Although our love
of hiking in the mountains can often make the presence of national
borders seem incredibly arbitrary since the rocks don't care whether
they are French or Spanish, we still had a fascination with visiting
a new country even if just for a few hours. Also, we had heard that
it was possible to get a bargain on electronics in Andorra and Esther
had been keen to pick up a better camera for some months, having
developed a passion for photography on this trip but being frustrated
at not being able to get even close to capturing the incredible
scenery we had visited so far with our little point and shoot. So,
after making our way up the steep road from
l'Hospitalet-pres-l'Andorre we arrived in el Pas de la Casa at 2085m
just across the border in Andorra.
We'd from fellow
travellers that Andorra was a little like a shopping centre that
filled a valley, but we were not prepared for the sight that met us
as we parked up just before lunch in the grey light. The surrounding
scenery was beautiful, with high mountains ringed around a glacial
valley covered in snow and stretching up into the heavy clouds.
However, the contrast with the foreground couldn't have been more
stark as row upon row of garishly coloured ski stores mixed with
supermarkets crammed with booze, cigarettes, gifts, perfume and junk
food cluttered the rocky plateau that made up el Pas de la Casa. For
outdoor lovers like ourselves it just felt so out of place.
Setting off in
earnest we did manage to track down several electronics stores
amongst the mass of cigarettes, alcohol, meat and laundry detergents
and were pleasantly surprised to find that the prices of electronics
were indeed very low compared to the sterling prices we were used to.
On our first attempt we only managed about half an hour of browsing
before we had reached our limit and needed a break so returned to the
motorhome to pay a visit to a nearby petrol station to take advantage
of the much lower diesel prices. What we weren't prepared for was
having to drive up to 2400m to fill up! The highest the motorhome has
ever been, but at just 83p per litre (50p per litre less than in the
UK at the time) it was well worth it.
Heading back into
town we spent a little time stood outside of McDonalds to use the
free internet to compare prices on some camera models, confirming
that the prices in Andorra were indeed much lower, costing less in
euros than the cheapest sterling price we could find online. So after
some deliberation and much haggling we did also leave Andorra with a
very fancy camera as well, although it would be another 2 days before
the weather brightened enough to give it a try in the outside world.
Driving downhill,
over the Col de Puymorens and back into France towards our planned
stopover point in Saillagouse we reflected on what had been a very
odd day for us. A visit to el Pas de la Casa has been a big culture
shock after almost the entire summer and autumn in the mountains of
Switzerland and France. It would have been fascinating to drive
through the rest of Andorra which had been described to us as a
valley turned into a shopping centre with ski runs heading up into
the hills and tower blocks crammed onto the hillside. However, we
weren't quite ready to leave France. Also, our foray back into the
hustle and bustle of civilisation was a stark reminder that with
winter on the way we would soon be leaving the mountains for warmer
climes. However, it had also been very interesting and we had a great
camera to show for our efforts to capture our next trip up into to
the mountains.
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