In September we started our journey west to Valence, my sister and her boyfriend on his Africa Twin and me on the Tenere. We wanted to spend the second night on the Mediterranean sea, so we went to the Montpellier area, wow there are flamingos here too, cool. After a relaxing evening on the beach and plenty of drinks at the bar, we continued on to the “Gorges du Congoust” and the “Gorges de Galamus”. As a transition to Spain, we chose the coastal road at Cerbère and fortified ourselves with traditional tapas before continuing along the Pyrenees towards Andorra. A heavy rain shower mercilessly showed us how isolated you can be in the mountains, so we had to go through a lot until we reached our accommodation with a cozy fireplace in Cal Pastor.
With dry equipment, we set off for Andorra the next morning, what a shock, I had imagined it differently, what nervous traffic, quickly dropped our luggage at the campsite and off into the mountains away from the paved roads, the traffic and the crowds of tourists. Due to the heavy rainfall of the previous days, some sections of the route had turned out to be particularly muddy, definitely not the supreme discipline of our Mitas enduro tires, but we were able to let off steam all the more on the gravel. The satnav had long since given up and so we continued more by good luck and our inner compass until we reached the “Andorra Smuggler Trail” which took us back across the border to our campsite.
Now we split up for a few days, you went to visit friends in Spain and I tried to avoid a rain front via France, with only limited success. Not only the rain but also bad luck pursued me, because on a very difficult off-road section through a forest my tent had come loose, which I only realized much later, when I was already a lot further on, and I knew that there was no way back.
Swearing doesn't help much, in situations like this I always say to myself “I was looking for adventure, I got adventure” so off I went to the nearest sports store to buy a new tent. The next few days were sunny again and so I enjoyed my time on the road solo, spontaneously going wherever I felt like. Oh come on, I'll overtake the car quickly.... I should have left it alone, lesson learned. A little slowed down by common sense, I continued westwards, the fauna was getting rougher and rougher, so it wasn't long before I saw the first vultures. Above Graus, I had spontaneously made an appointment with a work colleague who was also looking for an off-road adventure with her husband, but in a 4x4 camper. We had a great evening with good food and a starry night sky.
But now it was time to head back to Andorra to meet up with the others. According to the satnav, there is a small road here, which is a great shortcut. Only it turned out that the whole route was gravel, fuel should be enough, water is also still available, so off we go, and how worthwhile it was, exactly what I was looking for, far away from civilization on my own, and just enjoy the moment.
We then shared funny stories together at the campsite over a bottle of limoncello.
The next morning we set off again in the direction of home. One last tapas in Spain before heading back to France towards Montpellier, but there was something in the air, smoke.
A big wildfire near Narbonne cost us some time as all the traffic came to a standstill, so we were too late to check in at a campsite, so we chose an AirBnB for the last night before heading 750km back to Switzerland on our last day.
Another successful adventure that will forever be etched in my memory.
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Music:
Candy Apple Town - National Sweetheart
Eighty Miles - VYEN
Something You Could Never Own - NEFFEX
No Turning Back - NEFFEX
Wishing Well - Bird Creek