0440 Near Teruel, and through the Pyrenees to Bordeaux

10^th March 2016

Mountains, snow, skiing........ and car problems !

What an amazing day – One that makes trips like this so worthwhile and full of memories that will last for ever.

I woke up in my little gorge, the temperature right on freezing, and slowly packed up while having my breakfast. It really had been a perfect spot – Quiet, scenic – And best of all, free !  As I drove through the rest of the little gorge, past some great rock formations, and then into the little village of Villel, there was quite a lot of evidence of some snow last night – A few cars coming towards me had several inches on their roofs.  I knew it had been cold !

Just as the sun started to break through the clouds, by 8.40 am I was in Teruel, and although I didn’t stop it was obviously an interesting town – with a very high bridge as well as some imposing looking buildings.  And out the other side of Teruel, heading towards Zaragoza, the countryside was pretty bleak, and we started to climb a little, with the temp outside dropping to -0.5 deg C  – And there was more and more snow.  The sky was quite weird, and there was obviously more snow falling on the hills to the side – For a while there it was quite bleak and the snow was falling heavily enough to make it quite difficult.  – And I haven’t even got to the Pyrenees yet !!

On round Zaragoza and on to Huesca, by which time the sky had cleared, the snow had gone, and it was a blue sky on a sunny day !  But still bitterly cold, as I found out when I decided to refuel with cheaper Spanish fuel before crossing into France – And I lucked out because right beside the off ramp was a cheap fuel at 0.89 Eu/litre.  So I shivered as I filled up, got a coffee from McD’s that was right beside the gas station, and headed on towards the mountains – Which I could clearly see were snow covered.

We drove into a big canyon which was fun, with ruins up on the sides of the cliffs above us, and then we came to a tunnel the entrance of which was all decorated with green steel – Quite unusual !   Clear blue sky and sunshine, and 1.5 kms of tunnel and literally 3 minutes later I drove out the other side and it was grey, snowing, and LOTS of snow beside the road !  I felt like I had passed through the wardrobe in The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrobe – I almost wanted to turn around and go back through the tunnel and see if I really had left clear blue sky behind  - I couldn’t believe it.  We then dropped down a long way, losing all the height we had made earlier, and it was weird – snow and grey sky to my right, and on my left, in the valley below, sunshine on the brown hills !!

Soon I was passing signs to the ski areas of Penticosa and others, while snow was becoming more obvious again on the mountain tops. Past the little town of Biescas, and once more climbing up into the mountains – More and more snow beside the road, and then I came up behind a snow plough on the road – And he was working – Dropping his plow every so often to scoop snow off the side of the road as he drove along at about 60 kmh – It had obviously snowed heavily through here either last night or the night before. 

As the snow got thicker beside the road, I

suddenly saw a parking area that had been half cleared by the plow, and dove in there to enjoy the view over the lake, and to have my lunch before the weather got any colder !  No sooner had I opened the back doors and started making my sandwich than my friend the snow plough pulled in behind me, and asked me to move over to the other side of the car park so he could clear the snow from where I had parked !  That done, I ate my sandwich watching the plough clear away all the snow from around me !

After a couple of selfies (!!  To prove I was in the snow !!), I headed on up the mountain, with the snow continuing to get deeper – Until I came round a corner and there was a great big ski area full of cars, ski lifts operating, and people enjoying themselves on the slopes.  A few of the people on the chairlift saw my car underneath them and waved to say G’Day !!  I spent a while driving around and enjoying the scene, and then headed on up the road, past 1700 metres with the snow getting deeper as I

headed towards the French border.  In fact there were long sections where the road was still covered in snow, so I was having to take it quite carefully because although the road was 2 way, the snow had encroached so much onto the road that if anything came round the corner, one would have to stop quickly.  For a while I really thought the road might be closed ahead because it was getting so bad.  I was having a ball !!!!

After crossing the actual border (which I never saw), we started to drop down the other side, although for a while the snow stayed deep and all around – It really was picturesque with the melting snow on the tree branches falling into the road as I passed – Reminded me so much of a drive round Loch Lomond after a Christmas snow storm when we were driving to Aberdeen for Hogmanay. It was just divine driving down the winding valley – Until just past a dam wall I suddenly noticed my engine warning

light was on !  Grrrr.  This had happened to me once before in Guatemala and turned out to be the fuel filter needing changing, so I wasn’t too worried – Just annoyed because it was cold, I was trying to make some miles after being in the mountains for a while, and the spare fuel filter I carry was packed away in the back !

There was a handy parking spot in a little town that seemed to be totally deserted – From what I could make out it was a hot springs spa town, but only opens in May – Ideal spot for a bit of work on the car then !  Once I managed to get it out of the back, I had the new fuel filter fitted in about 5 minutes – Yes, the old one was seriously black – Must have been all that low quality fuel in Morocco ?!  No problem, I checked the error code on my Scan Guage II (Don’t leave home without one !) and found it was Code 400, which was the same code I had in Guatemala, so I knew I had fixed the problem.  My Scan Guage also enable me to turn off the engine warning light, so I headed off down the mountain after about a 20 minute repair job.

Eventually I came out of the mountains, left the snow behind, and drove around the ring road of Pau – Another pretty and very historic town – I spent a few days there with work some years ago and it is delightful.  But not stopping this time – On a mission to get to Cherbourg and not miss my ferry (cheap(ish) fare non refundable, like last time in June when I DID miss one AND lose my money !).

2 hours later and I was getting towards Bordeaux, but after a busy and long day, I was getting pretty tired, so when a superb Aire came up beside the road, I couldn’t believe it.  Set back off the (quiet) road, toilets, running water, picnic tables, and not a soul around !  So I parked my self in the corner, had a beer while I cooked my supper, and then went to bed.  What a day !!

Rest of the pics here :-  https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0440TeruelToBordeaux?authkey=Gv1sRgCKGMpNmy2_SshAE