Salamanca, Spain

After Burgos, we headed back to Madrid.  We arrived after midnight and were pretty worn out.  We had Sunday to rest, but then Monday we had more to do.  I did laundry and grocery shopping.  My parents went on the Madrid City Bus Tour.  Since Glenn and I had already done that, and because we were pretty tired, we didn't join with them.  They had a good time and saw most of Madrid.  They had much better weather than we had when Cheryl was visiting with us.  So that was good.

The next day, Tuesday May 7th, we took a day trip out to Salamanca.  It took us about 2 hours to get there.   We enjoyed the scenery as we drove there too.  I guess all that rain that we had in March turned the landscape all across Spain very green. 

I won't complain about that!

Burgos, Spain

Our original plans hadn't included Burgos, but as we read more about it in our guide book, we decided to stop there.  It was on our way and we would need a place to eat dinner anyway.  And we were so glad we stopped here!  The cathedral was absolutely amazing!  

The Pyrenees Mountains

After spending Saturday morning (May 4th) at the beach in France, 

we headed back into Spain.  

The Atlantic Ocean

After all of our Roman sight-seeing in Nimes, we drove and drove and drove to the west coast of France.  We stayed in a hotel there and then in the morning--Saturday May 4th--we went to the beach to dip our feet into the Atlantic Ocean!  It seemed incredible that just two days earlier we had been at the Mediterranean Sea.  We put a lot of miles on our rental car, that's for sure!

After checking out of the hotel--we were getting used to that--we bought some French pastries and ate them on the beach.  Mom stayed in the car--she wasn't feeling well--but the rest of us braved the cold water and the sand.

Nimes, France

Friday May 3rd we spent in Nimes.  Nimes is a very old city in France and has been inhabited for thousands of years.  The Romans were there and built many large structures that are still around today.  And those were our main focal points of the day.  

Jardins de la Fontaine

This was not a Roman creation, but was built in the 18th century on the recently discovered ancient site.  It was very much French in its creation--the statues and vases. 

It was so green and beautiful!

Pont du Gard

After walking around Avignon, we drove out to Site Pont du Gard (still on May 2nd).  

It is the Roman aqueduct of Nimes out in the countryside that is very well preserved.  

Avignon, France

After taking forever on the road in Cannes, we made our way to Avignon.  We parked outside the old city walls, and then walked around inside the old city.

Cannes, France

Thursday May 2 started out pretty nice for me.  Paul had woken up early to get me a couple presents for my birthday.  He got me caramels--I LOVE caramel!  He also got me a corsage.  (And of course he got all of us some yummy pastries for breakfast.)

Italy

After our short visit to Monaco, we continued across country lines into Italy. 

Monaco

Still on Wednesday May 1st, we made our way into the city/state of Monaco.

More Mediterranean Coastline Driving

We continued our drive along the Mediterranean Coast...on our way to Monaco and then to Italy.  

We really enjoyed the beautiful views.  And seeing the beautiful homes and gardens, I think we all agreed that we could live there.  Now I know why so many people DO live here--it's absolutely gorgeous!

Nice, France

Wednesday, May 1st we had in Nice.  In the morning, Paul, Glenn and I went walking around to find a patisserie to get some yummy pastries for breakfast.  But shop after shop was closed.  We couldn't figure out why but then we remembered that it was le Premier Mai, of May Day.  We then went back to the hotel, got Mom and Dad and went driving around the city.  Mom had lived here 50 years ago when she was a little girl.  Her Dad, Grandpa Thibault had been called on a Church-Building Mission for the LDS Church and they lived there for 3 years.  We found a parking spot near one of the schools that Mom attended and went walking around.  

Marseille, France

After seeing Carcassonne, we continued to drive along the Mediterranean Sea to a small town near Marseille, which was called Bouc Bel Air.  Our hotel was pretty nice.  It looked like it was at an old estate.

Carcassonne, France

We arrived in Carcassonne, France on Sunday evening.  We checked into the hotel and then went looking for dinner.  How different things were in France.  We were so used to having restaurants open really late for dinner in Spain.  In France we were lucky to find the one that we did!  It was a bit more expensive than we normally would go for, but we did experience some fine French cuisine.

On the Way to France

After spending the morning and afternoon in Barcelona, we headed north into France.  We thought about going through the small country of Andorra, but due to the weather and leaving later than planned, we went the more direct route to Carcassonne, France.

(Sorry for the bad photos in this post...I had a black smudge in the camera and it shows up in a lot of the pictures...and we were driving so there are some blurry ones.)

This is the sign post to show that we passed into France...it came up a lot faster than I thought.  But there you have it.  

Barcelona (part 2)

Sunday morning (April 28th) we spent in Barcelona.  We planned on going to Sacrament meeting there and then doing a bit more sight-seeing.  We found the church and went in.

Barcelona (part 1)

Saturday April 27th in the late afternoon we arrived in Barcelona.  We had some trouble finding our hotel, parking our car, and even checking in.  So we lost some sight-seeing time due to that.  But once we got all of that figured out, we headed out even though it was raining.

(This was the view from our hotel)

Countryside between Valencia and Barcelona

We drove north along the Spanish coastline from Valencia to Barcelona.  It was beautiful!  Not only did we see the Mediterranean Sea, but we also saw castle ruins on the surrounding hilltops, and we saw thousands and thousands of orange trees!  

Valencia (part 2)

Saturday morning, April 27th, we packed up and went to a little patisserie close to our hotel and then headed to the downtown area again.  We drove through the old city of Valencia and it was beautiful and quaint.  We were greeted by the old city gates.  They are huge!

Valencia (part 1)

The next morning we got a late start on our trip.  Paul got up for work at his normal time...but I didn't get up until 10:15; Glenn got up later than that...and Dad got up even later than that!  Needless to say we didn't get off when we expected.  And then after picking up Paul from work, we hit traffic and it was kind of slow-going for awhile.  But we were on our way and there was no turning back!