From Spain to France by road

During August 2013 I was staying with friends in Madrid when we decided to visit Aulos in France where my sister and her husband lived. Jose-Luis planned the journey with a final check by his wife Teresa. A rather portly me looked on. Travelling by car would restrict the views and items of interest I could capture as I was the "back seat driver" on eye level with the crash barriers alongside the road. I deleted more photos than I kept due to this, cropping would not work as the focus was distorted too. Later as we climbed into the clouds swirling around the mountains the rains then darkness came precluding photography altogether.

We departed mid-morning on the 6th from the residence in Colmenar de Oreja, Madrid heading in the direction of Barcelona before turning north parallel to the coast until we entered the Pyrenees. My first encounter with one of the many tunnels cut through these mountains. We were now climbing into the mountains through the province of Catalonia. Flags flying on many of the houses proclaiming the wish for independence which would come to a head prior to my return along this route by rail in 2017. At some point we passed into France, there are no border checks, and descended towards Axe-les-Thermes then on through Les Cabannes to our destination in Aulos.

The iconic huge 'Black Bull' hoardings alongside the R2 and beyond retained by popular demand is a reminder that advertising hoardings peppered the landscape and blocked the view until a veto was declared and the blot removed.  Passing fertile fields stretching as far as the eye could see made me wonder if my later interpretation of the countryside from the train window was wrong. Was the stark ground just the winter view of wheat fields or as I thought, gravel or sand extraction. I find it interesting that two people travelling in a country in roughly the same location by two different methods could form totally different views of the country.

The journey was not without surprises, who would have thought that I would be able to pinpoint the  Greenwich Meridian as I travelled through Spain?  This post is duplicated in my "onemaninspain" blog and I will probably copy the photographs into the 'train' album to make comparison easier. Your comments in this respect would be appreciated.

Click here to view my "Madrid to France by Road" photo album
Location: 28380 Colmenar de Oreja, Madrid, Spain

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