora, ~5,000 years old (📷4). The trail was less dramatic but pleasant, until we began the descent back to the Río Mascún via the Andrebot ravine—here the path was formed of loose limestone and slow-going (use poles to reduce tumble risk). From the spring we backtracked up to Rodellar. The loop over 15km took us 5.5h. At camp we checked in with “I need a place to sleep, a beer & a hot shower—in any order!”

    Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido

    Pradera de Ordesa (parking near Torla-Ordesa) to the Cola de Caballo waterfall is a popular out-and-back trail in Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido | Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park. The Senda a la Cola de Caballo trail runs beside the Río Arazas, although the first section is under forest cover with limited views (📷1). After ~100min on trail things get more open and we found ourselves admiring spring greens next to clear mountain waters and impressive walls of rock in both downstream (📷2) and upstream (📷3) directions. The trail offers a number of waterfall waypoints, but they’re not all easy to see well due to vegetation overgrowth or flooded miradors; this is part of Gradas de Soaso, a sequence of steps (📷4).

    After ~2h on trail the landscape changed again, to a bleaker grassy expanse as we got nearer to the head of the valley (📷1). Water streamed off the cliffs, forming rivulets that found their way to the river, although not before leaving the ground boggy in many places (📷2). Our first new flower of the day was a native in the daisy family, Tussilago farfara | the colt’s foot (📷3). At 9km/ 3h on trail we reached the signature Cascada Cola de Caballo | horse trail waterfall, which felt somewhat anticlimactic (📷4).

    Our second new flower was native Narcissus pseudonarcissus | the wild daffodil, which seemed to favour growing within the protective cocoon offered by another (perfectly named) spiny native, Echinospartum horridum (📷1). Vultures circled overhead; we think we heard marmots whistling and the herd of native Rupicapra pyrenaica | Pyrenean chamois we’d seen on the way in had drawn closer to the river as we turned back (📷2). Cascada del Estrecho was our favourite waterfall; we detoured from the main path to its mirador on the return leg (📷3). Instead of rejoining the main path we crossed the river, which afforded new views en route to the parking area (📷4). 19km/ 5.5h return.

    A scenic drive out of the mountains from pitch in Broto to the town of Barbastro, where chores awaited. Here’s the view from Mirador de Jánovas, between the villages of Fiscal and Boltaña (📷1). Embalse de Mediano contained stands of flooded trees (📷2) and the threat of rain made for moody reflections (📷3). Embalse de El Grado I, the neighbouring reservoir, was looking very emerald from the van door as we stopped for lunch.

    Montfalcó

    Despite some reports, the 15km from the N-230 to public parking at Montfalcó (near Viacamp) weren’t at all challenging in a 2WD, with mostly good surface—but narrow in places. Mirador de Montfalcó overlooks Pantà de Canelles | Embalse de Canelles, but also offered a first glimpse of the Noguera Ribagorzana river that divides Aragón’s Montsec de L’Estall to the west (left bank) from Catalonia’s Montsec d’Ares on the eastern shore (📷1). These karst escarpments are part of the outer mountains of the Central Pyrenees, formed from Cretaceous and Jurassic materials.

    We’d come to hike the Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei | Natural Path from Montfalcó to the Congost de Mont-rebei. Here’s a view from the first pasarela | catwalk up a 30m escarpment, with 139 steps over 90m in length (📷2). The second pasarela is longer at 120m, with 215 steps ascending a 44m high escarpment (📷3). This is where you question how comfortable you are in the knowledge it was likely engineered by the lowest bidder… Sarcocapnos enneaphylla, native to southwestern Europe and northern Africa, is however quite at home on limestone escarpments (📷4).

    From the second pasarela we could anticipate the upcoming descent to the suspension bridge spanning the 35m gap between Aragón and Catalonia (📷1). From said bridge at Congost del Seguer, looking into the gorge of Mont-rebei, we could readily appreciate the depth of canyon the river had cut here (📷2); the cliffs reach over 500m high. Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei ascends a short way on the Catalonian side to intersect the Camí de Mont-rebei, itself a segment of the long-distance GR-1 (Sendero Histórico). As we climbed to join it we got a good look back at the second pasarela we’d used on the opposite bank (📷3). We also looked down of course (the path is uneven here) and avoided trampling this big darkling beetle (📷4); Blaps lusitanica can release a foul-smelling secretion from glands at its rear when threatened.

    Our original goal had been a mirador in the Mont-rebei Gorge, from which we could look back the way we had come (📷1) and also in the onward direction (📷2). Having met a Spanish couple who told us they were continuing in order to pick up a kayak and return by water, we decided to do the same. We thus continued beyond the mirador on Camí de Mont-rebei, a spectacular cliffside trail through the gorge known for its narrow path carved into rock walls above the river (📷3). After ~10km/ 3h 40min of hiking we arrived at a beach where, luckily, there was a spare double kayak available (we’d tried phoning, but had signal issues). Our 8km/ 1h 40min paddle back through the gorge (📷4) to a pier below Albergue de Montfalcó was followed by a 2km 4×4 transfer up the steep hill, where we paid for the rental—and our knees expressed their gratitude!

    Muralla de Finestres

    Roques de la Vila is a geological formation also popularly known as Muralla (China) de Finestres | the (Chinese) Wall Of Finestres. We followed online and local advice to park at Puente de Penavera, a bridge northeast of Estopiñán del Castillo, given the state of the dirt road. The 6.4km drive from our pitch in town took ~30 minutes. Although we sighted the formation ~4.5km into the hike, we first came to the former settlement of Finestres (📷1). It was depopulated in 1960 due to the filling of the Canelles reservoir; only one house, Casa Coix, is seasonally inhabited. A short and easy signposted walk links the village centre to Ermita de San Marcos | the Hermitage of Saint Mark; this is the best spot for panoramic views of the ~840m long formation (📷2). Folding of strata ~100 million years ago and subsequent erosion have created two primary parallel lines of vertical limestone that resemble a wall (📷3). Some of the formation is now partially submerged in the reservoir (📷4).

    Between the two lines of strata sits the 11–12th C. Romanesque Esglèsia de Sant Vicenç | Ermita San Vicente | Church of Saint Vincent, seen here from the more challenging path to reach it (📷1); poles are useful. On this part of the hike you cross over one of the walls and reach water level, where we noted this particular slab, nicely illustrating the process of continuing erosion (📷2). The hermitage is partially formed from limestone and the sanctuary is largely intact (📷3); the remnants of Castillo de Finestras, a medieval Moorish castle upon which the hermitage was built, are also evident. From this vantage point there’s an impressive view down the middle of the formation (📷4). The 15km/ 4.5h return hike was mostly exposed.

    After this hike it was farewell Aragón; it certainly made an impression and is an area we’d happily return to.

    #2026 #aragón #camperVan #catalonia #europe #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #aragon #campervan #catalonia #europe #hiking #nationalpark
  8. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    The wild reaches of Aragón

    About half the size of Portugal, we knew very little of Spain’s Aragón region. That was about to change as our road from Extremadura led us through its northern reaches bound for the co-principality of Andorra.

    Coordinates

    Into Aragón

    From Aranjuez we began our journey northeast towards Zaragoza, noting changes in the landscape once we had escaped the spaghetti junctions, slow traffic and industrialized zones in Madrid’s orbit. We saw red earth in the hills near Medinaceli (📷1) and green fields further along the A-2 near Arcos de Jalón (📷2), both in the Castile and León region. Crossing into Aragón we came to the spa town of Alhama de Aragón, a name derived from Arabic, although its thermal springs were known in Roman times (📷3). A bridge crossing on Embalse de la Tranquera | Tranquillity Reservoir, which certainly lives up to its name, as we approached pitch in Nuévalos (📷4).

    Monasterio de Piedra near Nuévalos is a former monastery (now part ruin and part hotel) and Romantic landscaped park containing trees, waterfalls and caves along the Piedra River; this is Cascada la Caprichosa (📷1). The combination of Cascade Cola de Caballo (📷2) with Gruta Iris behind its curtain (📷3), reached via a staircase cut into the cliff, was easily the highlight. Some of the scenery was decidedly more tranquil, but no less dramatic (📷4). Visiting the ruin of Santa Maria de Piedra is included in the entry ticket; it was occupied by Cistercian monks from 1218 CE for 617 years, until confiscated by the Spanish Government in 1835 and coming into private ownership. Within the ruin there’s a museum about wine making and exhibit on the introduction of chocolate to Europe. Note that the site only reopened a year ago after severe flood damage in late 2024; it’s mass tourism-oriented, so an early start helps avoid the crowds.

    Zaragoza

    After leaving Nuévalos we enjoyed seeing semi-arid agricultural landscapes (📷1) before joining motorways bound for the metropolitan sprawl of Zaragoza. Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar is the city’s defining landmark, a huge baroque basilica with domes overlooking the Ebro, seen here behind 15th C. bridge of Puente de Piedra (📷2); the Romans had also bridged the Ebro here when the town was known as Caesaraugusta. The 11th C. Islamic Aljafería Palace is part of the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragón UNESCO listing (📷3); it was unfortunately closed for siesta when we arrived—having been caught out a few times by this already! La Seo Cathedral | Cathedral of the Saviour is also part of the UNESCO listing, being built atop the Roman forum and serving as a mosque—evident in its exterior Mudéjar wall (📷4)—before expansion as a Christian cathedral; the interior (€) mixes Romanesque, Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

    Los Monegros

    The Ruta Jubierre | Jubierre track is an unpaved route that leads into the Barrancos de Jubierre, a badlands area within Aragón’s semi-arid Los Monegros region (it’s not technically a desert). We began from the southern end near the village of Castejón de Monegros, heading northward to exit onto the A-131 towards Sariñena. To visit Tozal Solitario, an isolated rock formation, we wisely left the van on the main track and walked to the formation (📷1). Tozal de Colásico is larger and can be seen without leaving the main track (📷2); you can also drive right up to it. Tozales de Los Pedregales is a collection of four eroded clay formations and ravines reached via a short but well-marked hike (📷3); this is formation no. 4. Tozal de la Cobeta is apparently the most photographed formation (📷4); we drove off the main track right up to this one, avoiding a hot 6km return hike. It took us ~3h to make the drive at ~30km/h max and to take short hikes to the formations. It had been dry so the dirt was very compacted and we had no concerns about clearance in our 2WD camper; we used the width of the road to avoid ruts and corrugations, as traffic was light. There was no avoiding the dust though!

    Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara

    The pretty but touristy village of Alquézar lies within Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara | Natural Park of the Sierra and Canyons of Guara; it’s crowned by Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor and Castillo Torre (📷1). The 6 € pp 3km Pasarelas de Alquézar descend from the ticket gate at the town hall into the adjacent Río Vero canyon, where we noted native Ramonda myconi | the Pyrenean violet in flower (📷2). We gained access to the clear-running river at Cueva Picamartillo (📷3) before taking the first of several gangways suspended over the riverbed (📷4).

    Continuing in the pasarelas, the hand of man is evident in the canyon, with industrial remnants including a weir and canal that was part of a small hydroelectric plant completed in 1913 (📷1); it reused an old mill and today’s visitor trail began as service paths. The dramatic limestone canyon itself however is of natural karst geology and the metal gangways purpose-built for tourism (📷2). Aphyllanthes monspeliensis | the blue aphyllanthes is endemic to the western Mediterranean (📷3). A look back towards town from Mirador del Vero as a thunderstorm approaches; you can see more of the gangways on the riverside cliffs (📷4). This was a 6.3km/ 2h 20min loop walk from the campsite.

    Our next hike in Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara was the S-3 Circular, anticlockwise, from the trailhead at Rodellar. We descended into Barranco del Mascún | the Mascún River gorge, noting rock climbers scaling sheer cliffs on both sides of the valley and gradually improving our view of the first of several rock windows we’d see on the trail (📷1). On reaching the riverbed we joined the Camino de Otín. There’s a nice view back to the window from near Surgencia de Mascún | the spring where Río Mascún stops being underground (📷2); shortly after the spring the intimidating Espolón de la Virgen via ferrata begins. Native Helianthemum apenninum | white rock-rose seemed to like living in the valley floor (📷3). We had views to Torre de Santiago for some time before reaching the formation (📷4).

    Ascending the S-3 trail beside Torre de Santiago (📷1). We found the lengthy and uneven climb from the riverbed to Mirador del Mascún (📷2) rather tough, but greatly enjoyed ever-changing perspectives on the Torre. Native Polygala calcarea | the chalk milkwort favoured living at elevation (📷3). At the abandoned village of Otín we turned towards Dolmen de la Losa Mora, ~5,000 years old (📷4). The trail was less dramatic but pleasant, until we began the descent back to the Río Mascún via the Andrebot ravine—here the path was formed of loose limestone and slow-going (use poles to reduce tumble risk). From the spring we backtracked up to Rodellar. The loop over 15km took us 5.5h. At camp we checked in with “I need a place to sleep, a beer & a hot shower—in any order!”

    Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido

    Pradera de Ordesa (parking near Torla-Ordesa) to the Cola de Caballo waterfall is a popular out-and-back trail in Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido | Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park. The Senda a la Cola de Caballo trail runs beside the Río Arazas, although the first section is under forest cover with limited views (📷1). After ~100min on trail things get more open and we found ourselves admiring spring greens next to clear mountain waters and impressive walls of rock in both downstream (📷2) and upstream (📷3) directions. The trail offers a number of waterfall waypoints, but they’re not all easy to see well due to vegetation overgrowth or flooded miradors; this is part of Gradas de Soaso, a sequence of steps (📷4).

    After ~2h on trail the landscape changed again, to a bleaker grassy expanse as we got nearer to the head of the valley (📷1). Water streamed off the cliffs, forming rivulets that found their way to the river, although not before leaving the ground boggy in many places (📷2). Our first new flower of the day was a native in the daisy family, Tussilago farfara | the colt’s foot (📷3). At 9km/ 3h on trail we reached the signature Cascada Cola de Caballo | horse trail waterfall, which felt somewhat anticlimactic (📷4).

    Our second new flower was native Narcissus pseudonarcissus | the wild daffodil, which seemed to favour growing within the protective cocoon offered by another (perfectly named) spiny native, Echinospartum horridum (📷1). Vultures circled overhead; we think we heard marmots whistling and the herd of native Rupicapra pyrenaica | Pyrenean chamois we’d seen on the way in had drawn closer to the river as we turned back (📷2). Cascada del Estrecho was our favourite waterfall; we detoured from the main path to its mirador on the return leg (📷3). Instead of rejoining the main path we crossed the river, which afforded new views en route to the parking area (📷4). 19km/ 5.5h return.

    A scenic drive out of the mountains from pitch in Broto to the town of Barbastro, where chores awaited. Here’s the view from Mirador de Jánovas, between the villages of Fiscal and Boltaña (📷1). Embalse de Mediano contained stands of flooded trees (📷2) and the threat of rain made for moody reflections (📷3). Embalse de El Grado I, the neighbouring reservoir, was looking very emerald from the van door as we stopped for lunch.

    Montfalcó

    Despite some reports, the 15km from the N-230 to public parking at Montfalcó (near Viacamp) weren’t at all challenging in a 2WD, with mostly good surface—but narrow in places. Mirador de Montfalcó overlooks Pantà de Canelles | Embalse de Canelles, but also offered a first glimpse of the Noguera Ribagorzana river that divides Aragón’s Montsec de L’Estall to the west (left bank) from Catalonia’s Montsec d’Ares on the eastern shore (📷1). These karst escarpments are part of the outer mountains of the Central Pyrenees, formed from Cretaceous and Jurassic materials.

    We’d come to hike the Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei | Natural Path from Montfalcó to the Congost de Mont-rebei. Here’s a view from the first pasarela | catwalk up a 30m escarpment, with 139 steps over 90m in length (📷2). The second pasarela is longer at 120m, with 215 steps ascending a 44m high escarpment (📷3). This is where you question how comfortable you are in the knowledge it was likely engineered by the lowest bidder… Sarcocapnos enneaphylla, native to southwestern Europe and northern Africa, is however quite at home on limestone escarpments (📷4).

    From the second pasarela we could anticipate the upcoming descent to the suspension bridge spanning the 35m gap between Aragón and Catalonia (📷1). From said bridge at Congost del Seguer, looking into the gorge of Mont-rebei, we could readily appreciate the depth of canyon the river had cut here (📷2); the cliffs reach over 500m high. Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei ascends a short way on the Catalonian side to intersect the Camí de Mont-rebei, itself a segment of the long-distance GR-1 (Sendero Histórico). As we climbed to join it we got a good look back at the second pasarela we’d used on the opposite bank (📷3). We also looked down of course (the path is uneven here) and avoided trampling this big darkling beetle (📷4); Blaps lusitanica can release a foul-smelling secretion from glands at its rear when threatened.

    Our original goal had been a mirador in the Mont-rebei Gorge, from which we could look back the way we had come (📷1) and also in the onward direction (📷2). Having met a Spanish couple who told us they were continuing in order to pick up a kayak and return by water, we decided to do the same. We thus continued beyond the mirador on Camí de Mont-rebei, a spectacular cliffside trail through the gorge known for its narrow path carved into rock walls above the river (📷3). After ~10km/ 3h 40min of hiking we arrived at a beach where, luckily, there was a spare double kayak available (we’d tried phoning, but had signal issues). Our 8km/ 1h 40min paddle back through the gorge (📷4) to a pier below Albergue de Montfalcó was followed by a 2km 4×4 transfer up the steep hill, where we paid for the rental—and our knees expressed their gratitude!

    Muralla de Finestres

    Roques de la Vila is a geological formation also popularly known as Muralla (China) de Finestres | the (Chinese) Wall Of Finestres. We followed online and local advice to park at Puente de Penavera, a bridge northeast of Estopiñán del Castillo, given the state of the dirt road. The 6.4km drive from our pitch in town took ~30 minutes. Although we sighted the formation ~4.5km into the hike, we first came to the former settlement of Finestres (📷1). It was depopulated in 1960 due to the filling of the Canelles reservoir; only one house, Casa Coix, is seasonally inhabited. A short and easy signposted walk links the village centre to Ermita de San Marcos | the Hermitage of Saint Mark; this is the best spot for panoramic views of the ~840m long formation (📷2). Folding of strata ~100 million years ago and subsequent erosion have created two primary parallel lines of vertical limestone that resemble a wall (📷3). Some of the formation is now partially submerged in the reservoir (📷4).

    Between the two lines of strata sits the 11–12th C. Romanesque Esglèsia de Sant Vicenç | Ermita San Vicente | Church of Saint Vincent, seen here from the more challenging path to reach it (📷1); poles are useful. On this part of the hike you cross over one of the walls and reach water level, where we noted this particular slab, nicely illustrating the process of continuing erosion (📷2). The hermitage is partially formed from limestone and the sanctuary is largely intact (📷3); the remnants of Castillo de Finestras, a medieval Moorish castle upon which the hermitage was built, are also evident. From this vantage point there’s an impressive view down the middle of the formation (📷4). The 15km/ 4.5h return hike was mostly exposed.

    After this hike it was farewell Aragón; it certainly made an impression and is an area we’d happily return to.

    #2026 #aragón #camperVan #catalonia #europe #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #aragon #campervan #catalonia #europe #hiking #nationalpark
  9. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    The wild reaches of Aragón

    About half the size of Portugal, we knew very little of Spain’s Aragón region. That was about to change as our road from Extremadura led us through its northern reaches bound for the co-principality of Andorra.

    Coordinates

    Into Aragón

    From Aranjuez we began our journey northeast towards Zaragoza, noting changes in the landscape once we had escaped the spaghetti junctions, slow traffic and industrialized zones in Madrid’s orbit. We saw red earth in the hills near Medinaceli (📷1) and green fields further along the A-2 near Arcos de Jalón (📷2), both in the Castile and León region. Crossing into Aragón we came to the spa town of Alhama de Aragón, a name derived from Arabic, although its thermal springs were known in Roman times (📷3). A bridge crossing on Embalse de la Tranquera | Tranquillity Reservoir, which certainly lives up to its name, as we approached pitch in Nuévalos (📷4).

    Monasterio de Piedra near Nuévalos is a former monastery (now part ruin and part hotel) and Romantic landscaped park containing trees, waterfalls and caves along the Piedra River; this is Cascada la Caprichosa (📷1). The combination of Cascade Cola de Caballo (📷2) with Gruta Iris behind its curtain (📷3), reached via a staircase cut into the cliff, was easily the highlight. Some of the scenery was decidedly more tranquil, but no less dramatic (📷4). Visiting the ruin of Santa Maria de Piedra is included in the entry ticket; it was occupied by Cistercian monks from 1218 CE for 617 years, until confiscated by the Spanish Government in 1835 and coming into private ownership. Within the ruin there’s a museum about wine making and exhibit on the introduction of chocolate to Europe. Note that the site only reopened a year ago after severe flood damage in late 2024; it’s mass tourism-oriented, so an early start helps avoid the crowds.

    Zaragoza

    After leaving Nuévalos we enjoyed seeing semi-arid agricultural landscapes (📷1) before joining motorways bound for the metropolitan sprawl of Zaragoza. Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar is the city’s defining landmark, a huge baroque basilica with domes overlooking the Ebro, seen here behind 15th C. bridge of Puente de Piedra (📷2); the Romans had also bridged the Ebro here when the town was known as Caesaraugusta. The 11th C. Islamic Aljafería Palace is part of the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragón UNESCO listing (📷3); it was unfortunately closed for siesta when we arrived—having been caught out a few times by this already! La Seo Cathedral | Cathedral of the Saviour is also part of the UNESCO listing, being built atop the Roman forum and serving as a mosque—evident in its exterior Mudéjar wall (📷4)—before expansion as a Christian cathedral; the interior (€) mixes Romanesque, Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

    Los Monegros

    The Ruta Jubierre | Jubierre track is an unpaved route that leads into the Barrancos de Jubierre, a badlands area within Aragón’s semi-arid Los Monegros region (it’s not technically a desert). We began from the southern end near the village of Castejón de Monegros, heading northward to exit onto the A-131 towards Sariñena. To visit Tozal Solitario, an isolated rock formation, we wisely left the van on the main track and walked to the formation (📷1). Tozal de Colásico is larger and can be seen without leaving the main track (📷2); you can also drive right up to it. Tozales de Los Pedregales is a collection of four eroded clay formations and ravines reached via a short but well-marked hike (📷3); this is formation no. 4. Tozal de la Cobeta is apparently the most photographed formation (📷4); we drove off the main track right up to this one, avoiding a hot 6km return hike. It took us ~3h to make the drive at ~30km/h max and to take short hikes to the formations. It had been dry so the dirt was very compacted and we had no concerns about clearance in our 2WD camper; we used the width of the road to avoid ruts and corrugations, as traffic was light. There was no avoiding the dust though!

    Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara

    The pretty but touristy village of Alquézar lies within Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara | Natural Park of the Sierra and Canyons of Guara; it’s crowned by Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor and Castillo Torre (📷1). The 6 € pp 3km Pasarelas de Alquézar descend from the ticket gate at the town hall into the adjacent Río Vero canyon, where we noted native Ramonda myconi | the Pyrenean violet in flower (📷2). We gained access to the clear-running river at Cueva Picamartillo (📷3) before taking the first of several gangways suspended over the riverbed (📷4).

    Continuing in the pasarelas, the hand of man is evident in the canyon, with industrial remnants including a weir and canal that was part of a small hydroelectric plant completed in 1913 (📷1); it reused an old mill and today’s visitor trail began as service paths. The dramatic limestone canyon itself however is of natural karst geology and the metal gangways purpose-built for tourism (📷2). Aphyllanthes monspeliensis | the blue aphyllanthes is endemic to the western Mediterranean (📷3). A look back towards town from Mirador del Vero as a thunderstorm approaches; you can see more of the gangways on the riverside cliffs (📷4). This was a 6.3km/ 2h 20min loop walk from the campsite.

    Our next hike in Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara was the S-3 Circular, anticlockwise, from the trailhead at Rodellar. We descended into Barranco del Mascún | the Mascún River gorge, noting rock climbers scaling sheer cliffs on both sides of the valley and gradually improving our view of the first of several rock windows we’d see on the trail (📷1). On reaching the riverbed we joined the Camino de Otín. There’s a nice view back to the window from near Surgencia de Mascún | the spring where Río Mascún stops being underground (📷2); shortly after the spring the intimidating Espolón de la Virgen via ferrata begins. Native Helianthemum apenninum | white rock-rose seemed to like living in the valley floor (📷3). We had views to Torre de Santiago for some time before reaching the formation (📷4).

    Ascending the S-3 trail beside Torre de Santiago (📷1). We found the lengthy and uneven climb from the riverbed to Mirador del Mascún (📷2) rather tough, but greatly enjoyed ever-changing perspectives on the Torre. Native Polygala calcarea | the chalk milkwort favoured living at elevation (📷3). At the abandoned village of Otín we turned towards Dolmen de la Losa Mora, ~5,000 years old (📷4). The trail was less dramatic but pleasant, until we began the descent back to the Río Mascún via the Andrebot ravine—here the path was formed of loose limestone and slow-going (use poles to reduce tumble risk). From the spring we backtracked up to Rodellar. The loop over 15km took us 5.5h. At camp we checked in with “I need a place to sleep, a beer & a hot shower—in any order!”

    Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido

    Pradera de Ordesa (parking near Torla-Ordesa) to the Cola de Caballo waterfall is a popular out-and-back trail in Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido | Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park. The Senda a la Cola de Caballo trail runs beside the Río Arazas, although the first section is under forest cover with limited views (📷1). After ~100min on trail things get more open and we found ourselves admiring spring greens next to clear mountain waters and impressive walls of rock in both downstream (📷2) and upstream (📷3) directions. The trail offers a number of waterfall waypoints, but they’re not all easy to see well due to vegetation overgrowth or flooded miradors; this is part of Gradas de Soaso, a sequence of steps (📷4).

    After ~2h on trail the landscape changed again, to a bleaker grassy expanse as we got nearer to the head of the valley (📷1). Water streamed off the cliffs, forming rivulets that found their way to the river, although not before leaving the ground boggy in many places (📷2). Our first new flower of the day was a native in the daisy family, Tussilago farfara | the colt’s foot (📷3). At 9km/ 3h on trail we reached the signature Cascada Cola de Caballo | horse trail waterfall, which felt somewhat anticlimactic (📷4).

    Our second new flower was native Narcissus pseudonarcissus | the wild daffodil, which seemed to favour growing within the protective cocoon offered by another (perfectly named) spiny native, Echinospartum horridum (📷1). Vultures circled overhead; we think we heard marmots whistling and the herd of native Rupicapra pyrenaica | Pyrenean chamois we’d seen on the way in had drawn closer to the river as we turned back (📷2). Cascada del Estrecho was our favourite waterfall; we detoured from the main path to its mirador on the return leg (📷3). Instead of rejoining the main path we crossed the river, which afforded new views en route to the parking area (📷4). 19km/ 5.5h return.

    A scenic drive out of the mountains from pitch in Broto to the town of Barbastro, where chores awaited. Here’s the view from Mirador de Jánovas, between the villages of Fiscal and Boltaña (📷1). Embalse de Mediano contained stands of flooded trees (📷2) and the threat of rain made for moody reflections (📷3). Embalse de El Grado I, the neighbouring reservoir, was looking very emerald from the van door as we stopped for lunch.

    Montfalcó

    Despite some reports, the 15km from the N-230 to public parking at Montfalcó (near Viacamp) weren’t at all challenging in a 2WD, with mostly good surface—but narrow in places. Mirador de Montfalcó overlooks Pantà de Canelles | Embalse de Canelles, but also offered a first glimpse of the Noguera Ribagorzana river that divides Aragón’s Montsec de L’Estall to the west (left bank) from Catalonia’s Montsec d’Ares on the eastern shore (📷1). These karst escarpments are part of the outer mountains of the Central Pyrenees, formed from Cretaceous and Jurassic materials.

    We’d come to hike the Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei | Natural Path from Montfalcó to the Congost de Mont-rebei. Here’s a view from the first pasarela | catwalk up a 30m escarpment, with 139 steps over 90m in length (📷2). The second pasarela is longer at 120m, with 215 steps ascending a 44m high escarpment (📷3). This is where you question how comfortable you are in the knowledge it was likely engineered by the lowest bidder… Sarcocapnos enneaphylla, native to southwestern Europe and northern Africa, is however quite at home on limestone escarpments (📷4).

    From the second pasarela we could anticipate the upcoming descent to the suspension bridge spanning the 35m gap between Aragón and Catalonia (📷1). From said bridge at Congost del Seguer, looking into the gorge of Mont-rebei, we could readily appreciate the depth of canyon the river had cut here (📷2); the cliffs reach over 500m high. Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei ascends a short way on the Catalonian side to intersect the Camí de Mont-rebei, itself a segment of the long-distance GR-1 (Sendero Histórico). As we climbed to join it we got a good look back at the second pasarela we’d used on the opposite bank (📷3). We also looked down of course (the path is uneven here) and avoided trampling this big darkling beetle (📷4); Blaps lusitanica can release a foul-smelling secretion from glands at its rear when threatened.

    Our original goal had been a mirador in the Mont-rebei Gorge, from which we could look back the way we had come (📷1) and also in the onward direction (📷2). Having met a Spanish couple who told us they were continuing in order to pick up a kayak and return by water, we decided to do the same. We thus continued beyond the mirador on Camí de Mont-rebei, a spectacular cliffside trail through the gorge known for its narrow path carved into rock walls above the river (📷3). After ~10km/ 3h 40min of hiking we arrived at a beach where, luckily, there was a spare double kayak available (we’d tried phoning, but had signal issues). Our 8km/ 1h 40min paddle back through the gorge (📷4) to a pier below Albergue de Montfalcó was followed by a 2km 4×4 transfer up the steep hill, where we paid for the rental—and our knees expressed their gratitude!

    Muralla de Finestres

    Roques de la Vila is a geological formation also popularly known as Muralla (China) de Finestres | the (Chinese) Wall Of Finestres. We followed online and local advice to park at Puente de Penavera, a bridge northeast of Estopiñán del Castillo, given the state of the dirt road. The 6.4km drive from our pitch in town took ~30 minutes. Although we sighted the formation ~4.5km into the hike, we first came to the former settlement of Finestres (📷1). It was depopulated in 1960 due to the filling of the Canelles reservoir; only one house, Casa Coix, is seasonally inhabited. A short and easy signposted walk links the village centre to Ermita de San Marcos | the Hermitage of Saint Mark; this is the best spot for panoramic views of the ~840m long formation (📷2). Folding of strata ~100 million years ago and subsequent erosion have created two primary parallel lines of vertical limestone that resemble a wall (📷3). Some of the formation is now partially submerged in the reservoir (📷4).

    Between the two lines of strata sits the 11–12th C. Romanesque Esglèsia de Sant Vicenç | Ermita San Vicente | Church of Saint Vincent, seen here from the more challenging path to reach it (📷1); poles are useful. On this part of the hike you cross over one of the walls and reach water level, where we noted this particular slab, nicely illustrating the process of continuing erosion (📷2). The hermitage is partially formed from limestone and the sanctuary is largely intact (📷3); the remnants of Castillo de Finestras, a medieval Moorish castle upon which the hermitage was built, are also evident. From this vantage point there’s an impressive view down the middle of the formation (📷4). The 15km/ 4.5h return hike was mostly exposed.

    After this hike it was farewell Aragón; it certainly made an impression and is an area we’d happily return to.

    #2026 #aragón #camperVan #catalonia #europe #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #aragon #campervan #catalonia #europe #hiking #nationalpark
  10. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    The wild reaches of Aragón

    About half the size of Portugal, we knew very little of Spain’s Aragón region. That was about to change as our road from Extremadura led us through its northern reaches bound for the co-principality of Andorra.

    Coordinates

    Into Aragón

    From Aranjuez we began our journey northeast towards Zaragoza, noting changes in the landscape once we had escaped the spaghetti junctions, slow traffic and industrialized zones in Madrid’s orbit. We saw red earth in the hills near Medinaceli (📷1) and green fields further along the A-2 near Arcos de Jalón (📷2), both in the Castile and León region. Crossing into Aragón we came to the spa town of Alhama de Aragón, a name derived from Arabic, although its thermal springs were known in Roman times (📷3). A bridge crossing on Embalse de la Tranquera | Tranquillity Reservoir, which certainly lives up to its name, as we approached pitch in Nuévalos (📷4).

    Monasterio de Piedra near Nuévalos is a former monastery (now part ruin and part hotel) and Romantic landscaped park containing trees, waterfalls and caves along the Piedra River; this is Cascada la Caprichosa (📷1). The combination of Cascade Cola de Caballo (📷2) with Gruta Iris behind its curtain (📷3), reached via a staircase cut into the cliff, was easily the highlight. Some of the scenery was decidedly more tranquil, but no less dramatic (📷4). Visiting the ruin of Santa Maria de Piedra is included in the entry ticket; it was occupied by Cistercian monks from 1218 CE for 617 years, until confiscated by the Spanish Government in 1835 and coming into private ownership. Within the ruin there’s a museum about wine making and exhibit on the introduction of chocolate to Europe. Note that the site only reopened a year ago after severe flood damage in late 2024; it’s mass tourism-oriented, so an early start helps avoid the crowds.

    Zaragoza

    After leaving Nuévalos we enjoyed seeing semi-arid agricultural landscapes (📷1) before joining motorways bound for the metropolitan sprawl of Zaragoza. Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar is the city’s defining landmark, a huge baroque basilica with domes overlooking the Ebro, seen here behind 15th C. bridge of Puente de Piedra (📷2); the Romans had also bridged the Ebro here when the town was known as Caesaraugusta. The 11th C. Islamic Aljafería Palace is part of the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragón UNESCO listing (📷3); it was unfortunately closed for siesta when we arrived—having been caught out a few times by this already! La Seo Cathedral | Cathedral of the Saviour is also part of the UNESCO listing, being built atop the Roman forum and serving as a mosque—evident in its exterior Mudéjar wall (📷4)—before expansion as a Christian cathedral; the interior (€) mixes Romanesque, Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

    Los Monegros

    The Ruta Jubierre | Jubierre track is an unpaved route that leads into the Barrancos de Jubierre, a badlands area within Aragón’s semi-arid Los Monegros region (it’s not technically a desert). We began from the southern end near the village of Castejón de Monegros, heading northward to exit onto the A-131 towards Sariñena. To visit Tozal Solitario, an isolated rock formation, we wisely left the van on the main track and walked to the formation (📷1). Tozal de Colásico is larger and can be seen without leaving the main track (📷2); you can also drive right up to it. Tozales de Los Pedregales is a collection of four eroded clay formations and ravines reached via a short but well-marked hike (📷3); this is formation no. 4. Tozal de la Cobeta is apparently the most photographed formation (📷4); we drove off the main track right up to this one, avoiding a hot 6km return hike. It took us ~3h to make the drive at ~30km/h max and to take short hikes to the formations. It had been dry so the dirt was very compacted and we had no concerns about clearance in our 2WD camper; we used the width of the road to avoid ruts and corrugations, as traffic was light. There was no avoiding the dust though!

    Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara

    The pretty but touristy village of Alquézar lies within Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara | Natural Park of the Sierra and Canyons of Guara; it’s crowned by Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor and Castillo Torre (📷1). The 6 € pp 3km Pasarelas de Alquézar descend from the ticket gate at the town hall into the adjacent Río Vero canyon, where we noted native Ramonda myconi | the Pyrenean violet in flower (📷2). We gained access to the clear-running river at Cueva Picamartillo (📷3) before taking the first of several gangways suspended over the riverbed (📷4).

    Continuing in the pasarelas, the hand of man is evident in the canyon, with industrial remnants including a weir and canal that was part of a small hydroelectric plant completed in 1913 (📷1); it reused an old mill and today’s visitor trail began as service paths. The dramatic limestone canyon itself however is of natural karst geology and the metal gangways purpose-built for tourism (📷2). Aphyllanthes monspeliensis | the blue aphyllanthes is endemic to the western Mediterranean (📷3). A look back towards town from Mirador del Vero as a thunderstorm approaches; you can see more of the gangways on the riverside cliffs (📷4). This was a 6.3km/ 2h 20min loop walk from the campsite.

    Our next hike in Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara was the S-3 Circular, anticlockwise, from the trailhead at Rodellar. We descended into Barranco del Mascún | the Mascún River gorge, noting rock climbers scaling sheer cliffs on both sides of the valley and gradually improving our view of the first of several rock windows we’d see on the trail (📷1). On reaching the riverbed we joined the Camino de Otín. There’s a nice view back to the window from near Surgencia de Mascún | the spring where Río Mascún stops being underground (📷2); shortly after the spring the intimidating Espolón de la Virgen via ferrata begins. Native Helianthemum apenninum | white rock-rose seemed to like living in the valley floor (📷3). We had views to Torre de Santiago for some time before reaching the formation (📷4).

    Ascending the S-3 trail beside Torre de Santiago (📷1). We found the lengthy and uneven climb from the riverbed to Mirador del Mascún (📷2) rather tough, but greatly enjoyed ever-changing perspectives on the Torre. Native Polygala calcarea | the chalk milkwort favoured living at elevation (📷3). At the abandoned village of Otín we turned towards Dolmen de la Losa Mora, ~5,000 years old (📷4). The trail was less dramatic but pleasant, until we began the descent back to the Río Mascún via the Andrebot ravine—here the path was formed of loose limestone and slow-going (use poles to reduce tumble risk). From the spring we backtracked up to Rodellar. The loop over 15km took us 5.5h. At camp we checked in with “I need a place to sleep, a beer & a hot shower—in any order!”

    Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido

    Pradera de Ordesa (parking near Torla-Ordesa) to the Cola de Caballo waterfall is a popular out-and-back trail in Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido | Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park. The Senda a la Cola de Caballo trail runs beside the Río Arazas, although the first section is under forest cover with limited views (📷1). After ~100min on trail things get more open and we found ourselves admiring spring greens next to clear mountain waters and impressive walls of rock in both downstream (📷2) and upstream (📷3) directions. The trail offers a number of waterfall waypoints, but they’re not all easy to see well due to vegetation overgrowth or flooded miradors; this is part of Gradas de Soaso, a sequence of steps (📷4).

    After ~2h on trail the landscape changed again, to a bleaker grassy expanse as we got nearer to the head of the valley (📷1). Water streamed off the cliffs, forming rivulets that found their way to the river, although not before leaving the ground boggy in many places (📷2). Our first new flower of the day was a native in the daisy family, Tussilago farfara | the colt’s foot (📷3). At 9km/ 3h on trail we reached the signature Cascada Cola de Caballo | horse trail waterfall, which felt somewhat anticlimactic (📷4).

    Our second new flower was native Narcissus pseudonarcissus | the wild daffodil, which seemed to favour growing within the protective cocoon offered by another (perfectly named) spiny native, Echinospartum horridum (📷1). Vultures circled overhead; we think we heard marmots whistling and the herd of native Rupicapra pyrenaica | Pyrenean chamois we’d seen on the way in had drawn closer to the river as we turned back (📷2). Cascada del Estrecho was our favourite waterfall; we detoured from the main path to its mirador on the return leg (📷3). Instead of rejoining the main path we crossed the river, which afforded new views en route to the parking area (📷4). 19km/ 5.5h return.

    A scenic drive out of the mountains from pitch in Broto to the town of Barbastro, where chores awaited. Here’s the view from Mirador de Jánovas, between the villages of Fiscal and Boltaña (📷1). Embalse de Mediano contained stands of flooded trees (📷2) and the threat of rain made for moody reflections (📷3). Embalse de El Grado I, the neighbouring reservoir, was looking very emerald from the van door as we stopped for lunch.

    Montfalcó

    Despite some reports, the 15km from the N-230 to public parking at Montfalcó (near Viacamp) weren’t at all challenging in a 2WD, with mostly good surface—but narrow in places. Mirador de Montfalcó overlooks Pantà de Canelles | Embalse de Canelles, but also offered a first glimpse of the Noguera Ribagorzana river that divides Aragón’s Montsec de L’Estall to the west (left bank) from Catalonia’s Montsec d’Ares on the eastern shore (📷1). These karst escarpments are part of the outer mountains of the Central Pyrenees, formed from Cretaceous and Jurassic materials.

    We’d come to hike the Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei | Natural Path from Montfalcó to the Congost de Mont-rebei. Here’s a view from the first pasarela | catwalk up a 30m escarpment, with 139 steps over 90m in length (📷2). The second pasarela is longer at 120m, with 215 steps ascending a 44m high escarpment (📷3). This is where you question how comfortable you are in the knowledge it was likely engineered by the lowest bidder… Sarcocapnos enneaphylla, native to southwestern Europe and northern Africa, is however quite at home on limestone escarpments (📷4).

    From the second pasarela we could anticipate the upcoming descent to the suspension bridge spanning the 35m gap between Aragón and Catalonia (📷1). From said bridge at Congost del Seguer, looking into the gorge of Mont-rebei, we could readily appreciate the depth of canyon the river had cut here (📷2); the cliffs reach over 500m high. Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei ascends a short way on the Catalonian side to intersect the Camí de Mont-rebei, itself a segment of the long-distance GR-1 (Sendero Histórico). As we climbed to join it we got a good look back at the second pasarela we’d used on the opposite bank (📷3). We also looked down of course (the path is uneven here) and avoided trampling this big darkling beetle (📷4); Blaps lusitanica can release a foul-smelling secretion from glands at its rear when threatened.

    Our original goal had been a mirador in the Mont-rebei Gorge, from which we could look back the way we had come (📷1) and also in the onward direction (📷2). Having met a Spanish couple who told us they were continuing in order to pick up a kayak and return by water, we decided to do the same. We thus continued beyond the mirador on Camí de Mont-rebei, a spectacular cliffside trail through the gorge known for its narrow path carved into rock walls above the river (📷3). After ~10km/ 3h 40min of hiking we arrived at a beach where, luckily, there was a spare double kayak available (we’d tried phoning, but had signal issues). Our 8km/ 1h 40min paddle back through the gorge (📷4) to a pier below Albergue de Montfalcó was followed by a 2km 4×4 transfer up the steep hill, where we paid for the rental—and our knees expressed their gratitude!

    Muralla de Finestres

    Roques de la Vila is a geological formation also popularly known as Muralla (China) de Finestres | the (Chinese) Wall Of Finestres. We followed online and local advice to park at Puente de Penavera, a bridge northeast of Estopiñán del Castillo, given the state of the dirt road. The 6.4km drive from our pitch in town took ~30 minutes. Although we sighted the formation ~4.5km into the hike, we first came to the former settlement of Finestres (📷1). It was depopulated in 1960 due to the filling of the Canelles reservoir; only one house, Casa Coix, is seasonally inhabited. A short and easy signposted walk links the village centre to Ermita de San Marcos | the Hermitage of Saint Mark; this is the best spot for panoramic views of the ~840m long formation (📷2). Folding of strata ~100 million years ago and subsequent erosion have created two primary parallel lines of vertical limestone that resemble a wall (📷3). Some of the formation is now partially submerged in the reservoir (📷4).

    Between the two lines of strata sits the 11–12th C. Romanesque Esglèsia de Sant Vicenç | Ermita San Vicente | Church of Saint Vincent, seen here from the more challenging path to reach it (📷1); poles are useful. On this part of the hike you cross over one of the walls and reach water level, where we noted this particular slab, nicely illustrating the process of continuing erosion (📷2). The hermitage is partially formed from limestone and the sanctuary is largely intact (📷3); the remnants of Castillo de Finestras, a medieval Moorish castle upon which the hermitage was built, are also evident. From this vantage point there’s an impressive view down the middle of the formation (📷4). The 15km/ 4.5h return hike was mostly exposed.

    After this hike it was farewell Aragón; it certainly made an impression and is an area we’d happily return to.

    #2026 #aragón #camperVan #catalonia #europe #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #vanlife #unesco #travel #spain #romans #roadtrip
  11. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    The wild reaches of Aragón

    About half the size of Portugal, we knew very little of Spain’s Aragón region. That was about to change as our road from Extremadura led us through its northern reaches bound for the co-principality of Andorra.

    Coordinates

    Into Aragón

    From Aranjuez we began our journey northeast towards Zaragoza, noting changes in the landscape once we had escaped the spaghetti junctions, slow traffic and industrialized zones in Madrid’s orbit. We saw red earth in the hills near Medinaceli (📷1) and green fields further along the A-2 near Arcos de Jalón (📷2), both in the Castile and León region. Crossing into Aragón we came to the spa town of Alhama de Aragón, a name derived from Arabic, although its thermal springs were known in Roman times (📷3). A bridge crossing on Embalse de la Tranquera | Tranquillity Reservoir, which certainly lives up to its name, as we approached pitch in Nuévalos (📷4).

    Monasterio de Piedra near Nuévalos is a former monastery (now part ruin and part hotel) and Romantic landscaped park containing trees, waterfalls and caves along the Piedra River; this is Cascada la Caprichosa (📷1). The combination of Cascade Cola de Caballo (📷2) with Gruta Iris behind its curtain (📷3), reached via a staircase cut into the cliff, was easily the highlight. Some of the scenery was decidedly more tranquil, but no less dramatic (📷4). Visiting the ruin of Santa Maria de Piedra is included in the entry ticket; it was occupied by Cistercian monks from 1218 CE for 617 years, until confiscated by the Spanish Government in 1835 and coming into private ownership. Within the ruin there’s a museum about wine making and exhibit on the introduction of chocolate to Europe. Note that the site only reopened a year ago after severe flood damage in late 2024; it’s mass tourism-oriented, so an early start helps avoid the crowds.

    Zaragoza

    After leaving Nuévalos we enjoyed seeing semi-arid agricultural landscapes (📷1) before joining motorways bound for the metropolitan sprawl of Zaragoza. Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar is the city’s defining landmark, a huge baroque basilica with domes overlooking the Ebro, seen here behind 15th C. bridge of Puente de Piedra (📷2); the Romans had also bridged the Ebro here when the town was known as Caesaraugusta. The 11th C. Islamic Aljafería Palace is part of the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragón UNESCO listing (📷3); it was unfortunately closed for siesta when we arrived—having been caught out a few times by this already! La Seo Cathedral | Cathedral of the Saviour is also part of the UNESCO listing, being built atop the Roman forum and serving as a mosque—evident in its exterior Mudéjar wall (📷4)—before expansion as a Christian cathedral; the interior (€) mixes Romanesque, Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

    Los Monegros

    The Ruta Jubierre | Jubierre track is an unpaved route that leads into the Barrancos de Jubierre, a badlands area within Aragón’s semi-arid Los Monegros region (it’s not technically a desert). We began from the southern end near the village of Castejón de Monegros, heading northward to exit onto the A-131 towards Sariñena. To visit Tozal Solitario, an isolated rock formation, we wisely left the van on the main track and walked to the formation (📷1). Tozal de Colásico is larger and can be seen without leaving the main track (📷2); you can also drive right up to it. Tozales de Los Pedregales is a collection of four eroded clay formations and ravines reached via a short but well-marked hike (📷3); this is formation no. 4. Tozal de la Cobeta is apparently the most photographed formation (📷4); we drove off the main track right up to this one, avoiding a hot 6km return hike. It took us ~3h to make the drive at ~30km/h max and to take short hikes to the formations. It had been dry so the dirt was very compacted and we had no concerns about clearance in our 2WD camper; we used the width of the road to avoid ruts and corrugations, as traffic was light. There was no avoiding the dust though!

    Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara

    The pretty but touristy village of Alquézar lies within Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara | Natural Park of the Sierra and Canyons of Guara; it’s crowned by Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor and Castillo Torre (📷1). The 6 € pp 3km Pasarelas de Alquézar descend from the ticket gate at the town hall into the adjacent Río Vero canyon, where we noted native Ramonda myconi | the Pyrenean violet in flower (📷2). We gained access to the clear-running river at Cueva Picamartillo (📷3) before taking the first of several gangways suspended over the riverbed (📷4).

    Continuing in the pasarelas, the hand of man is evident in the canyon, with industrial remnants including a weir and canal that was part of a small hydroelectric plant completed in 1913 (📷1); it reused an old mill and today’s visitor trail began as service paths. The dramatic limestone canyon itself however is of natural karst geology and the metal gangways purpose-built for tourism (📷2). Aphyllanthes monspeliensis | the blue aphyllanthes is endemic to the western Mediterranean (📷3). A look back towards town from Mirador del Vero as a thunderstorm approaches; you can see more of the gangways on the riverside cliffs (📷4). This was a 6.3km/ 2h 20min loop walk from the campsite.

    Our next hike in Parque Natural Sierra y Cañones de Guara was the S-3 Circular, anticlockwise, from the trailhead at Rodellar. We descended into Barranco del Mascún | the Mascún River gorge, noting rock climbers scaling sheer cliffs on both sides of the valley and gradually improving our view of the first of several rock windows we’d see on the trail (📷1). On reaching the riverbed we joined the Camino de Otín. There’s a nice view back to the window from near Surgencia de Mascún | the spring where Río Mascún stops being underground (📷2); shortly after the spring the intimidating Espolón de la Virgen via ferrata begins. Native Helianthemum apenninum | white rock-rose seemed to like living in the valley floor (📷3). We had views to Torre de Santiago for some time before reaching the formation (📷4).

    Ascending the S-3 trail beside Torre de Santiago (📷1). We found the lengthy and uneven climb from the riverbed to Mirador del Mascún (📷2) rather tough, but greatly enjoyed ever-changing perspectives on the Torre. Native Polygala calcarea | the chalk milkwort favoured living at elevation (📷3). At the abandoned village of Otín we turned towards Dolmen de la Losa Mora, ~5,000 years old (📷4). The trail was less dramatic but pleasant, until we began the descent back to the Río Mascún via the Andrebot ravine—here the path was formed of loose limestone and slow-going (use poles to reduce tumble risk). From the spring we backtracked up to Rodellar. The loop over 15km took us 5.5h. At camp we checked in with “I need a place to sleep, a beer & a hot shower—in any order!”

    Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido

    Pradera de Ordesa (parking near Torla-Ordesa) to the Cola de Caballo waterfall is a popular out-and-back trail in Parque Natural Ordesa y Monte Perdido | Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park. The Senda a la Cola de Caballo trail runs beside the Río Arazas, although the first section is under forest cover with limited views (📷1). After ~100min on trail things get more open and we found ourselves admiring spring greens next to clear mountain waters and impressive walls of rock in both downstream (📷2) and upstream (📷3) directions. The trail offers a number of waterfall waypoints, but they’re not all easy to see well due to vegetation overgrowth or flooded miradors; this is part of Gradas de Soaso, a sequence of steps (📷4).

    After ~2h on trail the landscape changed again, to a bleaker grassy expanse as we got nearer to the head of the valley (📷1). Water streamed off the cliffs, forming rivulets that found their way to the river, although not before leaving the ground boggy in many places (📷2). Our first new flower of the day was a native in the daisy family, Tussilago farfara | the colt’s foot (📷3). At 9km/ 3h on trail we reached the signature Cascada Cola de Caballo | horse trail waterfall, which felt somewhat anticlimactic (📷4).

    Our second new flower was native Narcissus pseudonarcissus | the wild daffodil, which seemed to favour growing within the protective cocoon offered by another (perfectly named) spiny native, Echinospartum horridum (📷1). Vultures circled overhead; we think we heard marmots whistling and the herd of native Rupicapra pyrenaica | Pyrenean chamois we’d seen on the way in had drawn closer to the river as we turned back (📷2). Cascada del Estrecho was our favourite waterfall; we detoured from the main path to its mirador on the return leg (📷3). Instead of rejoining the main path we crossed the river, which afforded new views en route to the parking area (📷4). 19km/ 5.5h return.

    A scenic drive out of the mountains from pitch in Broto to the town of Barbastro, where chores awaited. Here’s the view from Mirador de Jánovas, between the villages of Fiscal and Boltaña (📷1). Embalse de Mediano contained stands of flooded trees (📷2) and the threat of rain made for moody reflections (📷3). Embalse de El Grado I, the neighbouring reservoir, was looking very emerald from the van door as we stopped for lunch.

    Montfalcó

    Despite some reports, the 15km from the N-230 to public parking at Montfalcó (near Viacamp) weren’t at all challenging in a 2WD, with mostly good surface—but narrow in places. Mirador de Montfalcó overlooks Pantà de Canelles | Embalse de Canelles, but also offered a first glimpse of the Noguera Ribagorzana river that divides Aragón’s Montsec de L’Estall to the west (left bank) from Catalonia’s Montsec d’Ares on the eastern shore (📷1). These karst escarpments are part of the outer mountains of the Central Pyrenees, formed from Cretaceous and Jurassic materials.

    We’d come to hike the Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei | Natural Path from Montfalcó to the Congost de Mont-rebei. Here’s a view from the first pasarela | catwalk up a 30m escarpment, with 139 steps over 90m in length (📷2). The second pasarela is longer at 120m, with 215 steps ascending a 44m high escarpment (📷3). This is where you question how comfortable you are in the knowledge it was likely engineered by the lowest bidder… Sarcocapnos enneaphylla, native to southwestern Europe and northern Africa, is however quite at home on limestone escarpments (📷4).

    From the second pasarela we could anticipate the upcoming descent to the suspension bridge spanning the 35m gap between Aragón and Catalonia (📷1). From said bridge at Congost del Seguer, looking into the gorge of Mont-rebei, we could readily appreciate the depth of canyon the river had cut here (📷2); the cliffs reach over 500m high. Camino Natural de Montfalcó al Congost de Mont-rebei ascends a short way on the Catalonian side to intersect the Camí de Mont-rebei, itself a segment of the long-distance GR-1 (Sendero Histórico). As we climbed to join it we got a good look back at the second pasarela we’d used on the opposite bank (📷3). We also looked down of course (the path is uneven here) and avoided trampling this big darkling beetle (📷4); Blaps lusitanica can release a foul-smelling secretion from glands at its rear when threatened.

    Our original goal had been a mirador in the Mont-rebei Gorge, from which we could look back the way we had come (📷1) and also in the onward direction (📷2). Having met a Spanish couple who told us they were continuing in order to pick up a kayak and return by water, we decided to do the same. We thus continued beyond the mirador on Camí de Mont-rebei, a spectacular cliffside trail through the gorge known for its narrow path carved into rock walls above the river (📷3). After ~10km/ 3h 40min of hiking we arrived at a beach where, luckily, there was a spare double kayak available (we’d tried phoning, but had signal issues). Our 8km/ 1h 40min paddle back through the gorge (📷4) to a pier below Albergue de Montfalcó was followed by a 2km 4×4 transfer up the steep hill, where we paid for the rental—and our knees expressed their gratitude!

    Muralla de Finestres

    Roques de la Vila is a geological formation also popularly known as Muralla (China) de Finestres | the (Chinese) Wall Of Finestres. We followed online and local advice to park at Puente de Penavera, a bridge northeast of Estopiñán del Castillo, given the state of the dirt road. The 6.4km drive from our pitch in town took ~30 minutes. Although we sighted the formation ~4.5km into the hike, we first came to the former settlement of Finestres (📷1). It was depopulated in 1960 due to the filling of the Canelles reservoir; only one house, Casa Coix, is seasonally inhabited. A short and easy signposted walk links the village centre to Ermita de San Marcos | the Hermitage of Saint Mark; this is the best spot for panoramic views of the ~840m long formation (📷2). Folding of strata ~100 million years ago and subsequent erosion have created two primary parallel lines of vertical limestone that resemble a wall (📷3). Some of the formation is now partially submerged in the reservoir (📷4).

    Between the two lines of strata sits the 11–12th C. Romanesque Esglèsia de Sant Vicenç | Ermita San Vicente | Church of Saint Vincent, seen here from the more challenging path to reach it (📷1); poles are useful. On this part of the hike you cross over one of the walls and reach water level, where we noted this particular slab, nicely illustrating the process of continuing erosion (📷2). The hermitage is partially formed from limestone and the sanctuary is largely intact (📷3); the remnants of Castillo de Finestras, a medieval Moorish castle upon which the hermitage was built, are also evident. From this vantage point there’s an impressive view down the middle of the formation (📷4). The 15km/ 4.5h return hike was mostly exposed.

    After this hike it was farewell Aragón; it certainly made an impression and is an area we’d happily return to.

    #2026 #aragón #camperVan #catalonia #europe #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #aragon #campervan #catalonia #europe #hiking #nationalpark
  12. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    Extremadura to the heart of Spain

    Instead of continuing south in Portugal and returning to Frankfurt via the Algarve and southern coast of Spain, we decided to cut through the middle of the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, we entered the new-to-us region of Extremadura.

    Coordinates

    Extremadura’s distant past

    Our first stop on re-entering Spain was in the pre-Roman era, when southern Iberia was influenced by Phoenician and Mediterranean contact, before Roman conquest. Cancho Roano near Zalamea de la Serena is named for the farm on which it was discovered in 1978. It’s a controversial Tartessian (late Bronze Age/ early Iron Age civilization with strong Phoenician influence) structure founded in the 6th C. BCE. Some think it was a palace/ elite residence, others a sanctuary; it lacks the domestic features of a typical settlement. The site was abandoned before 370 BCE after being intentionally sealed and burned—possibly in an act of ritualistic decommissioning.

    The complex is surrounded by a moat with an entrance terrace between two towers facing the rising sun; the threshold is a decorated stela (ordinarily placed vertically) and the red clay courtyard includes a 5m deep well (📷1). The building was originally entered through a central hall, beneath which are remains of an even earlier structure (📷2). A round altar on the floor formed from clay and lime features a triangular element that kept a ceramic bowl, presumed to contain/ collect a sacred liquid (📷3). The central bulding is surrounded by a corridor and outer enclosure divided into 24 small rooms (📷4); both had stone foundations, clay floors, adobe brick walls with lime plaster and wooden roofs.

    Roman Mérida

    We stopped overnight in Medellín, with a castle, Roman theatre and birthplace of Hernán Cortés (who toppled the Aztec Empire enabling Spanish control of Mexico, reshaping the region’s culture, population and power structures through conquest, disease and colonization). In nearby Mérida the UNESCO-listed “Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida” preserves and protects the remains of the Roman colony of Augusta Emérita, founded in 25 BCE. It’s the most complete Roman urban ensemble in Spain and within Europe ranks among an exceptional few outside of Italy. We parked across the Guadiana River near the foot of Puente Romano, one of the longest surviving Roman bridges at 783m (📷1). At its other end, the Alcazaba | citadel is a 9th C. Islamic fortress built atop Roman works to suppress the revolting local population after the city’s capture by Muslim forces (who renamed it Mérida) in the early 8th C. Most amazing, a vestibule provided access to a double staircase descending to a cistern that was refilled from river water filtered through gravel at the base of a Roman dyke (📷2). Nearby is Palacio de la China | China Palace in Plaza de España, a 1928 department store built in Sevillian style (📷3); like many modern buildings in Mérida, it incorporates Roman remains in its substructure. The Templo de Diana | Temple of Diana is a Roman temple in the ancient forum area that was later incorporated into a noble residence, 15th–16th C. Palacio de los Corbos (📷4); this act likely contributed to the temple’s preservation.

    Anfiteatro Romano | the Amphitheatre of Mérida was a gladiator arena opened in 8 BC, spanning ~64 by ~42 metres across and built partly from opus caementicium | concrete; the central pit was covered with a wooden floor during games watched by 20,000 people (📷1). Teatro Romano de Mérida | the Roman Theatre of Mérida is the city’s headline monument, built 16–15 BCE and still in use today for performance arts (📷2); in Roman times it also found use for town council meetings, electoral assemblies and posthumous tributes to important public figures. Nearby Casa del Anfiteatro | the Amphitheatre House includes rooms and corridors decorated with mosaics, such as this one depicting crushing of the grapes (📷3); note the juice collected in three vessels below the winepress. Circo romano | the Roman Circus was the city’s chariot-racing stadium, built in the 1st C. CE (📷4); one of the best preserved of its kind in the entire Roman world, it could entertain 30,000 spectators.

    Museo Nacional de Arte Romano | National Museum of Roman Art houses artefacts from Augusta Emérita, such as this original 1st C. CE statue of Ceres, goddess of agriculture, from the scaenae frons | backdrop of the Theatre (📷1); the building itself is inspired by Roman brick arches. Casa del Mitreo is another elite residence, built in the late 1st C. outside of the city walls and featuring mosaics, but also notably retaining multiple residual frescoes, such as these two candelabra | candlestick holders (📷2); it was initially mistakenly identified as a temple dedicated to Mithras. The remnant core of Arco de Trajano | Trajan’s Arch stands 14m high (📷3); it was originally clad in marble panels. The smaller Visigothic collection of the National Museum of Roman Art is housed in a separate building, closer to the Alcazaba; among the works is this 7th C. pilaster, a decorative element in this case featuring the motif of Roman window bars (📷4). The Visigoths took control of Mérida in the early 6th C. and it remained an important political and religious centre in the Visigothic kingdom. Our 13km wander through history in 30° took 5.5h.

    Cáceres

    The walled Old Town of Cáceres is a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval ensembles, mixing Roman substructure (the 1st C. BCE colony of Norba Caesarina) with largely intact Islamic, Gothic and Renaissance architecture. On a Monday we found it largely deserted—even Plaza Mayor, the main square. A few tour groups did shuffle from ticket booth to ticket booth, but the homologous stone, populous pigeons and closed doors resisted our efforts to connect with this open-air museum, which seemed to lack residents to give it soul. In the late Gothic Santa Iglesia Concatedral de Santa María | Co-Cathedral of Santa María a spiral staircase (📷1) led to a small platform in the bell tower with views over the town (📷2); a number of other towers (including the 12th C. Moorish Torre de Bujaco) were in scaffold. We found the medieval streets and walls struggled to offer themselves as photographic subjects. An exception was at Palacio de Carvajal | Carvajal Palace, a 15th–16th century Renaissance-style palace, featuring a distinctive Gothic-style corner balcony beneath a pointed arch (📷3). We caught the bus back to camp feeling underwhelmed and questioning why this should be so. Camp itself is a highlight: we needed a break from travelling at pace, and what a delight to find an affordable pitch with en suite facilities (📷4)!

    Monumento Natural Los Barruecos

    We began at Museo Vostell-Malpartida, founded in 1976 near Malpartida de Cáceres; photography isn’t allowed inside, so we’ve nothing to share/ won’t attempt to describe the art. It’s within Monumento Natural Los Barruecos, given the museum’s buildings were part of a wool processing complex that created that reserve’s artificial ponds, formerly used for wool washing. The surrounding granitic landscape and the new wetland support colonies of Ciconia ciconia | the white stork (📷1); we also got fairly close at ground level (📷2). This hairy fellow is Isturgia famula, a moth native to southern Europe (📷3). This “bujío” is a traditional stone hut used by shepherds for protection from weather or as a temporary resting place (📷4); purportedly a common sight in pastoral landscapes where grazing was historically important.

    Aside from storks we identified a variety of birds on the ground, in the water and overhead, including Aegypius monachus | the black vulture; Phalacrocorax carbo | the great cormorant; Hieraaetus pennatus | the booted eagle; Actitis hypoleucos | the common sandpiper; Anser anser | the greylag goose; Podiceps cristatus | the great crested grebe; Ardea cinerea | the grey heron; and Motacilla alba | the pied wagtail. It’s a biodiversity hotspot in an otherwise dry plain!

    Charca de Barrueco de Arriba was the second pond we circumnavigated; info boards on the shoreline describe scenes from the “The Spoils of War” episode of Games of Thrones that was shot here (📷1). Safe from attack by fire-breathing dragons, the smaller-scale winged creatures we did see included this black and white beauty, Aporia crataegi | the black-veined white butterfly (📷2). A number of the granite formations have been named, such as Peña del Tiburón | Shark Rock, with natural erosion forming an eye and mouth (📷3); although we didn’t see any sharks in the pond, we did see Mauremys leprosa | the Mediterranean turtle. On the blue trail there are examples of petroglyphs from the Bronze Age, but all we made out was a caged rock. We could see only grass and granite at the site marked as a late Roman village. The “anthropomorphic tombs” were an easier spot, although there was no information on site regarding their age or occupants (📷4); possibly early medieval? Our route blended the green, red and blue trails, covering 8km in under 3h.

    Monfragüe National Park

    We celebrated Earth Day (as we all should) getting our dose of greens and blues in Parque Nacional de Monfragüe | Monfragüe National Park at the heart of the UNESCO Monfragüe Biosphere Reserve. This park in the Extremadura region is renowned for its birdlife and we had hardly begun our first trail when this small and familiar Fringilla coelebs | chaffinch sang us a fine tune (📷1); you can hear it below. The birds got rapidly bigger and soon we heard the whoosh of air through the flight feathers of Gyps fulvus | the griffin vulture (📷2). The park is also known for its landscapes, including rocky crags, scrubland, rivers and oak woodlands called dehesas in Spain—the montado in Portugal (📷3); this variety supports biodiversity. Gum rockrose were everywhere and on many of the bright white flowers beetles fulfilled a messy pollinator role; meet Heliotaurus ruficollis (📷4).

    We saw lots of butterflies in Monfragüe National Park—always a healthy sign—including Zerynthia rumina | the Spanish festoon, widespread across Spain (📷1) and Maniola jurtina | the meadow brown, which has a wider range (📷2). We began our second trail by crossing one of the bridges over the Río Tajo (📷3), a natural river by origin but reshaped by human activity including dam building. It was from a lookout of said river (Salto del Gitano) that we caught sight of our first Ciconia nigra | the black stork, recently arrived from sub-Saharan Africa and part of a European migratory population that come to breed here (📷4).

    Also at Salto del Gitano we spied—thanks to the line of bird scopes and lenses pointed at it—Monticola solitarius | the blue rock thrush, who appeared to be commenting on the attention being received (📷1). The geology at Salto del Gitano is noteworthy too; the near-vertical quartzite strata of Peña Falcón on the opposite bank shelters one of the most important griffon vulture colonies in Europe (📷2). We continued the trail to the hilltop Hermitage and Castle of Monfragüe, just closing as we arrived—but the free views of the landscape were worth the climb (📷3). As we got back to the van we were overflown by Milvus migrans | the black kite (📷4), a consolation prize for not having seen Aquila adalberti | the Spanish imperial eagle.

    Villareal de San Carlos to La Tajadilla, out-and-back was 9km and took a little over 3h. Our Fuente del Francés via Salto del Gitano and the castle return loop was 8km/ 3h.

    Toledo (Castilla-La Mancha)

    The historic centre of Toledo in Castilla-La Mancha (the plains around which are the stomping grounds of fictional character Don Quixote, first penned in 1605 CE) is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. Situated on a hill above the Río Tajo | Tagus River, the old town’s skyline is dominated by the Alcázar—a fortress with layers of Roman, Moorish and Spanish history, now a military museum (📷1); seen here from Mirador del Valle. Toledo’s listing in part reflects a long history of coexistence between Jewish, Muslim and Christian cultures—thus, references to the “city of three cultures”. In the Judería | Jewish Quarter we visited Sinagoga del Tránsito (1357–1391), converted to a church in 1492 and a museum of Jewish history since 1910 (📷2). There were queues to see the Moorish interior of Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca; also in the vicinity is the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, known for its ornate cloisters (but we were feeling out-cloistered by now!). Instead we saw a Moorish exterior, at the former Mosque of Cristo de la Luz (999–1186), said to be one of the best-preserved Islamic structures in the city, despite conversion into a chapel (📷3). Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santa María de la Asunción, the city’s 13th C. Gothic cathedral features an elaborate interior, including ornate carved “misericords” into which monks would lean backwards in order to remain technically standing during long services (📷4).

    Toledo’s UNESCO listing also reflects its concentration of monuments from different periods (Roman, Visigothic, Islamic, Gothic and Renaissance), as well as its roles as a former capital of Spain and an intellectual centre in medieval Europe. Puente de Alcántara is a bridge across the Río Tajo of Roman origin, although the current structure is largely medieval (📷1). Puerta del Sol | the Sun Gate was built by the Knights Hospitaller, a Catholic military order, in the late 13th to early 14th C. and combines Romanesque with Islamic styles (📷2). Both landmarks—the bridge and the gate—seem to typify Toledo’s architectural layer cake, in which the constructs of different periods are superimposed to create something not fully one thing nor the other. As a whole, the intact old town serves as a poignant reminder of the heritage lost to “strategic” bombing during WWII elsewhere in Europe (there was some damage during the Spanish Civil War). While wandering the old town this street corner made us think of the approach to the Treasury in Petra (📷3); even the more modern buildings are commonly sympathetic in style (📷4).

    Aranjuez (Madrid)

    Palacio Real de Aranjuez | the Royal Palace of Aranjuez is a UNESCO-listed component of the broader Aranjuez Cultural Landscape; this former royal residence lies ~50km south of Madrid. The palace was begun in 1561 CE by Philip II as a seasonal hunting lodge, with two subsequent wings enclosing a parade ground. To our eye the façade looks as if it had been commissioned under a restricted budget (📷1). Entry to the palace gardens is free. As Jardín del Parterre | the Parterre Garden has been demolished pending restoration, that left Jardín de la Isla | the Island Garden, a neglected-looking park consisting almost entirely of trees and hedges; note its fountains are on a timetable (📷2). A ticket buys internal access for a self-guided tour through some of the key royal apartments, the decoration of which largely reflects a mid-19th C. refurbishment under Isabella II. The Arab Study was our favourite, reminiscent of the Alhambra—indeed, it was designed by the man who restored that palace (📷3). Many rooms contained dark paintings with impaling scenes or female wardrobe malfunctions, perhaps gifting the royals some curious dreams. A bright exception was the garish Porcelain Room, a Rococo-style addition in 1763–65 which must have induced many a migraine since (📷4).

    Continuing or eastward journey, we exited Extremadura to enter another new-to-us region: Aragón.

    #2026 #camperVan #castillaLaMancha #europe #extremadura #hiking #madrid #nationalPark #nature #nomad #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #vanlife #unesco #travel #spain #romans #roadtrip
  13. BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻 @[email protected] ·

    Marcus Aurelius Monday! Selected Quotes!

    Drum Roll! Here is this week’s quote from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – known as the "Philosopher King".

    "Dig deep within yourself, for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging."

    #FamousQuotes #WordstoLiveBy #MarcusAurelius #PhilosopherKing #Romans #LifeLessons

    #famousquotes #wordstoliveby #marcusaurelius #philosopherking #romans #lifelessons
  14. Emmanuelle Robert @[email protected] ·

    INFOLETTRE - Pour connaître mon actualité, les nouveaux festivals du livre en Suisse romande et découvrir mes ateliers d'écriture, abonnez-vous à mon infolettre: emmanuellerobert.ch/#lecontact
    Vous pouvez vous désabonner à tout moment et votre adresse est stockée sur le serveur suisse Infomaniak.
    #suisseromande #culture #livre #mastolivres #romans

    #suisseromande #culture #livre #mastolivres #romans
  15. Emmanuelle Robert @[email protected] ·

    INFOLETTRE - Pour connaître mon actualité, les nouveaux festivals du livre en Suisse romande et découvrir mes ateliers d'écriture, abonnez-vous à mon infolettre: emmanuellerobert.ch/#lecontact
    Vous pouvez vous désabonner à tout moment et votre adresse est stockée sur le serveur suisse Infomaniak.
    #suisseromande #culture #livre #mastolivres #romans

    #suisseromande #culture #livre #mastolivres #romans
  16. Emmanuelle Robert @[email protected] ·

    INFOLETTRE - Pour connaître mon actualité, les nouveaux festivals du livre en Suisse romande et découvrir mes ateliers d'écriture, abonnez-vous à mon infolettre: emmanuellerobert.ch/#lecontact
    Vous pouvez vous désabonner à tout moment et votre adresse est stockée sur le serveur suisse Infomaniak.
    #suisseromande #culture #livre #mastolivres #romans

    #romans #mastolivres #livre #culture #suisseromande
  17. BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻 @[email protected] ·

    Marcus Aurelius Monday! Selected Quotes!

    Drum Roll! Here is this week’s quote from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – known as the "Philosopher King".

    "Life is short—the fruit of this life is a good character and acts for the common good."

    #FamousQuotes #WordstoLiveBy #MarcusAurelius #PhilosopherKing #Romans #LifeLessons

    #famousquotes #wordstoliveby #marcusaurelius #philosopherking #romans #lifelessons
  18. John Griogair Bell @[email protected] ·
    Seveneves library.hrmtc.com/2026/04/27/s #AmericanScienceFiction #AmericanScienceFiction21stCentury #ApocalypticDystopian #book #CatastrophesRomansNouvellesEtc #ColoniesSpatialesRomansNouvellesEtc #disasters #DisastersFiction #EarthPlanet #EarthPlanetFiction #endOfTheWorld #EndOfTheWorldFiction #EspaceExtraAtmospheRiqueExplorationRomansNouvellesEtc #ExplorationOfOuterSpace #fantasy #fiction #FictionDisaster #FictionDystopian #FictionFantasyEpic #FictionLiterary #FictionScienceFictionHardScienceFiction #FictionScienceFictionGeneticEngineering #FictionScienceFictionSpaceExploration #FictionThrillersSuspense #FictionThrillersTechnological #FictionWomen #FICTIONScienceFictionApocalypticPostApocalyptic #FictionClassics #FictionScienceFictionSpaceOpera #fictionalWork #FinDuMondeRomansNouvellesEtc #HabileteSDeSurvieRomansNouvellesEtc #HardScienceFiction #literaryFiction #MaryRobinetteKowal #mystery #NealStephenson #Novels #OuterSpace #OuterSpaceExplorationFiction #Pioneers #PioneersFiction #PionniersRomansNouvellesEtc #PopularFiction #review #romans #ScienceFiction #SpaceColonies #SpaceColoniesFiction #SpaceOperas #survival #SurvivalFiction #TPolyphilus #TerreRomansNouvellesEtc #ThrillersCrime
    #americansciencefiction #americansciencefiction21stcentury #apocalypticdystopian #book #catastrophesromansnouvellesetc #coloniesspatialesromansnouvellesetc
  19. John Griogair Bell @[email protected] ·
    Seveneves library.hrmtc.com/2026/04/27/s #AmericanScienceFiction #AmericanScienceFiction21stCentury #ApocalypticDystopian #book #CatastrophesRomansNouvellesEtc #ColoniesSpatialesRomansNouvellesEtc #disasters #DisastersFiction #EarthPlanet #EarthPlanetFiction #endOfTheWorld #EndOfTheWorldFiction #EspaceExtraAtmospheRiqueExplorationRomansNouvellesEtc #ExplorationOfOuterSpace #fantasy #fiction #FictionDisaster #FictionDystopian #FictionFantasyEpic #FictionLiterary #FictionScienceFictionHardScienceFiction #FictionScienceFictionGeneticEngineering #FictionScienceFictionSpaceExploration #FictionThrillersSuspense #FictionThrillersTechnological #FictionWomen #FICTIONScienceFictionApocalypticPostApocalyptic #FictionClassics #FictionScienceFictionSpaceOpera #fictionalWork #FinDuMondeRomansNouvellesEtc #HabileteSDeSurvieRomansNouvellesEtc #HardScienceFiction #literaryFiction #MaryRobinetteKowal #mystery #NealStephenson #Novels #OuterSpace #OuterSpaceExplorationFiction #Pioneers #PioneersFiction #PionniersRomansNouvellesEtc #PopularFiction #review #romans #ScienceFiction #SpaceColonies #SpaceColoniesFiction #SpaceOperas #survival #SurvivalFiction #TPolyphilus #TerreRomansNouvellesEtc #ThrillersCrime
    #americansciencefiction #americansciencefiction21stcentury #apocalypticdystopian #book #catastrophesromansnouvellesetc #coloniesspatialesromansnouvellesetc
  20. John Griogair Bell @[email protected] ·
    Seveneves library.hrmtc.com/2026/04/27/s #AmericanScienceFiction #AmericanScienceFiction21stCentury #ApocalypticDystopian #book #CatastrophesRomansNouvellesEtc #ColoniesSpatialesRomansNouvellesEtc #disasters #DisastersFiction #EarthPlanet #EarthPlanetFiction #endOfTheWorld #EndOfTheWorldFiction #EspaceExtraAtmospheRiqueExplorationRomansNouvellesEtc #ExplorationOfOuterSpace #fantasy #fiction #FictionDisaster #FictionDystopian #FictionFantasyEpic #FictionLiterary #FictionScienceFictionHardScienceFiction #FictionScienceFictionGeneticEngineering #FictionScienceFictionSpaceExploration #FictionThrillersSuspense #FictionThrillersTechnological #FictionWomen #FICTIONScienceFictionApocalypticPostApocalyptic #FictionClassics #FictionScienceFictionSpaceOpera #fictionalWork #FinDuMondeRomansNouvellesEtc #HabileteSDeSurvieRomansNouvellesEtc #HardScienceFiction #literaryFiction #MaryRobinetteKowal #mystery #NealStephenson #Novels #OuterSpace #OuterSpaceExplorationFiction #Pioneers #PioneersFiction #PionniersRomansNouvellesEtc #PopularFiction #review #romans #ScienceFiction #SpaceColonies #SpaceColoniesFiction #SpaceOperas #survival #SurvivalFiction #TPolyphilus #TerreRomansNouvellesEtc #ThrillersCrime
    #thrillerscrime #terreromansnouvellesetc #tpolyphilus #survivalfiction #survival #spaceoperas
  21. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Wahou les trois infos du jour !
    - La saison 3 de Silo arrive. On a des images à vous montrer !
    - Evil Dead Burn, le trailer est là. L'horreur aussi...
    - Dmitry Glukhovsky - L'avant-poste, c'est notre chronique du jour et ce roman est fou !

    Tous les jours sur Actusf, on vous raconte l'imaginaire !

    #silo #HughHowey #EvilDead #EvilDeadBurn #DmitryGlukhovsky #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook ##sciencefictionfan #dystopie #librairie #romans #Metro2033 #horreur #fantastique #SébastienVanicek

    #silo #hughhowey #evildead #evildeadburn #dmitryglukhovsky #sciencefiction
  22. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Wahou les trois infos du jour !
    - La saison 3 de Silo arrive. On a des images à vous montrer !
    - Evil Dead Burn, le trailer est là. L'horreur aussi...
    - Dmitry Glukhovsky - L'avant-poste, c'est notre chronique du jour et ce roman est fou !

    Tous les jours sur Actusf, on vous raconte l'imaginaire !

    #silo #HughHowey #EvilDead #EvilDeadBurn #DmitryGlukhovsky #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook ##sciencefictionfan #dystopie #librairie #romans #Metro2033 #horreur #fantastique #SébastienVanicek

    #silo #hughhowey #evildead #evildeadburn #dmitryglukhovsky #sciencefiction
  23. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Wahou les trois infos du jour !
    - La saison 3 de Silo arrive. On a des images à vous montrer !
    - Evil Dead Burn, le trailer est là. L'horreur aussi...
    - Dmitry Glukhovsky - L'avant-poste, c'est notre chronique du jour et ce roman est fou !

    Tous les jours sur Actusf, on vous raconte l'imaginaire !

    #silo #HughHowey #EvilDead #EvilDeadBurn #DmitryGlukhovsky #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook ##sciencefictionfan #dystopie #librairie #romans #Metro2033 #horreur #fantastique #SébastienVanicek

    #silo #hughhowey #evildead #evildeadburn #dmitryglukhovsky #sciencefiction
  24. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Wahou les trois infos du jour !
    - La saison 3 de Silo arrive. On a des images à vous montrer !
    - Evil Dead Burn, le trailer est là. L'horreur aussi...
    - Dmitry Glukhovsky - L'avant-poste, c'est notre chronique du jour et ce roman est fou !

    Tous les jours sur Actusf, on vous raconte l'imaginaire !

    #silo #HughHowey #EvilDead #EvilDeadBurn #DmitryGlukhovsky #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook ##sciencefictionfan #dystopie #librairie #romans #Metro2033 #horreur #fantastique #SébastienVanicek

    #sebastienvanicek #fantastique #horreur #metro2033 #romans #librairie
  25. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Wahou les trois infos du jour !
    - La saison 3 de Silo arrive. On a des images à vous montrer !
    - Evil Dead Burn, le trailer est là. L'horreur aussi...
    - Dmitry Glukhovsky - L'avant-poste, c'est notre chronique du jour et ce roman est fou !

    Tous les jours sur Actusf, on vous raconte l'imaginaire !

    #silo #HughHowey #EvilDead #EvilDeadBurn #DmitryGlukhovsky #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook ##sciencefictionfan #dystopie #librairie #romans #Metro2033 #horreur #fantastique #SébastienVanicek

    #silo #hughhowey #evildead #evildeadburn #dmitryglukhovsky #sciencefiction
  26. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Ah, mais on a trois belles infos aujourd'hui :

    - Roger Zelazny, auteur des Princes d'Ambre et de plein de chouettes romans de SF et de Fantasy va être honoré.
    - On a LE film de la semaine au cinéma. Il met en scène le diable qui est devenu libraire...
    - Un nouveau jeu Metro 2039 est prévu ! On en parle.

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #romans #librairie #fantasy #RogerZelazny #Metro2033

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #romans #librairie #fantasy
  27. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Ah, mais on a trois belles infos aujourd'hui :

    - Roger Zelazny, auteur des Princes d'Ambre et de plein de chouettes romans de SF et de Fantasy va être honoré.
    - On a LE film de la semaine au cinéma. Il met en scène le diable qui est devenu libraire...
    - Un nouveau jeu Metro 2039 est prévu ! On en parle.

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #romans #librairie #fantasy #RogerZelazny #Metro2033

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #romans #librairie #fantasy
  28. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Ah, mais on a trois belles infos aujourd'hui :

    - Roger Zelazny, auteur des Princes d'Ambre et de plein de chouettes romans de SF et de Fantasy va être honoré.
    - On a LE film de la semaine au cinéma. Il met en scène le diable qui est devenu libraire...
    - Un nouveau jeu Metro 2039 est prévu ! On en parle.

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #romans #librairie #fantasy #RogerZelazny #Metro2033

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #romans #librairie #fantasy
  29. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Ah, mais on a trois belles infos aujourd'hui :

    - Roger Zelazny, auteur des Princes d'Ambre et de plein de chouettes romans de SF et de Fantasy va être honoré.
    - On a LE film de la semaine au cinéma. Il met en scène le diable qui est devenu libraire...
    - Un nouveau jeu Metro 2039 est prévu ! On en parle.

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #romans #librairie #fantasy #RogerZelazny #Metro2033

    #metro2033 #rogerzelazny #fantasy #librairie #romans #sciencefictionfan
  30. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Ah, mais on a trois belles infos aujourd'hui :

    - Roger Zelazny, auteur des Princes d'Ambre et de plein de chouettes romans de SF et de Fantasy va être honoré.
    - On a LE film de la semaine au cinéma. Il met en scène le diable qui est devenu libraire...
    - Un nouveau jeu Metro 2039 est prévu ! On en parle.

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #romans #librairie #fantasy #RogerZelazny #Metro2033

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #romans #librairie #fantasy
  31. BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻 @[email protected] ·

    Marcus Aurelius Monday! Selected Quotes!

    Drum Roll! Here is this week’s quote from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – known as the "Philosopher King".

    "I learned to read carefully and not be satisfied with a rough understanding of the whole, and not to agree too quickly with those who have a lot to say about something."

    #FamousQuotes #WordstoLiveBy #MarcusAurelius #PhilosopherKing #Romans #LifeLessons

    #famousquotes #wordstoliveby #marcusaurelius #philosopherking #romans #lifelessons
  32. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    Ce lundi 20 avril est plein d'infos ! Voici les trois que nous avons sélectionné pour nous !

    - Le décès de l'auteur de science-fiction Ian Watson...
    - Il y aura un nouveau film World War Z. Mais on est moyen hypé vu le précèdent...
    - Notre avis sur Le Nid de l'incroyable Shirley Jackson !

    Tout ça, c'est à retrouver sur Actusf.com

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #fantastique #horreur #librairie #romans #zombie #WorldWarZ #worldwarz2

    #sciencefiction #sciencefictionbook #sciencefictionfan #fantastique #horreur #librairie
  33. Actusf @[email protected] ·

    On vous a fait la liste des sorties d'avril 2026 qui nous font envie... Elles sont huit à nous faire de l'oeil...

    Et vous, quel est votre prochaine lecture ?

    #sciencefiction #fantasy #fantastique #horreur #librairie #romans

    #sciencefiction #fantasy #fantastique #horreur #librairie #romans
  34. BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻 @[email protected] ·

    Marcus Aurelius Monday! Selected Quotes!

    Drum Roll! Here is this week’s quote from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – known as the "Philosopher King".

    "All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment: action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way."

    #FamousQuotes #WordstoLiveBy #MarcusAurelius #PhilosopherKing #Romans #LifeLessons

    #famousquotes #wordstoliveby #marcusaurelius #philosopherking #romans #lifelessons
  35. Public Domain Image Archive @[email protected] ·

    A young, genteel woman, daughter of Secota (1590) by Johann Theodor de Bry, from Briefe and True Report.

    Source: Harvard University

    Available to buy as a print.

    pdimagearchive.org/images/9271

    #native-american #rowboats #costumes #romans #british-america #native-americans #colonial-america #women #art #publicdomain

    #native #rowboats #costumes #romans #british #colonial
  36. Public Domain Image Archive @[email protected] ·

    A young, genteel woman, daughter of Secota (1590) by Johann Theodor de Bry, from Briefe and True Report.

    Source: Harvard University

    Available to buy as a print.

    pdimagearchive.org/images/9271

    #native-american #rowboats #costumes #romans #british-america #native-americans #colonial-america #women #art #publicdomain

    #native #rowboats #costumes #romans #british #colonial
  37. Public Domain Image Archive @[email protected] ·

    A young, genteel woman, daughter of Secota (1590) by Johann Theodor de Bry, from Briefe and True Report.

    Source: Harvard University

    Available to buy as a print.

    pdimagearchive.org/images/9271

    #native-american #rowboats #costumes #romans #british-america #native-americans #colonial-america #women #art #publicdomain

    #native #rowboats #costumes #romans #british #colonial
  38. Public Domain Image Archive @[email protected] ·

    A young, genteel woman, daughter of Secota (1590) by Johann Theodor de Bry, from Briefe and True Report.

    Source: Harvard University

    Available to buy as a print.

    pdimagearchive.org/images/9271

    #native-american #rowboats #costumes #romans #british-america #native-americans #colonial-america #women #art #publicdomain

    #publicdomain #art #women #colonial #british #romans
  39. Public Domain Image Archive @[email protected] ·

    A young, genteel woman, daughter of Secota (1590) by Johann Theodor de Bry, from Briefe and True Report.

    Source: Harvard University

    Available to buy as a print.

    pdimagearchive.org/images/9271

    #native-american #rowboats #costumes #romans #british-america #native-americans #colonial-america #women #art #publicdomain

    #native #rowboats #costumes #romans #british #colonial
  40. BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻 @[email protected] ·

    Marcus Aurelius Monday! Selected Quotes!

    Drum Roll! Here is this week’s quote from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – known as the "Philosopher King".

    "If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed."

    #FamousQuotes #WordstoLiveBy #MarcusAurelius #PhilosopherKing #Romans #LifeLessons

    #famousquotes #wordstoliveby #marcusaurelius #philosopherking #romans #lifelessons
  41. Curiosity Drive @[email protected] ·

    Northwestern Spain

    Leaving the Basque Country we continued westward into the Spanish provinces of Cantabria looking for ancient art, Asturias hoping for mountain vistas and Galicia in search of scenic coastline.

    Coordinates

    Cantabria

    Another day, another art gallery—although this one exhibits works tens of thousands of years older than Bilbao’s Guggenheim. The Museo de Altamira (near Santillana del Mar) houses faithful reproductions of some of the most famous prehistoric rock paintings known, inside a bespoke “Neocave”. Recognised for what they were in 1879, the original cave was inhabited by Paleolithic hunter-gatherers from 35,000 years ago until a rockfall 13,000 years ago sealed it, putting it out of use as a seasonal camp—but preserving the contained artefacts and artworks. Several naturalistic bison are depicted on the rock ceiling, formed from a drawing and engraved detailing coloured black with charcoal, then infilled with red ochre (📷1); this one was realised ~15,000 years ago. In some cases—as here—the designs utilise the ceiling’s natural contours to give the animals a sense of depth and movement, making it one of the earliest known examples of shading and volume in art. A number of handprints adorn the ceiling; the artist’s hand was coated in red ochre then pressed onto the rock, in this case 22,000 years ago (📷2). An alternative “airbrush” technique was also utilised to create an outline hand design. The oldest work comprises several parallel double-curved lines; this seemingly abstract “Sign” was painted 36,000 years ago (📷3). Whether the paintings had special meaning, or were simply “art for art’s sake”, is not known. An adjacent exhibition hall contains recovered artefacts and tells the story of human evolution. Among the artefacts found near the cave entrance were these pendants, carved from the hyoid bones of a horse 22,400 years ago (📷4). The entrance to the actual cave is only 300m from the museum, but you can’t approach it. With 17 other caves Altamira forms the “Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain” UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    Asturias

    Sunset on our mountain pitch

    We found a pitch adjacent to Mirador “Pedro Udaondo” in Asiegu with a view of the mountains in Picos de Europa | Peaks of Europe (📷1); the tall and sheer block of rock on the horizon is Picu Urriellu (the local Asturian name) | Naranjo de Bulnes (the Castilian name) at 2,519m. The range extends for 20km, forming part of the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain. In the vicinity we encountered Asturian sheep, an endangered Celtic breed with a long, coarse shaggy cream fleece and brown head/ legs that is indigenous to the area (📷2). Circling high overhead as we admired the landscapes were Neophron percopterus | Egyptian vultures, with their distinctive contrasting underwing pattern and wedge-shaped tails (📷3); they must have very recently flown in from Africa (and will return there around September time). In the evening we went down the hill into the mountain village of Asiegu (📷4) where we enjoyed an excellent dinner of local dishes at Sideria Casa Niembro (who had provided the gate code for the free pitch).

    Touring isn’t only about the scenery: sampling traditional foods is an obligation. From Sare in the northern Basque Country we savoured Gâteau Basque | Pastel Vasco | Etxeko Biskotxa, a traditional pie-like cake made of a buttery, shortcrust pastry typically filled with cherry jam (📷1) or vanilla cream. In southern Basque Country we sampled Tarta de Queso | Gazta Tarta, the crustless, creamy and caramelized or “burnt” cheesecake originating from San Sebastian but now widely available (📷2); we acquired ours in Zumaia. In the Asturian mountain village of Asiegu we shared a meal of delicious chorizo sausages, corn fritters served with strong Cabrales blue cheese and apple jelly (📷3), and tender roast kid. Our host poured small amounts (a culín) of the almost flat local sidra | cider from a height over a special bucket (📷4); doing so releases tiny bubbles, the temporary fizz imparting texture and flavour that—for our part in the performance—should be consumed within seconds before it reverts!

    With a fresh overnight dusting of snow on the peaks we set out to hike an out-and-back section of the 12km point-to-point Ruta del Cares (PR-PNPE 3) trail in Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa. This is the park’s most popular hike, linking Poncebos (Asturias) and Caín (León); it’s considered one of Spain’s most beautiful trails. We parked at Poncebos and initial views of the clear-flowing Río Cares from near the trailhead looked promising (📷1); a short stretch of road led to a well-formed path. The trail climbs through a deep limestone gorge with sheer cliffs that tower above the river; erosion has created rock pillars (📷2) and natural arches (📷3)—but human engineering in this landscape also must be admired. Between 1915 a the early 1920s, the company Electra de Viesgo built a canal to carry water from the Río Cares at Caín to a hydroelectric plant at Camarmeña–Poncebos. Up to 11 km long, it runs through ~70 tunnels excavated largely by hand with the aid of explosives; 11 workers were killed during construction. The maintenance path for this canal, widened between 1945–50, became today’s Ruta del Cares: the canal still carries water alongside, above and beneath the trail (📷4).

    At one point on Ruta del Cares, looking down into the canyon, we observed what we think must be a resurgence, where water that has been flowing underground reappears at the surface; they’re common in karst landscapes (📷1). The trail, like the canal itself, passes through a number of tunnels when cutting into the sheer rock face isn’t enough (📷2); this bridged section includes a steel grate so you can see the drop beneath your feet (📷3). We turned around just beyond this window in the rock wall (📷4), at ~8.5km (about two thirds along the route), corresponding to the Riega las Párvulas waterfall, just beyond the border with the León region.

    The trail was no less dramatic walking it in the opposite direction (📷1). On our outbound leg the mountain goats were generally high above us, sometimes heard but not seen. On our return leg a number had descended onto the trail (📷2). At one point we encountered a “toll goat”, hoping to extract a fair exchange for passage through one of the tunnels (we didn’t feed it). A view ahead to a stretch of “up” before the final descent to the trailhead (📷3). Did we mention we saw goats? This she-goat was actively licking at a very particular patch of rock, which we took to be a quest for salt (📷4); apparently sodium is scarce in their normal alpine plant-based diet. All told the hike was 17km/ 5h out-and-back. Note there’s a non-zero probability of rockfall, but this trail is up there with the best we’ve done.

    Smalls from the Ruta del Cares were plentiful. Glandora prostrata | the creeping gromwell is native to Spain, Portugal and France (📷1); this was everywhere trail side, with a velvety sheen that seemed to confuse autofocus! Erodium cicutarium | the redstem stork’s bill is native to the Mediterranean Basin (📷2); after flowering it produces long, beak-shaped seed pods. Helleborus foetidus | the stinking hellebore is a mountain native belonging to the buttercup family (📷3); the species name is Latin for “foul-smelling”, the result of bruised/ crushed leaves. Globularia nudicaulis | the leafless-stemmed globularia (📷4); this native is so-named because the stem is naked, with leaves in a low rosette at ground level.

    Helicella itala | the heath snail is a native land snail (📷1); during hot, dry periods it climbs up vegetation and seals itself inside its shell to avoid overheating and dehydration. Dianthus hyssopifolius | the fringed pink is native to Spain, Portugal and France (📷2); it’s well adapted to rocky alpine environments. Pinguicula grandiflora | the large-flowered butterwort is another native (📷3); the flower is atypically large for a butterwort. Not all the smalls we noticed were living: being limestone country, some of the rocks contained the bodies of marine animals fossilised millions of years ago (📷4). Tectonic uplift transformed an ancient shallow sea into mountains!

    The next morning it was hard to beat sipping coffee with a view out the van sliding door from pitch in Asiegu, as the rising sun lit the snow-capped mountains of Picos de Europa:

    Morning light on Picos de Europa

    Ruta a los Lagos de Covadonga (PR.PNPE-2) was our second trail in Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa. The road from Covadonga to reach the trailhead is fairly long and winding; it closes to private cars at busy times (replaced by park and ride). En route we stopped at Mirador de la Reina for stunning views back over the still misty lowlands we’d driven through (📷1). There in the morning chill we were in turn observed by roosting Gyps fulvus | Eurasian griffon vultures, perhaps waiting for thermals to form (📷2). We drove on to Lago Enol, the first of a pair of glacial lakes (📷3), parking at Aparcamiento Buferrera. We noticed fire on an adjacent peak and later watched a helicopter drop a bucket of water on it. There’s a short detour to Minas de Buferrera, where manganese and iron were extracted intermittently between 1868 and 1979 (the road to the lakes is a legacy of mining activity). “Flower of the day” went to Narcissus bulbocodium | the hoop-petticoat daffodil, a native to Spain, Portugal and France (📷4).

    Continuing on Ruta a los Lagos de Covadonga, Largo de la Ercina had the prettier backdrop (📷1). We noted more new-to-us flowers; this is Erythronium dens-canis | dogtooth violet, native to central and southern Europe (📷2). A large part of the trail led us over limestone areas (📷3). Ermita de El Buen Pastor is a small hermitage sitting in the Vega de Enol, a high mountain meadow adjacent to Lago Enol at ~1,070m altitude (📷4); the contrast of this small human-built structure set against a vast, dramatic alpine landscape gives you pause. This was a 6km/ 2h loop.

    For our last night in Asturias we came to Salas (📷1); this historic village offers accommodation to pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago. What drew us here in a van, you might ask? Four reasons:

    1. First, it has a highly-rated laundromat. After a little over a week on the road our attire was in need of refreshing.
    2. Second, it was a comfortable distance between points-of-interest. Driving can be tiring, especially when narrow mountain roads are involved.
    3. Third, it’s camper van/ motorhome friendly, providing free-to-use services: parking overnight legally in dedicated area; potable water; grey water disposal; and toilet cassette emptying.
    4. Lastly, we also needed to buy groceries. In addition to usual supplies we acquired the local specialty biscuit, Carajitos (📷2). Available from La Casa del Profesor (est. 1918) on the main street, these soft and flavoursome hazelnut-based treats are apparently world famous in Asturias!
    SalasCarajitos

    Galicia

    We continued west to Monumento Natural Praia das Catedrais (near Ribadeo), where a series of arches resemble the flying buttresses of Gothic cathedrals; at low tide sea conditions didn’t allow us safe access. Views from the cliff top platforms were underwhelming.

    Disappointed, we drove on to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Muralla Romana de Lugo | the Roman walls of Lugo—once the Roman colonial town of Lucus Augusti in the province of Hispania Tarraconensis. The walls were built in the 3rd C. CE to defend against local tribesmen and Germanic invaders. About 2.1km long, 4.2m wide and 8–12m in height, internal and external stone facings were supported by a cemented rubble core (📷1); you can walk the full length of the parapet. Originally featuring an incredible count of 88 towers, these were mostly semicircular at intervals of 5.4–12.8m with bases of dressed granite topped with slate (📷2); 49 are still intact. Five of the current 10 gates are Roman in origin, including Porta de San Pedro (📷3); it was reconstructed in 1781. Many buildings within the walls are badly decayed; Lugo was nearly deserted during our visit. We looked through Sala Porta Miñá, a contemporary history museum, where they have an excavated stone-built Roman cloaca | sewer on display (📷4).

    The 55m Torre de Hércules | Tower of Hercules (📷1&2) at A Coruña was built during the 1st C. CE, during the reign of Emperor Trajan, and is UNESCO-listed as the oldest surviving Roman lighthouse. It’s still in use today, making it the oldest functioning lighthouse in the world: that’s two thousand years of continuous maritime safety service! It underwent major restoration in the 18th C. (reflected in the current neoclassical shell) and until the 20th C. was known as Farum Brigantium. You can ordinarily climb the spiral staircase within the Roman core; it was closed for renovation during our visit. On the adjacent granite headland are even older relics: the Petroglifos de Punta Herminia are a group of prehistoric rock carvings dated to 2500–1800 BCE. They’re very weathered/ hard to make out, so not as photogenic as the Atlantic surf smashing onto the rocks below (📷3). Onwards to O Ézaro, where we admired the dramatic rocky landscape surrounding the Río Xallas (📷4). This reflects a very old granite core formed ~300 million years ago, and very lengthy erosion causing large fractures, rounded domes, sheer cliffs and boulder formations.

    Fervenza do Ézaro is a waterfall on the Río Xallas | River Xallas at O Ézaro on the rugged Costa da Morte | Coast of Death (where Atlantic storms, hidden rocks and fog/ sea mist have led to many shipwrecks and drownings). Next to a hydroelectric power plant, the Ézaro waterfall is billed as “one of the only sites in Europe where a river cascades directly into the sea” (📷1). While this could be contested given they are ~1.4km upstream of the shoreline, the falls are nevertheless scenic (📷2). About 16km south of O Ézaro is the village of Carnota, site of the Hórreo de Carnota, built 1760–1783 (📷3). This hórreo | granary in the typical Fisterran style is the longest in Galicia at 34.76m. Once used to store, dry and conserve corn/ other crops, most hórreo (there are 884+ in this municipality alone) are now merely “decorative statements” given the decline of agricultural traditions. Carnota also boasts a long sandy beach, Praia de Carnota, backed by sand dunes and a salt marsh. From it you can see to Cape Finisterre (after the Latin “Finis Terrae” | “end of the earth”), which the Romans considered the edge of the known world (📷4).

    Christian pilgrims flock to Santiago de Compostela’s cathedral (📷1), built 1075–1211 CE with later additions, to visit the tomb of the apostle Saint James the Great. Although said to have died in Jerusalem in 44 CE, medieval legend holds that his followers, guided by divine intervention, brought his body to Galicia. Pilgrims walk the Camino de Santiago, a network of interlinked routes converging here from across much of Europe—as symbolised by the scallop shell. A unique feature of the cathedral’s nave, the “Botafumeiro” is a large silver censer (incense burner) that is swung across the transept during special services (📷2). The cathedral fronts onto to Praza do Obradoiro, a grand square surrounded by other historic buildings including Pazo de Raxoi | the neoclassical town hall (📷3) and Hostal dos Reis Católicos, a luxury hotel that was once a 15th C. pilgrims hospital (📷4). The medieval historic center of town is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site.

    Mercado de Abastos is Santiago de Compostela’s main market, offering fresh seafood (📷1), produce, and tapas—if you’re not too early! The old town includes examples of a classic feature of northern Spanish architecture called a “galería” (📷2); these enclosed balconies are especially common in Galicia and provide a “glass skin” that shields the home from rain and wind while providing passive solar heating and extra usable space (plants, laundry drying, etc.). Parque da Alameda is a green space close to the old town and offers an elevated perspective of the cathedral skyline (📷3). We visited Museo do Pobo Galego, a former convent that exhibits artefacts from traditional Galician life; it features an unusual staircase with three intertwined spiralling paths that end abruptly at different doors (📷4). The baroque Monastery of San Martín Pinario near the cathedral is said to have ornate interiors; it was closed to visitors.

    From Santiago de Compostela we drove south. Ría de Vigo is a drowned river valley near the city of Vigo; it’s known for providing a sheltered harbour (the Cíes Islands act as a barrier against the Atlantic), for mussel farming rafts called “bateas” and for white sand beaches. On the northern side Praia da Folla de Nerga a.k.a. Playa de Nerga is popular (📷1). On the southern side there’s a string of beaches on the outskirts of Vigo connected by a long promenade with views of the Cíes Islands (📷2). At the town of Baiona the large Fortaleza De Monterreal is surrounded by ~3km of walls, mostly built between the 11th to 17th centuries (📷3); the strategic hilltop has been fortified for 2,000 years and is now occupied by a hotel. We turned inland to Tui, wandering the medieval old town that features a fortress-like cathedral built during the 12th and 13th centuries (📷4).

    Tui offers views across the Miño River into the Portuguese town of Valença—the next destination on our loop through the Iberian Peninsula.

    #2026 #asturias #camperVan #cantabria #europe #galicia #hiking #nationalPark #nature #nomad #roadTrip #romans #spain #travel #unesco #vanLife
    #asturias #campervan #cantabria #europe #galicia #hiking
  42. BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻 @[email protected] ·

    Marcus Aurelius Monday! Selected Quotes!

    Drum Roll! Here is this week’s quote from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – known as the "Philosopher King".

    "Kindness is invincible, but only when it's sincere, with no hypocrisy or faking. For what can even the most malicious person do if you keep showing kindness and, if given the chance, you gently point out where they went wrong—right as they are trying to harm you?"

    #FamousQuotes #WordstoLiveBy #MarcusAurelius #PhilosopherKing #Romans #LifeLessions

    #famousquotes #wordstoliveby #marcusaurelius #philosopherking #romans #lifelessions
  43. BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻 @[email protected] ·

    Marcus Aurelius Monday! Selected Quotes!

    Drum Roll! Here is this week’s quote from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – known as the "Philosopher King".

    "Stay calm and serene regardless of what life throws at you."

    #FamousQuotes #WordstoLiveBy #MarcusAurelius #PhilosopherKing #Romans

    #famousquotes #wordstoliveby #marcusaurelius #philosopherking #romans
  44. Emmanuelle Robert @[email protected] ·
    CW: eBooks

    Oui, les livres sont chers en Suisse. Et oui, l'accès au livre de poche est difficile. Pour celles et ceux qui veulent lire Immaculée connexion à prix doux, il y a le livre électronique [allergiques à Google, passez votre chemin], par exemple sur ce site: play.google.com/store/books/de
    #lectures #romans #polars

    #lectures #romans #polars
  45. Les chroniques de Lee Ham @litteratutemltipleunerichesse.wordpress.com@litteratutemltipleunerichesse.wordpress.com ·

    Le flambeau perse – Jordi HUBERT – 2025 – L’harmattan

    Quatrième de couverture

    Étudiant français d’origine iranienne, Pejman se laisse convaincre par son professeur d’entreprendre un voyage d’études en Iran afin de vérifier la réalisation d’une prophétie prévoyant le retour au pouvoir des vieilles familles perses. Mais le jeune homme est loin d’imaginer que ce périple dépassera toutes ses attentes et changera son destin à jamais. Sous la poussière des pierres plurimillénaires, dans les entrailles des mosquées ou des cryptes oubliées, il découvre des secrets profondément enfouis au cœur des lieux les plus emblématiques de l’Iran. Entouré de chercheurs, d’explorateurs et de mécènes aux intentions divergentes, il comprend peu à peu que ses investigations l’exposent à des dangers insoupçonnés. Des forces en puissance, anciennes et obscures, cherchent à empêcher la réalisation de cette prophétie. À qui se fier dans cette quête qui attise les convoitises et dont les conséquences sont considérables pour l’avenir du peuple iranien ?

    Mon Avis

    La Perse. L’Iran. Faire des recherches dans la patrie de ses parents est un réel bonheur pour Pejman. Il ne connait pas la terre de ses ancêtres. Ce qui rend sa mission énigmatique et nostalgique. Quelle est-elle? Vérifier une prophétie. Ce qui semble irréel. Il ne connait pas grand monde dans ce pays. Le problème est qu’il n’est pas le seul à s’intéresser à cette prophétie. Est-ce une affaire d’Etat ou une découverte historique? Pejman sait-il quels dangers il court? Trouvera t-il de l’aide dans un Iran en transition? Un pays qui vient de perdre son roi et qui est sous l’autorité d’un chef religieux. Chaque avancée le met encore plus en danger. C’est le début d’un course contre la montre où les sueurs froides sont nombreuses.

    Il est parfois dangereux de réveiller le passé. Un passé que Pejman interroge avec anxiété. Doit-il parler de ses recherches à tout le monde ou doit-il les faire en secret? Qui pourrait s’intéresser à une prophétie? Lui s’y intéresse en tant qu’étudiant. Son professeur l’aurait-il envoyé, volontairement, dans un endroit dangereux? L’auteur fait durer le suspens. Il nous laisse imaginer le prix que devrait, peut-être, payer Pejman pour cette mission. Au fur et à mesure de ses recherches, de ses rencontres, l’atmosphère change. Dans cet Iran post Shah, tout est dangereux et les étrangers sont surveillés. Est-ce la routine? L’auteur nous montre un peuple qui a peur. Un peuple qui semble connaître le prix à payer pour tout et n’importe quoi. Pejman, de son côté, commence à se demander s’il a bien fait d’accepter cette mission.

    La Perse a une très riche histoire. Point de rencontre commercial, plusieurs langues y étaient usitées dont l’araméen. Ce qui épaissit le mystère. L’auteur fait de belles transitions entre la Perse d’antan et l’Iran d’aujourd’hui. Entre les richesses culturelles et artistiques des deux périodes historiques. Tout cela, avec un style subtil commun à de nombreux écrivains iraniens ou perses. Le choix des mots, la discrétion, cette sensation d’être observé, rendent cette mission plus intrigante. Est-ce une affaire d’espionnage? Pejman, débarquant de sa France natale, tente d’intégrer tout cela à ses recherches. Les paysages sont époustouflants. Mais, Pejman n’est pas là pour les admirer. Il doit accomplir une mission dantesque.

     

    9782336552712   L’Harmattan Coll. Iran en transition   206 p.   18€

    #éditionslharmattan #Espionnage #Instalire #Instalivres #Iran #Leeham #Leschroniquesdeleeham #Littérature #Perse #Romans #Suspens #Thriller
    #editionslharmattan #espionnage #instalire #instalivres #iran #leeham
  46. TKSST • seethis.tv 🌈🪐✨ @[email protected] ·

    📆🌙 We often take the seven-day week for granted, but its origins are rooted in the ancient world's observations of the sky.

    From the Babylonians tracking the phases of the #moon to the Romans naming days after the visible #planets, this historical look explains why the seven-day cycle stuck – even when revolutionaries tried to change it.

    👉 thecollector.com/why-do-we-fol

    #history #calendars #astronomy #culture #romans #science

    #moon #planets #history #calendars #astronomy #culture
  47. BGDon 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 👨‍💻 @[email protected] ·

    Marcus Aurelius Monday! Selected Quotes!

    Drum Roll! Here is this week’s quote from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius – known as the "Philosopher King".

    " No random actions, none not based on underlying principles."

    #FamousQuotes #WordstoLiveBy #MarcusAurelius #PhilosopherKing #Romans

    #famousquotes #wordstoliveby #marcusaurelius #philosopherking #romans
  48. DoomsdaysCW @[email protected] ·

    #Cistern #WaterSystems: How They Work and Why They’re Useful

    By Robert Maxwell
    Updated on Sep. 26, 2025

    "Has your interest in alternative water systems made you ask, what is a cistern? Read on to learn about this ancient way to store and supply water.

    The basic idea of a cistern water system, which collects and stores water in or near a home, goes back centuries. In some parts of #WesternAsia, archeologists discovered lime plaster cisterns in the floors of houses that were at least 5,000 years old. Ancient #Romans also used cisterns beneath their houses to catch, filter and store #rainwater.

    A cistern is a closed tank, somewhat like a septic tank, but the similarities end there. Instead of sewage, it collects rainwater for household use or irrigation. A home with a well might have a large tank to store water to prevent the well pump from having to work all the time. In some cases, you could consider that tank a cistern, but according to longtime plumber Danny Pen, most cisterns are buried."

    Read more:
    familyhandyman.com/article/wha

    #SolarPunkSunday #AncientTechnology #ModernAdaptations #Cistern #WaterIsLife #RainwaterCollection #RainwaterCisterns

    #cistern #watersystems #westernasia #romans #rainwater #solarpunksunday
  49. Ethan Longhenry @[email protected] ·

    Monday Miscellany (hey! it's still Monday out here)

    This week:
    - the heavenly #commonwealth
    - unequally yoked
    - #Bible readings
    - #cat tax
    - On the #Internets: #Israel and #Iran
    - Book reviews: healing from racial #trauma, the #Romans

    Please read, share, and subscribe!

    open.substack.com/pub/deverbov

    #commonwealth #bible #cat #internets #israel #iran
  50. Ethan Longhenry @[email protected] ·

    Monday Miscellany (hey! it's still Monday out here)

    This week:
    - the heavenly #commonwealth
    - unequally yoked
    - #Bible readings
    - #cat tax
    - On the #Internets: #Israel and #Iran
    - Book reviews: healing from racial #trauma, the #Romans

    Please read, share, and subscribe!

    open.substack.com/pub/deverbov

    #commonwealth #bible #cat #internets #israel #iran