Andorra, Man United, leaving the continent
okay, it's been a while and we're back on French keyboards, so I will attempt to be brief.
MONDAY
So Monday we discovered exactly how one should NOT try to go to Andorra: by train. After two train rides and a bus ride, with LONG waits in between, we got there. Our longest wait was in this surreal town called L'Hospitalet, which had Joe in heaven because it reminded him of a video game. But it was pretty dead. And when the bus finally came, the driver was not the friendliest of sorts. But we made it into Andorra on a long drive through what we assumed to be stunning scenery. We stayed in Andorra la Vella, the capital, basically located in a valley between the various mountains that make up the rest of Andorra. So just walking to dinner late Monday night involved some seriously steep climbing. We also got separate rooms for the first time, since they had singles available; and that was a nice change for one night.
TUESDAY
We got up reasonably early to enjoy Andorra. We walked through town to the old town in hopes of seeing the Andorran parliament. Turns out you need a reservation, or so they say; nobody seemed to be in the building, so we think they were afeared of a hostile takeover. But we saw a picture of the room later and wish we'd seen it. But we walked around enjoying the ridiculous scenery and their monument to their (1993) constitution. Joe's favorite fact about Andorra? They were left out of the Treaty of Versailles and thus did not sign a World War I treaty with Germany until 1958. That's right, World War ONE. Hilarious.
I dragged Joe to the national soccer stadium, which MIGHT seat 1,000 if it was packed, and it looked exactly like its picture I'd seen online. Which is logical, but it was still cool to see it in person. We ate lunch at an Andorran sports bar with Super 12 rugby on TV and pretty American food. We're nothing if not multicultural. Then we caught the bus to Toulouse. Note the absence of a middle direction. If you ever want to go to Andorra, we highly recommend direct bus routes to and/or from Barcelona and/or Toulouse. The ride out of Andorra fulfilled every expectation we had picked up the night before. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in a Lord-of-the-Rings-wilderness kind of way. But, predictably, we fell asleep en route to Toulouse.
In Toulouse, we tried to reserve our tickets to Paris for the next day, but they had nothing on the TGV (fast) train OR in a non-smoking car. But we recovered to enjoy a good dinner in Toulouse, even if the waiter was giving us seriously dirty looks the whole time. We figured one of my many reprehensible eating habits had offended him.
WEDNESDAY
We actually missed our alarm and had to hurry a bit to get on the train at 0730. The smoking was not that bad for the first part of the trip; people seemed to use a different part of the car. We had engine trouble and were delayed 30 minutes, but nothing too serious. After the restart, however, the smoking intensified, so I moved to a non-smoking car and snoozed through much of the ride, getting to Paris around 1400. And, waiting for us, were Manchester United fans.
Now English soccer fans have long been notorious as the most fervent, belligerent, and violent in the world. Their reputation contributed to English teams being banned from European competition for five years in the late 1980s. Things have calmed down since, but they still have the reputation. They were everywhere around the station when we arrived in Paris, drinking and chanting, and we had to track down a hotel a bit farther from the station as a result. It was incredibly odd to hear so much English spoken and know most people could understand you.
The game was a Champions' League match between Lille, which is one hour north of Paris but playing there due to stadium problems, and Manchester United, the richest club in the world going through a terrible stretch on the field. The game, played in the now familiar Stade de France, set a record for attendance at a French club match with more than 66,000 fans. Man U really were not very good, and Lille got a goal in the first half to win 1-0. It was their first goal in four games in the competition, yet they are now in position to advance. The Man U fans (maybe 10,000 of them?) dominated until the goal, and things were quiet after that. French fans just aren't that rowdy.
THURSDAY
Today we slept late, for us at least, and went to the train station to see if we could catch one more game. For once, the travel plans set up just as I had envisioned them, so we took a train to Lens, France. It is north of Paris almost to Lille, but not quite. We're here tonight, in a small town with a big consumer district that we can't figure out. Tomorrow we take a train to Charles de Gaulle and fly to Ireland. I can't believe we're leaving the continent and only have one week left, but I'm very excited to be back home as well.
Next stop: tomorrow, Dublin, Ireland
Next games: tonight, UEFA Cup, RC Lens v. Halmstads BK (Sweden)
tomorrow, Eircom League of Ireland, Bohemians v. Longford Town
MONDAY
So Monday we discovered exactly how one should NOT try to go to Andorra: by train. After two train rides and a bus ride, with LONG waits in between, we got there. Our longest wait was in this surreal town called L'Hospitalet, which had Joe in heaven because it reminded him of a video game. But it was pretty dead. And when the bus finally came, the driver was not the friendliest of sorts. But we made it into Andorra on a long drive through what we assumed to be stunning scenery. We stayed in Andorra la Vella, the capital, basically located in a valley between the various mountains that make up the rest of Andorra. So just walking to dinner late Monday night involved some seriously steep climbing. We also got separate rooms for the first time, since they had singles available; and that was a nice change for one night.
TUESDAY
We got up reasonably early to enjoy Andorra. We walked through town to the old town in hopes of seeing the Andorran parliament. Turns out you need a reservation, or so they say; nobody seemed to be in the building, so we think they were afeared of a hostile takeover. But we saw a picture of the room later and wish we'd seen it. But we walked around enjoying the ridiculous scenery and their monument to their (1993) constitution. Joe's favorite fact about Andorra? They were left out of the Treaty of Versailles and thus did not sign a World War I treaty with Germany until 1958. That's right, World War ONE. Hilarious.
I dragged Joe to the national soccer stadium, which MIGHT seat 1,000 if it was packed, and it looked exactly like its picture I'd seen online. Which is logical, but it was still cool to see it in person. We ate lunch at an Andorran sports bar with Super 12 rugby on TV and pretty American food. We're nothing if not multicultural. Then we caught the bus to Toulouse. Note the absence of a middle direction. If you ever want to go to Andorra, we highly recommend direct bus routes to and/or from Barcelona and/or Toulouse. The ride out of Andorra fulfilled every expectation we had picked up the night before. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in a Lord-of-the-Rings-wilderness kind of way. But, predictably, we fell asleep en route to Toulouse.
In Toulouse, we tried to reserve our tickets to Paris for the next day, but they had nothing on the TGV (fast) train OR in a non-smoking car. But we recovered to enjoy a good dinner in Toulouse, even if the waiter was giving us seriously dirty looks the whole time. We figured one of my many reprehensible eating habits had offended him.
WEDNESDAY
We actually missed our alarm and had to hurry a bit to get on the train at 0730. The smoking was not that bad for the first part of the trip; people seemed to use a different part of the car. We had engine trouble and were delayed 30 minutes, but nothing too serious. After the restart, however, the smoking intensified, so I moved to a non-smoking car and snoozed through much of the ride, getting to Paris around 1400. And, waiting for us, were Manchester United fans.
Now English soccer fans have long been notorious as the most fervent, belligerent, and violent in the world. Their reputation contributed to English teams being banned from European competition for five years in the late 1980s. Things have calmed down since, but they still have the reputation. They were everywhere around the station when we arrived in Paris, drinking and chanting, and we had to track down a hotel a bit farther from the station as a result. It was incredibly odd to hear so much English spoken and know most people could understand you.
The game was a Champions' League match between Lille, which is one hour north of Paris but playing there due to stadium problems, and Manchester United, the richest club in the world going through a terrible stretch on the field. The game, played in the now familiar Stade de France, set a record for attendance at a French club match with more than 66,000 fans. Man U really were not very good, and Lille got a goal in the first half to win 1-0. It was their first goal in four games in the competition, yet they are now in position to advance. The Man U fans (maybe 10,000 of them?) dominated until the goal, and things were quiet after that. French fans just aren't that rowdy.
THURSDAY
Today we slept late, for us at least, and went to the train station to see if we could catch one more game. For once, the travel plans set up just as I had envisioned them, so we took a train to Lens, France. It is north of Paris almost to Lille, but not quite. We're here tonight, in a small town with a big consumer district that we can't figure out. Tomorrow we take a train to Charles de Gaulle and fly to Ireland. I can't believe we're leaving the continent and only have one week left, but I'm very excited to be back home as well.
Next stop: tomorrow, Dublin, Ireland
Next games: tonight, UEFA Cup, RC Lens v. Halmstads BK (Sweden)
tomorrow, Eircom League of Ireland, Bohemians v. Longford Town
posted by Jon at
11:50
3 Comments:
sounds like you are having a great time and negotiating some difficult travel situations.
hope the flight to Ireland goes ok.
Your Dad
By
Anonymous, at 3:00 PM
I'm glad things are going so well. Have a safe flight to Ireland. I can imagine the country is beautiful right now.
I made it to and from New Hampshire safely. I'll let you know more later.
Amanda
By
Anonymous, at 4:15 PM
I went to Andorra with my dad and brother in July and found that the way one SHOULD get into Andorra is by rental car. I understand this was not a possibility for you, but it is ridiculously easy; they don't even stop to check your passports. According to Lonely Planet, "They figure if Spain or France will let you in, that's good enough for them." Did you not do any hiking in the Pyrenees? THAT was PHENOMENAL. See you next weekend!
Michelle
By
Anonymous, at 12:42 PM
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