Bonjour, friends! As I begin to write this post, I’m sitting in a coffee shop in Bordeaux, France. I’m almost halfway through our two-week European road trip across Andorra, southern France, and northern Spain. It’s been raining all day. Matt is back at the Airbnb taking a nap. And I almost didn’t sit down to write this because my computer was almost dead and all the outlets in this coffee shop had plastic covers on them. Devastatingly, I don’t speak French so I was too afraid to ask the one person who works here for help. Eventually I settled for a weak “bonjour” and holding up my laptop charger… and here we are.
I have SO MUCH to tell you all about this trip! About the cities we’ve been to, about the car rental process, about taking a road trip in Europe. But I wanted to start with a “trip review” type post, as I’ve done in the past. I’ll probably publish this before it’s all the way done and then just update it as we go through the rest of the trip. I think it will provide a lot of good context for the trip, and I’ll eventually update it with links to specific topics as well.
Barcelona, Spain
You probably know that I lived in Madrid for two years. So why were we in Barcelona?
A few years ago, my family hosted a foreign exchange student from Barcelona. Gemma spent the entire school year with my family in Kansas City, but since I was in Madrid, I never got to meet her. Though, one weekend, I went to Barcelona to meet her family.
My family decided it was finally time to go visit Gemma in Barcelona. Matt and I decided that we should go too. So we did!
One of the great things about Spain is that Christmas lasts much longer than it does in the U.S. (Here’s why Christmas lasts longer in Spain.) And it meant that we got to spend Spanish Christmas with Gemma, her dad Pep, her brother Marçal, and Pep’s fiancée Sonia. We all drove out to their extended family’s house and celebrated with the biggest meal I’ve ever seen. Though not many of them spoke English, and it was our first time meeting most of them, they really did feel like family.
The next few days were spent exploring Barcelona. Out of our group of Americans, I’m the only one who had been to Barcelona before. So there was lots to see and do with everyone. Gemma, Pep, Sonia, and Marçal alternately guided us around the city, taking us to their favorite spots and restaurants. Most of all, I was thrilled to finally meet Gemma! My long-lost exchange sister.
After four busy days, my parents and sister Carrie were headed back home, and it was time for Matt and I to pick up our rental car from the airport. First stop: Andorra la Vella.
Andorra la Vella, Andorra
Remember my goal of visiting my 30th country at age 30? Andorra would be country number 26 for me. So we left Barcelona and set out for Andorra la Vella, the capital.
The only thing I really knew about Andorra was that it’s where a lot of Spanish people go skiing. We thought that maybe we’d even try to ski one of the days we were there. However, it turned out that there was like no snow on the mountains. Which was great for driving a rental car in an unfamiliar country, but not great for skiing.
Andorra la Vella also surprised me in some ways. Again, I didn’t know much about it. But I was a bit surprised by what it really was: a tax haven and never-ending duty-free shopping experience. While the buildings and streets looked much like any other small European city, the incessant cigar shops and perfumeries told another story. I came away feeling a bit like I was in the Las Vegas of Europe? Not because of the lights, but because of the overall artificial vibes.
One of the best things we did in Andorra la Vella was actually a hike up the side of a surrounding hill. From there, we could really appreciate the beautiful setting of Andorra la Vella — nestled in a valley between mountains. Also, I LOVED all the stray cats we encountered on the way up. 😂
Andorra was good to visit, and I’d give it another chance… perhaps as part of an actual ski trip.
Carcassonne, France
Our next “real” stop on the trip was going to be Toulouse, France. But as I reviewed Google Maps, way back in the summer when this whole road trip idea popped into my head, something caught my eye: Carcassonne.
Like Carcassonne, the board game, that we used to play with our old roommates all the time. When I realized it was only an hour from Toulouse, I was like… we have to stop there!
So three hours after leaving Andorra la Vella, we found ourselves outside the most stunning castle wall that I’ve ever seen. Inside those walls, it’s not all just castle grounds. There’s a winding, sleepy little old town still in there. It was a Thursday afternoon, and almost all the shops were either closed already or closing soon. But we were still able to visit the castle and ramparts. It was so picturesque from every angle. 10/10 recommend if you’re going to Toulouse.
Toulouse, France
One hour after leaving Carcassonne, we made it to Toulouse. We didn’t have time for much on the first night, but we walked from our hotel toward the city center to find somewhere to eat dinner. Remember when I said I don’t speak French? If I did, maybe I would have been able to help Matt order a different dessert. My little plate of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream arrived… and then a decorative glass full of prunes floating in some sort of alcohol was placed in front of Matt. Pruneaux à l’Armagnac. We laughed until we almost cried.
The rest of our time in Toulouse went more smoothly than the first night’s dessert debacle. Even though Matt hates art museums, a brochure in our hotel was promoting an exhibit that looked colorful and whimsical, so we decided to go. Good thing we did — I totally discovered my new favorite artist! Her name was Niki de Saint Phalle. And her art really spoke to me. One series was like illustrated diary entries and letters to friends, which I loved. And she also had a lot of political commentary that seems timeless — even though it was dated from the early 2000s. It was uncanny how her art discussed abortion rights, gun control, race issues, and more all these years later.
Again, I didn’t know much about what to expect from Toulouse. I’d heard that its nickname was “the pink city,” and that sounded worth visiting to me. But it definitely was! Toulouse was beautiful, and the pink bricks were probably no small part of that. Add in the sunny days and the mild weather, and you’d hardly know it was the middle of January. We liked Toulouse a lot.
Bordeaux, France
Just about 2 and a half hours from Toulouse was Bordeaux, France, our next stop. After arriving in the late afternoon to our Airbnb — the only Airbnb of this trip — we set out across the Pont de Pierre to the old city. Not long after, we found ourselves at a charming wine bar where the owner chatted with us about Bordeaux wines and the wine industry in general.
Of course, Bordeaux is wine country! Though it’s also currently January. So while we passed plenty of sprawling vineyards on our drive, the fields were mostly barren.
It turns out that January may not be the best time to visit Bordeaux in general. Not only did it rain almost the entire time we were there, but we had the misfortune of being in the city on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday — when many things are closed. Even the Miroir d’Eau, one of the top sites in Bordeaux, was just a plain courtyard (though there was still plenty of water thanks to the rain).
Either way, we tried to make the best of our time in Bordeaux. We ate and drank well, and on our last day we visited a charming community makerspace/co-working space/skate park/vegetarian restaurant/coffee shop/bakery/fair trade chocolate producer called “Darwin,” set at the location of some old army barracks. While this space was alive with activity and creation despite the weather, I can imagine Bordeaux as a city that sparkles in the warmer weather months.
San Sebastian, Spain
We hadn’t originally planned to visit San Sebastian on this trip — I didn’t want it to be too much running around — but when we realized our drive from Bordeaux to Bilbao would take us right by the city, we changed our minds and wanted to stop. But it turned out that this was the day our GPS told us we were experiencing a “hurricane.” Ultimately, we decided it wasn’t worth it to drive into the city just to park and get soaked as we tried to see the sights.
Bilbao, Spain
The “hurricane” followed us all the way to Bilbao, just about 4 hours after leaving Bordeaux. (Well, 4 hours of drive time. Actually, we had to stop at a random gas station not far from San Sebastian so Matt could join a work call for a couple of hours. Such is the life of digital nomads.)
Unlike the rest of the places we’d visited on our road trip so far, I’d actually been to Bilbao before, which turned out to be useful. I had booked our hotel in the Casco Viejo, or old quarter, and the location couldn’t have been better. We were surrounded by gorgeous façades, good food, and shelter from the relentless rain.
Of course, there are two main things you need to do in Bilbao: visit the Guggenheim Museum, and eat. We did both.
Knowing the esteemed culinary reputation of Pais Vasco (Basque Country), we considered visiting a Michelin Star restaurant for the first time ever. But it turns out you kinda need to book those places more than a few days in advance. Instead, we selected a “Michelin rated” restaurant called Aizian, and we made a next-day reservation for a Wednesday night. We ended up being only one of three tables there that night.
For just €56 per person, we got a full tasting menu that included appetizers, bread, four courses, a bottle of wine, water, coffee, and dessert! (No additional tax, and no tip needed. Though we did tip because we loved it that much!)
Logroño, Spain
For the penultimate city on our list, we visited Logroño. When I told Spanish people we were visiting Logroño, they all said, “Why??”
Well, my reasoning was kind of personal. Back when I was applying for the auxiliares de conversacion program, you have to choose three cities you’d prefer to be placed in, and rank them. But you can’t just choose any three cities. You have to pick a city from each “group,” and cities are grouped somewhat randomly. Madrid was obviously my top pick, but I’d read another super useful blog from a former auxiliar who said she loved her time in Logroño, so I put that as number two… despite never having visited before.
Then, during my first semester in Madrid, my friend Ellie went to Logroño with another friend to check out some of the wineries. She said they’d eaten and drank really well, for really cheap. And La Rioja, the autonomous community Logroño is part of, is famous for wine. So I didn’t need much more motivation than that.
During the 1.5 hour drive from Bilbao, as our GPS informed us we were nearing our destination, we thought: How can we possibly be 10 minutes from our hotel when we don’t even see a city anywhere? The landscape, however, was gorgeous — all mountains and vineyards.
But finally, we found Logroño and our little hotel on the far west side of town with an amazing mountain view out the window. Plus… FREE STREET PARKING! You don’t know how good that felt after paying an arm and a leg for parking everywhere else on this trip.
Since Logroño was far less touristy than anywhere else we went on our trip, we were able to relax a bit more during our visit. And one day, we ventured out to take a tour of Aceites Hejul, an olive oil production company about 30 minutes outside Logroño. The benefit of having a car and being able to drive out into the country!
Logroño was a sweet little town, and I think Matt would want to move there for the mountains alone and small-town vibes… too bad it’s not very well connected to the rest of Spain or Europe.
Zaragoza, Spain
Only an hour and 45 minutes from Logroño, we arrived in Zaragoza for just a bit more than 24 hours. It was also my second time in Zaragoza, but my first time staying overnight — last time I visited on a day trip from Madrid using the high-speed AVE train.
Which means we really only had time to do the same things I did last time: the Catedral-Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, and the Aljafería mosque-turned-palace-turned-government-building.
After seeing La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Matt had declared that he would never be impressed by another cathedral again. But since the basilica was free, and iconic of the city of Zaragoza, we popped in. I didn’t really remember it, but we were pleasantly surprised to see that it actually had a more unique look than many of Europe’s cathedrals — it was kind of like if the interior of the basilica was painted and decorated like the oval office or the state rooms of a palace.
And the Aljafería was a great place to learn once again about the Muslim history in Spain, and how the Catholics took it over… though most of the museum was in Spanish. Like I mentioned, it’s currently a government building so it was cool seeing the members of the Aragonese parliament returning to their offices after lunch.
Finally, we set off for the three-hour drive back to Barcelona, where we left for the airport the next day. Looking at the receipt from Hertz, we drove 1,188 kilometers, or 738 miles, over two weeks.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip review/diary of our European road trip! Like I said, I can’t wait to share more with you all — this has been such a new experience for me, so I have lots to write about.
-Cathy
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Originally Published on January 17, 2023.
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