France: Day 29 - Barcelona - Just Tourists

I really like this city.  The grand avenues and the buildings are magnificent.  Walking is a pleasure here.  There is also a massive Metro underground system - I think I read somewhere that there are 1000km of track under the city.  Ok, I'm wrong ...

The vast network is made up of 180 stations and 12 lines that cover 90 miles (146 km) ...

My numbers were more impressive.

This is an incredibly vibrant city.  There are a lot of tourists here.  The biggest challenge of the city is finding restaurants that aren't catering to tourists.  Don't bother ordering sangria as it seems to mostly be some crappy sweet American recipe using 7-UP.

The first thing we did was go find churros.  We found a place that made them to order and got a bunch with thick chocolate.  We ate them sitting on a bench on a walking street a few doors away.

Next we headed to the Gothic Quarter, wandered around, had cafe con leche and generally blended in with all the other tourists.  We made a stop at Decathlon to get a duffle bag for the flight home.  I headed back to the hotel for a little rest while Laurie went shopping at Zara and Mango which seems to have stores on every corner in this area.

It is hard to tell from reviews which restaurants are good and which restaurants have good reviews from tourists who really only like the food they are used to.  I found a nice place and we were the only English speakers there.  It was good.  Most of the dishes were very good but my chicken was a little disappointing.

We had to have a bit of a rest after lunch and didn't venture out until about 8 when we could fit in a little more tapas.  Much of the afternoon was taken up getting Aidan to Barcelona.  His first train was late and he was going to miss his Paris connection.  The best way to get him here was to fly him.  Fortunately, airfare is a lot cheaper here than in the US.  He arrived just at midnight.

France: Day 28 - Malgrat de Mar to Barcelona

This was the last ride day of the bike tour.  We drank the last of the instant coffee I purchased in Blois ... with milk as it was a special day.

We got on the road at a reasonable hour.  We were riding parallel to the train tracks all day.  We alternated sides throughout the day.  We spend about a third of the time on N11. The N11 may actually be the N2 with Roman numerals.  Why would you do that?

We stopped for lunch at a tapas place in Vilassar de Mar.  We ordered several plates and they were all good.  Galcian octopus, patas bravas, olives, croquettes and chips made from a bunch of different stuff.  We had cokes because the cycling pros drink coke on their rides.

Not long after lunch we switched to the sea side of the tracks for good.  We went slowly along pedestrian/bike paths as the skyline of Barcelona got closer.

One of the dominant features were these three smoke stacks.  Not sure what they were for.  Maybe power?

Then we were in the city riding up a central boulevard.  Bike lanes were marked everywhere and there were special traffic lights for bikes.  This is a great city for bikes.  Mostly flat and bike lanes on almost all streets.

We rode straight to the Trek bike store near our hotel and for a reasonable price they are boxing the bikes for transport.  I am also getting a clean and tune for my bike.  It also needs a new chain.  The old one was new with my entire drive train in January.  This is all cheaper here than in San Francisco.

We walked to the hotel with our bags and checked in.  It was strange to be without the bikes.  After a shower we had an end of ride beer/cava on the roof of the hotel.  The view of the city was pretty good.

Next we headed out from the hotel and while Laurie shopped, I explored.

We went to a seafood restaurant recommended by Bob and other than being really far away, was really good.  It was definitely the most expensive meal so far.

France: Day 27 - Girona to Malgrat de Mar

The Hotel Nord 1901 breakfast was packed with cyclists.  It looked like there were two people in the room who didn't cycle in.

It was a warm day and once out of Girona we had a nice county ride.  Nice weather, nice scenery and not many cars.

At times we were on N11 parallel to the freeway.  It usually had a nice shoulder.  At about 16km we stopped at a bar/restaurant for a cafe con leche.  There were locals eating lunch - it was 10am - all the tables had wine and some had brandy.

When we left N11 we were on shoulderless roads for the rest of the way.  There was a lot of fast traffic and it wasn't fun riding.  We ended up on a shoulderless N11 coming into Malgrat de Mar.

We are in resort beach town.  Very, very beachy.  Lots of hotels and tourists.  We had a late lunch where Laurie accidentally ordered for both of us. We had no idea what we ordered.  We ended up with gazpacho and canneloni for starters.  Then I got beans and sausage and Laurie got a plate of breaded and fried sea things. 

We walked around town and the beach and then needed to lie around in the room for a few hours.  Beach towns are exhausting.

Tomorrow is last riding day.  Hopefully we can get the bike boxes sorted and enjoy Barcelona.

France: Day 26 - La Jonquera to Girona

I did not spot a single hooker in La Jonquera.  Such a disappointment.  In any case, the town disappeared quickly as we had a gentle 15km downhill.  Just enough to keep you moving at a good clip with just the odd pedal.

To Figueres we were on the N11 which parallels the AP7  freeway.  We had a nice shoulder and the traffic was light.  We will be seeing a lot of the N11 on and off into Barcelona.

After Figueres we switched to some very quiet farm roads.  Not quite as direct but very quiet and they pass through villages.  There were a lot of serious and not so serious cyclists out for their Sunday rides.

We passed through the village of Camallera around noon and got some jamon, cheese and bread for lunch.  We went to the edge of town to find someplace to sit down.  We found a tiny park with a few playground items, a few benches and a Dutch cyclist.  We chatted with him while we ate our lunch.  He had cycled from the Netherlands and probably hadn't talk to many people recently as he was quite chatty.  

We rejoined N11 and then took N11a into Girona.   Girona is a nice city and we have a nice hotel in the city center.

I walked around while Laurie relaxed.  Pretty town 

We went to a Pintxos restaurant for dinner.  They had small help yourself plates for starters.  You got billed by the plate.  We had a Galcian octopus dish and some secret pork.

Even though it just is getting dark we are tired and ready for bed.