24th August: Aix-en-Provence

Time to say goodbye to Spain (sad). We reflected a little last night over dinner, and have decided that if you came to Spain, you would simply HAVE to see the Mezquita, the Alhambra and the aqueduct at Segovia. They were the mind-blowing things for us. Cordoba and Granada were the funkiest towns where we could have stayed for much longer, just exploring, eating and experiencing. Madrid was amazing for shopping, Zaragoza the best for tapas, with Granada a close second. Toledo was by far the best meal we had. The very best sangria of all was the first tapas bar we went to in Madrid, it was sweet enough, and tangy enough, and just bloody good. Spain has been an amazing three weeks – there have been only one or two not-so-great bits, but not every single day in a month of jam-packed travelling will be fabulous. Every town has been great, and very different from the next. The people have been friendly and helpful, even if they think tea should be made entirely of hot milk.

LATER:

We’ve just driven across the border (Spain-France), well, I drove across the border, and there are obviously good shopping deals! It was a little manic (which is why I am typing and not driving any more), and took an hour to go maybe 10km. Le Perthus was the town, and if we ever do that again, we’ll pre-plan and take advantage of the shopping! Right now, we’ve driven past ‘Le Thermes’, a thermal spa resort, and we are at the foothills of the Pyrenees – good scenery to say the least. But, freeway, here we come – the idea of a nice little country road just kind of backfired on us and we’re happy to detour back onto the fast roads!

Mark has just asked what our road game is in France – so we have decided on ‘Le Moo, Le Celebrité, Le Ferrari/Maserati’…. stay tuned for tallys.

I’ll just make a note here about some very cool road signs. Where we have the “You are now entering (enter town name here)” and then the “You are now leaving (enter town name here). Please come again”, Europe is much more to the point. They have a sign with the name of the town on it when you enter – just the name, nothing else. When you are leaving the town, it’s the same sign, only with a big red diagonal line through it, crossing it out. Bloody logical I say!

~ Our 'crossing the border' photos are here.