For our last drive through France, Stefan and I had spent probably a hundred euros and seen nothing. France - at least the South of France - is packed with toll roads. To get across the country without stopping in every little town, you have to pay a toll probably every hour, and this gets a bit pricey. In fact, if I didn't need to get my motorbike up to Switzerland, I would have considered this part of the trip a complete waste of money. You can literally fly for less than half the cost of taking French toll roads... that's not even taking into account the cost of fuel. But I digress.
Before the start of our French excursion, we still had to finish our drive up the Spanish coast and pass through Andorra. On Thursday, October 5th, we started the day by visiting a walled pueblo called Morella. Morella was another place on my list that I had neglected to visit during my big trip around Spain - primarily because it was taking a lot longer on the motorbike than I had expected. Well, I'm glad we finally managed to see it. With it's elevation, the walled city of Morella boasts some pretty cool views. It also has some rather impressive historical structures, including a huge castle up at the top of the crazy hill that Morella sits on.
Later in the afternoon, after we had had a good look around, we visited yet another place that I had not been able to fit into my previous itinerary - the Fontcalda hot springs. I have to say that one of the most interesting things about this spring, as well as the one in Montanejos, is getting there. Not unlike Montanejos, the Fontcalda hot springs are located in the middle of nowhere - tucked away in the mountains. The difference with Fontcalda is that the winding mountain roads lead to a rapid descent with switchbacks that'll make your head spin. This, of course, was no problem for our Swiss driver who has experience with roads in his homeland that are easily much more challenging. As we continued down, switchback after switchback, we eventually found ourselves at the bottom of a hidden valley at the front door of a pretty nice little sanctuary.
Yet again, we found that the water was more refreshing than "hot", but it was a nice day so we didn't mind! After exploring a cool path along the river that was carved into the cliffs, we made our way back up out of the valley and rode the mountain bikes down the other side. Finally, we drove for a few more hours until we reached the Piernes. We then camped at the top of a mountain near the border before continuing into Andorra the following day.
We didn't spend long in Andorra. After having a picnic in the beautiful Andorran hills, we rode the bikes back into one of the villages. We later stopped at the ski resort Pas de la Casa, which looked a bit different than it did during my last visit during the ski season, then continued our journey to our next stop - a small town in France called Foix.
Foix was a recommendation from our friend Patrick. The pretty little town was well worth the visit; the castle in particular was pretty awe-inspiring. After our short visit there, we moved on to the infamous Carcassonne!
The castle is seriously fortified with two massive outer walls and 53 towers. The quintessential castle of any fairy tale, this fortified city is a pretty neat place to walk around. The upkeep alone has got to cost an absolute fortune! We stayed there until after dark then went out on our hunt for the nearest camping spot we could find. This actually seemed to be the case most nights seeing as Stefan didn't seem to mind looking around in the dark. Personally, I generally like to look for my camping spots in the daylight. For one thing, this makes it easier to see the places that are a bit farther off the road. It also helps in revealing just how visible the spot will be in the morning. You see, if the spot is hidden well enough, you don't have to worry so much about being spotted when the sun comes up!
After a night of being spooked by foxes, we continued our drive through small town after small town. At one point we found ourselves on a crazy mountain road called Sant Jean du Gard which eventually led us to a commune called Alès. It was there that we dropped Patrick off with some farmers who he had often worked for in exchange for room and board. Finally, we camped out near Fontaine Petrifiante De Reotier, a so-called hot pool which, as we realized the next morning, was only really good for looking at.
Still, determined to find some decent hot pools before finishing our journey back to Switzerland, we went to La Source de Phazy, a nearby pool that just so happened to be the best one yet! Okay, it wasn't exactly boiling, but the water was warm and, at this point, we really just needed a bath.
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