Andorra

We went to Andorra for the day on Saturday. We left Toulouse around 10am-ish, had a quick pit stop in Ax-Les-Thermes for coffee and arrived at the French/Andorran border just after 12 noon.

Pas de la Casa

Straight after the customs and border control, is the tourist town called Pas de la Casa. It was built for tourism, and the cheap, identical buildings reflect that. They look like lego buildings that sprung up over night, to meet the French demand for skiing and tax free shopping. As a result, pretty much the only things you'll find in the shops here are tax-free cigarettes, alcohol, electronics and perfume.

Encamp

On the way to Andorra la Vella, the real city of Andorra, one of the towns you pass through is called Encamp. It's very scenic and there are detours you can do from here to reach some stunning lakes, except we didn't know that when we passed through. It will be something to do next time, if we can drag ourselves away from the shops for long enough.

We stopped here for the really cool looking shops that sell alcohol, local products, regional foods and souvenirs — not to mention free tastings of everything and anything you want to try, including the help-yourself Pastis on the side of the road complete with running fountain for your water!

We bought some Crema Catalane (Catalan Cream), which can only be described as a bright yellow, alcoholic, custardy-type drink. It was like drinking a spicy creme brulee with a kick. It's actually quite good in small doses.

Andorra La Vella

We reached the city Andorra La Vella, found a park after circling the city about four times (parking on a Saturday in a country dedicated to shopping is a bit of a challenge!) and hunted around for a restaurant for lunch.

By the time we got to a restaurant it was around 2.15pm. We were hungry and slightly panicked in case Andorra had the same crazy rules about eating as France (in France, restaurants open for lunch at 12, service stops at 1.30 and if you miss out, you have to wait until dinner when they reopen at 7.30pm!).

We stopped at the first restaurant we found that wasn't a pizzeria and tried to get a table. We were sent outside and have no idea what they told us since neither of us speak Catalan nor Spanish. They smiled though, so we sat outside on the terrace and felt hopeful. About half an hour later we got placemats and cutlery and a menu we couldn't read. Uh oh!

We ordered by pointing and holding up a finger or two to indicate how many we wanted of each dish and were thankful we at least understood what 'aguia' and 'vi' meant — there would be wine!

As for the food, though, we had no idea what we'd be getting when we pointed to words on the menu, so we sat there crossing our fingers while we waited. For the entree, I chose Macarrons a la napolitana and Yves chose Crema de carbassa.

I thought I was getting chestnuts with tomato sauce (the French word for chestnuts is marrons) and Yves thought he might be getting fish with a creamy sauce (carbassa kind of sounded like a fish to us). For the mains, we both ordered Calamars a la planxa — we figured that had to be calamari.

The waiter brought out two beer mugs and a bottle of wine and we giggled at the idea of drinking pints of wine. Maybe this is the secret to the Andorrans having the longest life expectancy in the world?!

Lunch actually turned out to be very nice and incredibly cheap. For two three course meals and a bottle of wine, we paid 23 euro!

So what did we end up eating? Well, for the entree, Yves got cream of pumpkin soup and I got penne pasta with a heavenly homemade tomato sauce. For the main meal, we got grilled squid and octopus with potato wedges and a big, grilled chilli — yum! — dessert was profiteroles filled with ice-cream. Hmm. :)

After lunch we took a walk around the city, following the river, which runs right through the middle of it.

We spotted a strange looking glass temple-of-sorts and headed over to check it out.

Near the glass building is a vacant lot, being built up (probably into more shops!) enclosed by a 6-foot tall fence. The lot was filled with pigeons and, unexpectedly, lots and lots of cats!

On closer inspection, the glass temple turned out to be a luxury spa and swimming pool called Caldea! Next time we go, I'm definitely bringing my swimmers!

Suspended over the river is a large pedestrian area with wooden boardwalk and benches to sit and listen to the river flowing by. Very zen.

Something I loved about Andorra La Vella is how clean and tidy the streets were and that they were lined with beautiful flower arrangements in garden beds. Also, the people are relaxed and friendly, the drivers courteous and patient and they actually stop at pedestrian crossings.

After our tour of the city, we spent a couple of hours browsing the shops where we picked up some bargains on perfume and local produce before heading back to Encamp to buy some tax-free alcohol.

El Tarter

Soldeu

Took the photo below while driving. Talk about a scenic drive!

I wouldn't mind working in this petrol station — look at that view!

Cows?

Pas de la Casa

When we reached Pas de la Casa again it was around 8.30pm and everything but the restaurants was closed, including the cheap petrol stations. Bummer! We decided to stop for dinner here. The restaurant we chose was called El Carlit. It had a roaring fireplace in the middle, nice mood lighting and big wooden booths by windows. We sat down, were greeted in French and given a menu in French with French specialities — definitely back in tourist-ville!

I ordered a Fondue Bourguignonne which is a fondue pot filled with hot oil into which you dip pieces of beef to cook them. This is served with three sauces and a side of chips. Healthy stuff! Yves ordered a Tartiflette (and pinched some of my fondue as well!) Both meals were really good, very cheap (unexpectedly, since we couldn't have been in a bigger tourist-land if we'd been in Disneyland) and the service was excellent.

Our 21 year old waiter was an enthusiastic French/Portugese guy who spoke excellent English (with an American accent), French, Spanish and Portugese. He told us he was saving for a 3-month trip to New Zealand. He was over the moon to learn that I'm an Aussie and asked all sorts of questions about backpacking and finding work over there.

We'd definitely go back to Andorra and to both of the restaurants we ate at. All in all, it was one of the best day trips I've had in ages!

The loot

We got home around 1am, unloaded the car and admired our loot. We bought a lot of stuff, especially Andorran linen, alcohol (gotta love tax-free alcohol!) and some great food like cured ham, cheese, olives, olive oil etc.

Can't believe we waited so long to go to Andorra, considering it's only a two hour drive from Toulouse. We'll definitely be going again soon!