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Val d’Aran
  • Iain Colville

Val d’Aran

A 15-day adventure by Iain Read more
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  • Iain ColvilleVal d’AranTraveler
    Bossost
    TapasOlha Aranesa (in the foreground)

    Dinner in Bossost

    July 20 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    After returning to the campsite, it was time to start to dismantle and pack some of our stuff, ready for our departure the following morning.

    We then headed into Bossost, the nearest slightly larger village for our last dinner in Spain - on this holiday at least!

    We found a traditional and friendly restaurant serving tapas and Olha Aranesa (a local speciality, consisting of a soup with different sorts of meat, sausage and vegetables).

    Whilst we were eating, the heavens opened and it began to throw it down. The heavy rain, supplemented with some thunder and lightning continued for much of the night.    Read more

  • Iain ColvilleVal d’AranTraveler

    Homeward bound … via Carcassonne!

    July 21 in France ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    After finishing our packing of one very wet tent and squeezing the rest of our belongings into the car, it was time to say “Adiu”, “Adéu” and “Adiós” to the Val d’Aran and to head back to France and the autoroute to Toulouse.

    However, our visit to the south west of France wouldn’t be complete without stopping off briefly on our way home at the medieval walled city of Carcassonne. Ok, I concede that “on our way” was perhaps doing some heavy lifting - Carcassonne was an hour or so to the south east of Toulouse, in the direction of the Mediterranean coast!

    In any event, we were in Carcassonne by early afternoon and had time for a wander around the castle and part of the ramparts, to buy some giant meeples and a new extension to the game Carcassonne, and of course an ice cream.

    We returned to the autoroute back to Toulouse before heading north to Limoges.    Read more

  • Iain ColvilleVal d’AranTraveler

    Cahors

    July 21 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We left the autoroute to stop at Cahors for dinner.

    Just outside the restaurant, we found several scallop shells set into the pavement, indicating the router through the city of the Via Podensis or the Chemin du Puy, from Le Puy en Velay to St Jean Pied de Port, and then onto Santiago de Compostela.Read more

  • Iain ColvilleVal d’AranTraveler

    The last leg of the journey home

    July 22 in England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    After the long drive north from Limoges with no hold ups, we managed to catch an earlier LeShuttle than originally planned on Tuesday evening.

    We lunched at a Buffalo Grill in Chambly, just north of Paris. As the name suggests, this is a Wild West themed restaurant chain, all delivered in a very French style. If you’ve driven in France at any point since the early 1990s, you’ve probably seen the red roofs of Buffalo Grills, usually close to autoroute junctions.

    When we checked in at the Chunnel, we were offered a crossing due to go within less than an hour, and which was immediately calling us to get ready to board - and so we got straight in the (thankfully) short queues through French and British border control.

    We just had time to finish eating the last snacking sausages (which would otherwise have been prohibited by the UK’s current ban on the importation of dairy and most meat products from the EU without full phytosanitary inspections and the like).

    The car was also swabbed for explosives but not sausages, and we were allowed through, to more or less drive straight onto the train. We appeared to be the last vehicle on, at least on the upper level, and we were soon on our way.

    Having got back to the UK earlier than expected, we then continued on home after a quick pit stop to see my parents as we passed through Kent.    Read more

    Trip end
    July 22, 2025
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