The Bagneres de-Bigorre B&B also provided
an evening meal and Phil leads motorcycle
tours of the area, so there was a bunch of
other keen riders staying there. It had a real
biker family atmosphere at the dinner table
which was outside under the stars.
The plan next morning was for the whole
group to ride down to Spain again over
several passes in a loop back to base, about
300km. The riding was absolutely stunning.
Beautiful scenery everywhere, magnificent
roads with more switchbacks than you see
in a lifetime in NZ, very little traffic and
plenty of cafés en route. For this ride I had
chosen the 800 GS specifically because I
wanted a machine that was easy to ride,
quick enough, nimble in the tight going
and frugal. It definitely had enough power
for these roads except when passing the
occasional large truck... when a little more
puff would have been nice. On all other
counts the GS delivered, particularly the
frugal part. At fuel up time it used the least
gas of all the bikes there, by around half.
After fuelling we took the N260 road until
EL Pont de Suet, then north to Bossost, on
through to Arreau again and finally up over
Col d’Aspin back to base – another fantastic
day's riding. Dinner and a beer never tasted
better after a quick shower upon arrival.
My plan for the next day was more
mountain pass exploring on the way down
to Andorra. There, I wanted to do a quick
nosey around the famous microstate, tax
haven and tourism Mecca itself. I decided
that if liked what I saw in Andorra, I’d maybe
spend the night there, before returning to
Barcelona the next day. With that in mind
I hit the road. On the way I found the odd
gravel track and rode up a deserted ski-field
right on the road side – it was midsummer
after all and with absolutely no one around
it was fun to explore the grassy/stony
slopes.
Lunch followed in a small Spanish village,
I was starving and having a real battle
ordering with the language barrier.
Fortunately a French man who spoke
English came to my rescue, ordered for me,
then kindly offered most of a two litre carafe
of red wine to finish as he was driving and
didn’t need it. I thoroughly enjoyed a glass
or two with my meal before leaving the
remaining litre or so with other diners as I
left – certainly a good karma occasion for all.