Beautiful, bustling, brilliant Barcelona

Following my rendezvous with the Extraction Team of Vicki and Luke we drove to Narbonne to spend a day with friends then here via Figueres, birth and resting place of Dali, and Girona, a very pleasant old town with an impressive cathedral and basilica.

In Barcelona we continued the cultural exploration with visits to the Picasso museum, assorted Gaudi structures, and the Joan Miro Foundation. 

Dali I can take or leave with the exception of The Persistence of Memory which to my mind is one the most important artistic statements of the 20th century, along with Picasso’s La Guernica. Gaudi I dislike. Gaudi is gaudy! Miro’s project to desacralise representative art - and the propaganda of elites embedded in it - while ennobling everyday life is executed, well, artfully. Well worth the visit.

The Extraction Team organised some great walks. We have covered most of Barcelona on foot, averaging 12.5km/d. This has created space for guilt-free enjoyment of the local food scene from tapas bars to up and coming Michelin star restaurants.

Last stop before heading home. Two more days to go!

Grande Randonnée des Pyrenees (GR10) - Gavarnie to Le Taillon (3,144m) via the Brecht de Roland (2,804m)

Distance: 14km

Ascent: 1000m

Descent: 1000m

Strictly speaking, this hike isn’t part of the GR10. But one would be foolish not to go to Gavarnie or to have a crack at a +3,000m peak while in the neighbourhood.

Picking up the GR10 where I left it in Gabas will need to wait until next year now as today was my last major hike prior to the arrival of the Extraction Team in Gavarnie. 

And what a way to finish up! This was the Pyrenees in all its magnificence. A cirque of limestone peaks. The tallest waterfall in Europe. Glaciers on their last legs from global warming. Rugged moraines. And 1,500m cliffs.

Early on was the ruined remains of a road which was intended to link France and Spain prior to this area being listed as part of the Pyrenees National Parc. My French guide for this climb pointed out that the French had completed their side of the bargain, unlike the Spaniards.

Needless to say, I shat myself (figuratively speaking) much of the way. I struggled heavily with the effort above 2,700m. But we made our way up to the Brecht de Roland, a gap between massive limestone cliff walls.

The mythology is that the Christian Knight Roland (a hero of Don Quixote) created the vast breach with a cut from his sword Durendal in an attempt to destroy it and keep it from the Moors after being defeated at the Battle of Roncesvalles in 778. (Cue: Roger Moore impersonation).

Unfortunately, Le Taillon was covered in cloud today making the final ascent both dangerous and pointless. Yet more unfinished business in this part of the world.