Barcelona

Left Mazamet at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning for our three day side trip to Barcelona. Arrived around 11:30 a.m., found a parkade and checked into our hotel. Greater Barcelona has a population of 4.5 million and Barcelona proper a little over 1.6 million. It is the second largest City in Spain, after Madrid. The City hosted the Olympics in 1992 and in preparation for the games, the port area, which had previously been run down and littered with abandoned factories, was totally transformed and is now a sought after neighbourhood. The City is also known for the artistic works of the architect, Gaudi.

Barcelona is in the Catalan area of Spain and Catalan is their official language. All signposts, reading materials, menus, etc. are in Catalan first, then Spanish, then English. Robin speaks a bit of Spanish, and it came back to him very quickly. The Catalans understand Spanish, so not an issue. We could make out some of the Catalan words. For example "open" in Spanish is "abierto" and in Catalan is "abert". Catalan is a totally separate language and not a derivitave of Spanish.

 

First thing, we bought tickets for the Hop on/off bus, which was in Plaza de Catalunya, only two blocks from our hotel. We took the Central line and toured the main part of the City for 1 1/2 hours. We have found that the hop on/off bus option works well when you only have a few days in a big City. It gives one a sense of the City, then you can decide where you want to visit. A great view of the wonderful mixed architecture and the many green spaces of the City.

After the bus route, we had a quick lunch. Brenda an I had a glass of sangria...very nice on a warm day. Walked to the Casa Batllo and La Pedrera, which are only a few blocks apart and very close to our hotel; both Gaudi architectural works.

Casa Batlo

 

Casa Batllo is one of Gaudi's masterpiece and is a Unesco World Heritage Site. A striking facade and an ultra modern design inside the building. The colours are brilliant and designs are taken from nature. It is a remodel of a previously built home and was finished in 1904. Oval windows, sculptured stone work and wavy lines; not sure if there are any straight lines in the building. Much of the facade is decorated in broken ceramic tile. The roof is arched and is likened to the back of a dinosaur or dragon. The roof architecture is playful and colourful, a real delight. We were able to visit the complete building.
Gaudi was born in 1852 and died in 1926. As a child he was ill and spent much time with his mother in the countryside. It is said that this time in the country was a great influence to his work. He also spent time in his Father's boiler- making shop and became familiar with volumes and shapes. He earned a degree in architecture at the University of Barcelona.

 

La Pedrera

Next we visited Casa Mila "La Pedrera", another Gaudi building. The building is comprised of two apartment blocks that are linked by an inner courtyard and common facade. In this building one is able to visit the attic, where you can see Gaudi's plans and scale models of his projects. Items that influenced his work are also on display. Then you go up to the Roof Terrace. As in his other building, the terrace is the area where Gaudi really exercised his playful and imaginative nature. Undulating forms of various shapes, sizes and colours dot the roofline, but all served a purpose as chimneys and ventilation shafts. Once again broken tile shards, stone, marble and glass are used. Finally a tour of the apartment which represents the bourgeois lifestyle of a family in the early 20th century. It is fitted out with furniture and household items of the time, as well as some of Gaudi's design elements.

Had been hearng fireworks all day. Found out that the summer solstice is celebrated in Catalonia on the 23rd of June on the day of the Holy Saint Joan. They celebrate with campfires and fireworks and fire-crackers in all the streets. On this shortest night of the year, huge wood fires are built in all the squares and roads and young and old celebrate until the morning hours. Heard the firecrackers going all night and saw remnants of firecrackers everywhere the next day.

Went out to a Tapas bar near the hotel. Food was good and also an interesting way of eating your meal vs. only one entree. Glad to report that the wine in Spain is just as good as in France! A few sprinkles on our way to supper, but weather held out for us today (around 27 degrees) during our touring.

Monday, after the fireworks and we head out a little after 9 a.m. The streets are so quiet, it's as if you could make an apocalypse movie! Robin sees a security guard and asks if it is a holiday and we are told that it is a holiday for all of Catalonia today. So we figure we should be first in line at Sagrada Familia....wrong! Actually, not too bad, we only wait in line for one hour to get in and it was worth the wait. Took us about 15 minutes to walk from our hotel, which was in a very convenient location.

This basilica is hard to describe, another Gaudi gothic style treasure. It was started in 1892 and is still to this day under construction, although Gaudi died in 1926. He worked on the cathedral for 43 years, it was during the last 10 years of his life that he was totally dedicated to the building of the cathedral. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site. It is due to be completed in 2026, the centenary of Gaudi's death. They are still working off his original plans. The completion of the cathedral is being financed by private donations and entry fees.

Computer based technology has been used to accelerate construction of the building, which had previously been expected to last for several hundred years, based on building techniques available in the early 20th century. Current technology allows stone to be shaped off-site by a milling machine, whereas in the 20th century, the stone was carved by hand.

Sagrada Familia

 

 

The outside of the basilica is in a gothic style mixed with art nouveau. The doors are made of bronze and are 5 meters high and sculpted with the entire text of the "Our Father" in Catalan and so has "Give us this day our daily bread" in fifty languages. Carved statues abound the outside of the building. The inside of the cathedral is filled with numerous columns in different shapes and made of different materials. Gaudi wanted one to think that they were in a forest when they were inside the church, so the columns represent trees. The ceiling is sculpted wherever one looks. The chandelier is spectacular and the crucifix with Christ is very moving. Stained glass windows abound, however some of the windows are plain. Not sure if this is to let in more natural light, or if they will be changed to stained glass in due course. The choir loft can hold up to one thousand people and of course detailed railings skirt the loft.

Gaudí's original design calls for a total of eighteen spires, representing in ascending order of height the Twelve Apostles, four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ. Eight spires have been built as of 2010, corresponding to four apostles at the Nativity façade and four apostles at the Passion façade.

Claire at Tibidabo, the highest point of Barcelona

Got on to the hop on/off bus, but another route, which would bring us to the area known as Tibidabo the north part of the City. We then had to take a street car ( similar to the San Francisco street cars) , then transfer to a funicular to get to the top. There is a family amusement park there and a church, which overlook the City. The Temple de Sagrat Cor was interesting as it was a church built on top of another church. Beautiful views from here. Gave us a sense of the whole City, including the port. To get down, we took a local bus, another funicular, then the Metro to get back to our hotel.

Brenda kindly asked the hotel for a dinner recommendation and we opted for seafood restaurant on the port. We all decided to have paella, and certainly this was the right choice. The waitress loved giving Robin a hard time. When he tasted the wine, he said "bueno" and she said..."what not muy bueno" ..from then on, the kidding continued. She brought bread with a tomato olive oil spread, salami and salted grilled peppers for a starter. We had our main course and desert, then the waitress brought some tradtional almond cake and finally a glass of grappa. Then went for a walk along the boardwalk of the port, a cab back to Catalunya square and a night cap while watching Nadal lose in the first round at Wimbledon.

Robin in the Barri Gotic area of Barcelona

Tuesday headed off to the Picasso museum. On our way there we walked through the narrow streets and alleys of the Barri Gotic before going to the museum. A lovely old area with many small artisan shops. At the museum, about a one hour wait. This museum has the most comprehensive collection of Picasso's work. A study of his early work, depicts many different mediums and a very classical style. A visit to Paris influenced his work (including Lautrec and many others) and he developed the "Picasso" style we know so well. Unfortunately unable to take picture inside the museum.

One last lunch in Barcelona, back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. Start walking the block and a half to the car park, then all of a sudden........oh! Oh! I know without a doubt that I threw out the parking stub for the car park. I had so many stubs from museums, trams, hop on bus, metro, etc. that I got rid of them that morning in our room. We go back to the hotel.....Marc ( the young man at the desk who had checked us in days earlier) Marc....I hope you can help. I proceed to tell him what I did, and he proceeds to call the cleaning staff. A maid shows up about five minutes later with a bag of garbage.....yes, I do go through the garbage. Fortunately, each room's garbage is in its own clear garbage bag. A few minutes into te process, I spot our garbage.....thank heavens we had wine in our room, much easier to spot your garbage when there is a wine bottle in it! I start going through the garbage, and YES, there s the parking stub. Meanwhile Brenda and Robin waiting patiently. We give Marc a tip for helping us out and thank him profusely. Back to the parkade....yikes...one hundred and five Euro to get out....talk about adding insult to injury! All part of the travel experience. Robin and Brenda still speaking to me after "the episode".

Robin and I have put Barcelona on our "come back" list, as we simply did not have enough time to fully discover it.

The taxis of Barcelona

The cauldron for the 1992 Olympics

A Joan Miro statue in a Barcelona park

Barcelona bike rental system

The Barcelona covered market

One of the many beautiful fountains in Barcelona

One of many statues

Casa Batllo

Looking onto the street from the inside of Casa Batllo

The beautiful mosaics in Casa Batllo

One of the many rooftop sculptures at Casa Batllo

 

Claire on the Casa Batllo staircase

Claire on the rooftop at La Pedrera

The rooftop at La Pedrira

Construction still going on at Sagrada Familia

The facade of Sagrada Familia

Brenda and Claire waiting in line to get into Sagada Familia

The beautiful stained glass

The cross

One of the many staircases

Various pillars

The carvings on the exterior

Church at Tibidabo

Great graffiti in the Barri Gotic

Claire and Robin on the port boardwalk

Brenda and Claire on the boardwalk

Enjoying a nightcap

Robin and Claire at the Picasso museum

 

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Travels Continue

Wednesday the 19th and the clouds are sitting low in the Montages Noire and forecast of 20 degrees. Lazy morning reading, having tea, doing some grocery shopping and going to the boucherie (butcher) and poissonerie (fishmonger). In the afternoon, we headed off to visit the small town of Rabastens and two other towns about 1 1/2 hours from Mazamet. We arrive in Rabastens and walk around see the Ramparts, where the highlight was Brenda seeing a man walking 11 dogs. Then onto the Eglise Notre Dame Du Bourg, which is a Unesco World Heritage site. These churches are all very huge, and in some small towns, multiple churches. The three of us are Catholics, o.k. maybe not hardy practicing Catholics, but nonetheless ....enough already! The thing that blows our mind is the amount of real estate and the grandeur of these buildings and what people went through to build them. Maybe someone should start disposing of them; but who would buy them?......won't tell you what Brenda said when I asked that rhetorical question.

I decide to go into the tourist bureau to find out what else we can see. The woman says...have you seen the Ramparts...yes....have you seen the Cathedral....yes...there is a walk around the town centre that you can do....yes we have done that.....she says, I love your French accent...thank you....onto the next town.

Wine tasting in Gaillac

We decide to go to Gaillac, just because we notice a sign at the traffic circle that we are there ...really. This is a town that we were going to visit later in week, but heck, the sign says we are here, besides they are known for their wines. We park find the Caves de Vins and do some wine tasting.....oh my gosh, excellent wines. I am driving , so only a few sips of each. I know that some of my friends out there could not believe that I restrain myself, but I do, as I have an obligation to get Brenda and Robin back to Mazamet. Back home about 5:30 p.m. , where do the days go, we didn't even visit the other two towns on the list for today!

 

 

Pezenas was the chosen destination for Thursday the 20th. We had all heard of it as many friends and family have visited. Go to key in Pezenas into the GPS, doesn't accept. Try Beziers, a very large City nearby, doesn't even let us key it in. What's going on? It's overcast....do you think that could affect it? Try Montagnac...it works. Still questioning why it's not accepting the other two places that are larger in size. Aren't computers frustrating when they don't work. We even tried resetting and still no Pezenas. We agree that Robin has the best theory....they must have missed this little section of France in their mapping. Perhaps the mapping people had too much wine with their lunch! Gosh, we might have to use a map!

Brenda and Robin in Pezenas

As you can see by the picture above, we did make it to Pezenas. Had lunch at a small "salon de the" and the waitress was quite delightful. Robin noticed some gentlemen eating sausage and lentils next to him, so he said he would like to order that. I ask the waitress if it is possible to only have the entree of "Le plat du jour". In France, all restaurants offer a plat du jour and there are usually three prices listed. A little confusing the first time you see it, but it was explained to me by a restaurant owner in Albi. The highest price listed is for a soup or salad, with a main entree and desert. The second lower price is for the main entree with either the soup/salad or the desert. The last and lowest price is simply for the main entree. At this restaurant there was only two prices. So when I told the waitress that Robin only wanted the entree, she said the desert was included. I asked Robin if he wanted the desert, he said no. I relay this to the waitress, she says, then Madame will have the desert! We had the desert with three forks! Music in the background is Johnny Cash and Elvis.

Pezenas is a relatively small town , which is classified as "one of the most singularly beautiful towns in the French southwest". Beautiful ancient architecture and certainly a centre for arts and crafts. The narrow streets are filled with hand made goods of artisans such as leather goods, leaded glass, handmade toys, clothing, etc. The town was very busy with tourists and we spent an enjoyable few hours simply walking through the old streets looking into art galleries and shops.

Got home to see the news of the floods in and around Calgary, quite something. Mark and Susan, our kind friends and neighbours have been watching over our home and Mark went over to plug our drains in the basement. Our niece Nicole went over to take any important papers to safety. A big thank you to the three of you. Woke up Friday morning to find out our neighbourhood in Calgary had been evacuated. All of our friends in the neighbourhood are safe and bunking in with other friends or family in the City. Thinking of everyone back in Calgary and surrounding area. Flooding in southern France as well, but closer to St.Tropez, so not affecting us.

This weekend most towns and villages in the area are celebrating " vide greenier - empty the hay lofts". This is their summer celebration of bringing in the first crop. When driving around, we have noticed that the farmers are already planting a second crop. We are told that there will be bands playing at several street corners and in the town square.

Headed to the small town of Rennes-Le- Chateau, about 1 1/2 hours south of Mazamet for the day on Thursday. On the the way there, we stopped in Limoux for tea. Market day in Limoux and the cherries are in season, so we bought some, very tasty. Then onto Rennes-Le-Chateau an ancient abbey town, which is classified as the Languedoc's most intriguing site. In 1885, Father Berenger Sauniere, the new parish priest arrives in the town. Within the space of a few years he renovates several buildings and begins many construction projects. He had also started buying large tracts of land, placing the titles under the name of Marie Denardaud, the daughter of his housekeeper, sixteen years his junior. He built a luxurious home and beautiful gardens next to the church. He also renovated the church in a very garish style.

Statue from the church in Rennes Le Chateau

It is said that Father Sauniere and his consort, Marie gave generously to the local people and threw many parties, but kept a firm grip on the area. The church questioned where the money has come from. A rumour spread that the priest had discovered some sort of treasure. He was defrocked , but he continued the work on his villa and he continued to perform the sacraments in a chapel he built. He died in 1917 and she died in 1953. She refused to divulge where the money came from. It is believed that the priest found some ancient coins in digging up some graves. Due to these stories, the town attracted a steady string of treasure hunters. Also, due to the bizarre decor of the church it was thought to have symbolism and thought to have possible links to secret societies , the Templars, the Cathars and the Holy Grail. They say this was also an inspiration for Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". Visited the church and museum. Believe it or not, the statue pictured here was inside the church. In all my years I have never seem something like this inside a church.

Stopped at "Le Jardin de Marie" for lunch. A beautiful garden setting, just beside the museum. Brenda and I had a glass of "blanquette de Limoux" a sparkling white wine that the area is known for. The production of this sparkling wine goes back to 1531. Blanquette means white in the Occitan language.

Off to Castres for the afternoon on Saturday. A walk around the various narrow streets, a peak at the gardens, we had seen them before, but Brenda had not, then off to find he Jean Jaures museum. He was born on Castres in 1859, was a writer, journalist and a member of parliament at 36 years of age. He was very concerned by social and economic issues of his day and participated in a local miners' strike, to defend workers rights. From then on, he became a spokesperson for the entire working class, trying to improve their rights . He founded a newspaper which allowed him to write about various socialist views he held. He was also a pacifist and supported Alfred Dreyfus (papillon), a young French soldier of Jewish descent who was wrongly accused of treason. Interesting to visit the Jaures museum.

 

Enjoying an afternoon sip of wine in Castres

 

Turned out to be a beautiful day, so sat out in the Castres town square and enjoyed some wine and enjoyed seeing all the young French people enjoying each others company. Anther lovely relaxing day. Out for a lovely dinner tonight and off to Barcelona in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pezenas

Gargoyle in Pezenas

Claire in Pezenas

One of the many artisan shops in Pezenas

Brenda with a Pinocchio in Pezenas...don't ask!

The countryside in Rennes Le Chateau

Rennes Le Chateau

Claire and Brenda having lunch in Rennes Le Chateau

 

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