Lessons learned by the seaside
Spoiler, the two are unrelated...
We are getting close to finishing two weeks on the southern most tip of the French Mediterranean coast in an idyllic little town called Banyuls-Sur-Mer.
Our apartment is right on the main street opposite the sea...
The "idyllic" description was tested, however, by the enthusiastic collection of street cleaners, high pressure hose footpath cleaners and boisterous garage collectors that, somehow, seem to need to convene at about 3:00 am EVERY morning just under our window for about 3 hours. I swear the street sweeper must do laps, there can't be that many kilometers of road within 50 meters of where we are, yet there he / she / they are driving back and forth until about 6:00 am....
This town is about 10 km from the spanish border via the inland road or about 15 km along the costal road ; therein lies lesson one.
Lesson 1 - passports
Travelling in Europe has many, many unique aspects, none more so for Australians than crossing from one country, one culture, one language to another so seemlessly. For those from a country with no land borders, this is amazing.
We did experience an interesting, almost-conversation with the local police coming back from a day trip to Figueres (Spain - about 30 km away) and the Dali museum
The French and Spanish train systems run on different guages, so the connection from Banyuls-sur-Mer runs to the first town in Spain, where you need to get out, swap platforms, ... wait to be told that train isn't working then off to another platform into Spain. The reverse applies coming back into France, stopping just inside the French border to swap trains.
On arriving at Cerbere in France on the way back, and eager to change platforms for our connecting train onwards, we were stopped by local police asking for passports.
Doh!
Having crossed the border so many times, we had forgotten to bring them. Explaining this were effectively told to go back to where we came from (meaning Spain, I think, not Australia, I think....).
I pressed on with my best version of the gormless, absent minded tourist (comes naturally), explaining in English (deliberately) that our passports were about 9 km away in France and eventually frustrated our newest best friend sufficiently that he just told us to go (forward, further into France and to our passports).
Intersting, given the very high attachment to the Catalan culture and identity that spans the border here
However, lesson learned...
The cycling here has been marvelous when not dodging the rain or high (45 km/h gusting to 90 km/h) winds.
These ride do involve significant hills along the coast or more significant ones inland (being the eastern end of the Pyrenees), so good training for the next phase of our travels.
Also, charming villages and stops for tapas and replacement of essential minerals
We did learn early on to avoid the gravel roads. They looked OK on the ride planning Apps, but...
So we stuck to the paved roads, which largely have little traffic.
By our last weekend, the notion of resting up after a long ride in our idyllic town was tested (again!) by the annual Grape Harvest Festival, which runs from Friday to Sunday continuously (literally) and is a very, very,... very big thing - again all staged right outside our window, with wine booths, communal dinners and bands all through the night.
I had feverish dreams of grabbing half a meter of concrete and plugging up the brass section. You don't want to hear what was planned for the washer board and cymbal percussion section....
Seaside towns, ahhh, the serenity..
We are heading up Paris early next week, earlier than planned in acknowledgement (Lesson learned # 2) that departing Australia and landing in your destination with more than 6 months remaining on your passport is good, but when you have been away from Melbourne so long that the AFL finals to start and finish, the time zone changes and your fridge dies and if you are flying on to another country before you get home, then having 5 months and 3 weeks left is not a good thing.
Embassy appointments and emergency passports and associated visas await us next week.
Until then...
