September 13th and 14th 2017 Lusignan to Mesnil-le-Blanc to Gouda

When we got up it was raining and it rained most of the journey to Mesnil le Blanc where we were staying in the Campanile. If it hadn’t been raining we would have taken out on foot to try to find somewhere nice to eat. However we had to make do with the onsite restaurant which had a starter and cheese and dessert buffet. We went for the duo missing out on the main course. It was ok.

Our trip to Gouda was horrendous in awful rain with very poor visibility and an awful lot of traffic. The journey should have taken less than 5 hours but it took 8 - some of that was in the services for coffee and for lunch. When we arrived here we were horrified by how hard it was to get parking. I tried to direct Jim into a place and nearly fell into the canal! Anyway we finally got parked and the car emptied in awful rain.

The stairs are so steep here we couldn’t bring the big case up. Fortunately there is a good bit of room under the stairs so we put it there. I took quite a while speculating on how I would ascend and descend this staircase that I can only describe as a perverted ship-staircase because to add difficulty to difficulty Dutch architects throw in a curve!. My first venture upwards was on all fours Once above I contemplated the descent. Would I reverse down or would I bum bump my way down? I gingerly took one step at a time holding on for dear life. They are seriously dangerous stairs for me! I didn't know wheter to laugh or cry when I discovered that staircase is trap in Dutch - yes a death trap!

I found this in a book in the house!


























I had an added concern based on the narrowness of the little corridor to the bathroom and its proximity to the top of the stairs. I worried that if Jim goes out to the loo during the night he could easily fall down because he does a lot of blundering about. 

Cilia left us some smoked ham and a huge chunk of Gouda as well as the Gouda specialty Stroopwafel so we were well fed. We were glad to be able to watch a channel on tv that had English - BBC1 and BBC2.

September 12th 2017 - Tramacastilla de Tena to Lusignan, France.

We got up at 7am to finish the cleaning and were on the road by 9am. It was very misty so it was a slow journey across the Pyrenees and into France.

There were also delays because of sheep...

... and cows ...

... and more cows!

We eventually got to our booked hotel in Lusignan. We had chosen this particular establishment because it had a restaurant that had good reviews. The Madame said that she did not have a booking for us and that it was not possible to book there at the price I had paid. If she told me once she told me 40 times that it was impossible! However, she was kind enough to ring another hotel at the other side of town - Le Chapeau Rouge - where we got a room and a really good meal - oxtail parcels (rice paper) and fish in filo with a lemon beurre blanc and a creamy mash and I had a rocamadour cheese and Jim had roast peaches and ice cream. The room had lovely decorative touches and was named Le Oiseau Bleu. 

The church in Lusignan.

The view from our bedroom window.

The dining room.

Next morning for breakfast we had homemade yogurt and fruit and a croissant and coffee from a coffee machine we could not work. It all turned out rather expensive but good! 

When we arrived at Le Chapeau Rouge I contacted hotels.com who said they would get on to the hotel so a lot of time was spent on the phone holding. Etc etc! Vouchers.

September 11th 2017 - Clean up day.

Tomorrow we leave Tramacastilla de Tena so it's clean up day and a bit of stocking up to bring with us to Gouda. Found a restaurant called El Molino de Escuer in Bierscas which had a menu of the day. The waitress had no English but was really good at conveying what was on the menu. - stuffed mushrooms, duck salad with raisins and walnuts, skewered meat, lightly fried calamare, pancake with chocolate sauce and cooked cheesecake. It was really good. Back at the house ewe did the final packing and we were all set.

September 10th 2017 - Jaca to Murillo de Gallego

We woke to the first snow of 2017 on the Pyrenees.

Eric left around 10am. I stripped his bed and put sheets on to wash. We decided to take a more leisurely tour of the road from Jaca to Murillo de Gallego. The scenery was fantastic - lots of russet rocks. In Murillo de Gallego there was some kind of children-focused carnival so it was very noisy. We had a coffee and beat a hasty retreat!

This is the remains of the bridge at Los Riglos that Jim didn't get the last day we were there.

We returned to Jaca in search of a restaurant for lunch. After trying many places we returned to the place we had been last week and had the menu of the day - stuffed aubergines, Jim had hake and I had chicken, Jim had ice cream and I had creme caramel.

That made the evening meal very easy - bread and cheese!










Couldn’t find a decent restaurant so ended up in Jaca and after trying many places ended uo in the same place as last week and had the menu of the day - stuffed aubergine, Jim had hake and I had chicken. Lovely! Jim had ice cream and I had crème caramel. 

At home we had salade de tomates and cheese with the bread we had bought.

September 8th and 9th 2017 - Eric arrives and we visit San Pedro el Viejo in Huesca and Ainsa

Eric arrived around midday and we indulged rather over lunch of a tomato tart - the tomatoes looked ugly but were really delicious - and some Spanish wine. A siesta was required! For dinner I did a chicken dish which Eric described as poulet basquaise so that was good. Eric had brought some nice cheese and some good French wine so a nice time was had by all!

Saturday was very wet and not suitable for Ordessa which we had planned for the day. Eric was happy to drive so we went south hoping for better weather. Our first stop was Huesca where  we visited San Pedro el Viejo which we hadn't seen on our first day in Huesca. San Pedro el Viejo is one of the most important examples of Romanesque Aragonese architecture and art.

As we wandered about the streets of Huesca we saw these characters.

After a coffee we drove on to  Barbastro where we had hoped to have lunch. But the town was being sorted again after a festival and it was horrendous to negotiate it never mind try to find parking so we decided that the best thing would be to continue on and keep our eyes open for a restaurant en route. This we did find with grand off road parking. Then we went as far as Ainsa a lovely stone village at the confluence of two rivers - the Cinca and the Ara. We parked down in the new part of the town but getting to the medieval part required the negotiation of many many steps and steep streets. Lots of little rests were required! However, it was all worth it.

Ainsa's two main streets - the Calle Mayor and Calle Santa Cruz - are very picturesque and the facades are brightened by flowers and plants.

The Church of Santa Maria.

11th century castle

Some kind of raft.

I think the mountain is called the Pena Montanesa.

The heart of the village is the Plaza Mayor

Our journey home took us to Boltana to Fiscal and to Biescas and then home. We treated ourselves to an evening meal in Lavedan. The dinner menu was very expensive so we stuck to the raciones. We had a great evening's fun with Eric!