Canal du Midi

Today, we drove from The foothills of the Pyrenees to Avignon, stopping in Beziers to do some biking along Canal du Midi:

Hanna tried the big girl bike, and did really well:

What's wrong with this picture?

Carcassone

(By Robert)

Yesterday, we warmed up for serious tourism by visiting the quiet Abbey of St. Hillaire (no, nothing hilarious there...), and then spent most of the day in Carcassone - a classic medieval walled city. Here is the cloister of the Abbey with two perfectly behaved siblings:

The cave in the monastery where legend says the first champagne like drink was invented:

And here are a few pictures from Carcassone:

The fairy tale castle city from a distance:

Entering the inner castle at a run:

The ramparts:

A defender with a (imaginary) bow and arrow on the ramparts:

The same defender being silly on a guard tower:

Playing tag in the castle courtyard:

Train and castles in France

(Robert and Colette cooperative post)

We just left the city of Girona, north of Barcelona, where we spent 3 nights in a rental home. It seemed to be the weekday house of a family with 2 girls who left lots of toys for Lenny and Hanna to play with! They were especially delighted by the rope swing in the kitchen and trapeze in the kids bedroom. I think we may need to redesign our house when we get home...

During our time in Girona we rented bikes and did 2 days of biking. We ended up buying a clip on bike for Lenny in the US and flying it here because they couldn't guarantee rental availability. Sounds a little crazy but only weighs 24lbs and then we will have it to use at home as well. So Lenny and I biked as a tandem team and Robert pulled Hanna in a trailer. The kids did amazingly with the long active days, and we even went out to nice restaurants in the evening and let them watch their iPad movies with headphones while we tried all the local dishes. 

This morning, we took the TGV from Girona (Spain) to Perpignan (France), rented a ridiculously large minivan, and set off to the Cathar county of Corbieres. The theme of the day was ruins of thousand year old castles, specifically Queribus:

And Peyerepertuse:

And yes, the latrine offers a view of Queribus:

The castle blends in to the rocks:

The kids were pretty tired by the long days of tourism and passed out in the car:

For the next few days, we are staying in a B&B run by a British couple in the village of Antugnac, which is so small that it is not is the road atlas of France. The most exciting part of the stay is Toby the dog:

Biking from the Pyrenees to the sea

2 days, 90km, mostly downhill. Emphasis on the "mostly". That was our itinerary for the last two days, biking from Olot to Castell de Aro via Girona (staying in a 17th century house in Girona for the whole time). It was hard work, but we made it. As did our yellow duffle with all of our clothes, so we do not need to do laundry nightly anymore. Here are some pictures from. The bikeride:

Starts out in Olot, nite snow capped peaks in background:

The route follows an old railroad, resulting in very mild but persistent grades:

Heading up to the "pass":

Down we go again:

View from our house in Girona:

Here is the front of the house:

And here is walking in the city walls of Girona:

Love:

Cathedral:

And more biking:

Pics from Girona

I know Robert is doing a quick post too, but here are some of my pics. 

Cliff hike on the Costa brava

Hanna dipping toes in the cold Mediterranean 

Everyone exhausted at dinner after a 40 mile bike ride

Robert and Hanna on the ride on an old train route converted to a bike path

Hanna on the old Roman walls of Girona where we are staying 

Lenny behind me on his bike (attached to my bike)

More tomorrow! We have been wifi less for 3 days which is tough!  Tomorrow on the train to France. 

Montserrat hiking

This is Robert writing... Today, we rode the funicular to the top of the mountain. Here is the funicular:

The top of the mountain has many trails to hermitages, chapels, and mountains:

The trail above is cut into the cliff above our heads on this picture:

Check out the monastery below us:

Here is a hermit in his cave:

And here is the cave where the local statue of Virgin Mary was found, with a replica in the exact spot (we saw the original in the main basilica)

And here are a few more random photos of the area and our adventures.