Travelling with MM: France Col Pourtalet, Spain Jaca and Ainsa

14 April 2016

France Col Pourtalet, Spain Jaca and Ainsa

Travelled 181km through the Pyrenees over the Col du Pourtalet into Spain.
Visited: Jaca and Ainsa, Spain
Stay: Ainsa- parking free in low season, no services. Toilet nearby at ancient village. Great views.

N42.418720 E0.134510

Before hitting the road this morning we filled up with water and dumped the waste as to have at least 4 days without having to worry about finding a service point. We were really looking forward to our drive today. We have been over the Col before a couple of years ago and had fond memories. The weather was a bit overcast so we hoped we weren't going to be in fog and see nothing.

On our way we drove through the centre of Laruns and stopped to get something for breakfast, a couple of baguettes and cakes....yum.

We gloried in the amazing views of the snow capped mountains before taking the narrow road up to Lake Fabreges, which has been drained and it all looked quite different from the last time we were here. Whilst we were having breakfast we watched the earth works taking place.

Now it was time for the exciting bit of going over the Col. It is relatively low, in comparison to other Cols we have been over, at 1794m.

As we approached the peak the snow was thicker and it was beautiful. Unfortunately the weather was a tad fresh and wet so we didn't linger for long and continued our journey into Spain.

Our first destination was Jaca, the capital of the Aragonese Pyrenees. We went to the aire that seems to have had a face lift which has included barracades requirering payment. Atm they are wrapped up but would assume activation is inament for the summer season. Anyway as it was empty and it didn't look too busy around town we found a parking spot closer to the old city. On our walk we stopped in at the cathedral built in the 11th century.

We then had a look at the citadel.

As we returned to Bluey we partook in a bit of Tapas washed down with a beer, our baguettes now forgotten.

Other treats in town.

Having stretched our legs and filled our tummies we were ready to venture to the next town, Ainsa. This was the capital of the Kingdom of Sobrarbe in medieval times. It has a lot of charm and we enjoyed discovering it's treasures including a glass of wine with, you guessed it, tapas. Later in Bluey we stared out at the picturesque escarpment, planning what to do tomorrow.