Monday 17th June 2013
It feels like today was actually two days as the two halves were so different to each other. We started the day in super hot and sunny Figueres, Spain, to visit the Salvador Dali Theatre-Museum and ended the day in cloudy Les Angles, France, in the Pyrenees mountains on an empty ski resort!
The Dali museum was built on the ruins of the Municipal Theatre of Figueres which was destroyed by fire in the Spanish Civil War. The structure remained and Dali built and designed his museum on it as he thought there was no better place to display his work than in his home town. The whole building is a work of art with the giant glass dome ceiling, massive eggs and the displays inside. Dali himself is buried in a crypt in the center of the building.
We spent about 3 hours inside the museum as there was so much to look at. It was a bit annoying that they had group tours that were so big that when you were looking at something they would come and swarm around you so their guide could talk about whatever they were looking at and you couldn't see any more! It was also pretty frustrating that people would stand in front of the painting or sculpture so they could have their photo taken with it and then you couldn't see that either but other than that I really enjoyed looking around. Some of the work was so surreal I would have loved to know what was going on in his head when he created it! Adam's favourite was a sculpture of a small crocodile holding a lamp that he wants to have a go a recreating himself. Some of my favourites...
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| Gold mannequins in the windows of a circular courtyard |
The glass dome ceiling behind a raised boat // Sculpture on the wall made of drawers, sinks and other items
Surreal Dali drawings
One half of a surrealist painting on the ceiling
Creepy sculpture and 'Dematerialisation Near the Nose of Nero
It was quite a long drive out of Figueres to our next destination. Our plan was to go back up through the Spanish/French border and find a place to stop for the night before making our way to Carcassonne tomorrow. We had picked up a leaflet near the beginning of the trip that listed loads of castles to visit in France and the fortress in Carcassonne was free for people aged between 18 and 30 so it seemed like a good place to head next.
As soon as we hit the mountains it started to get cloudier and cloudier. We had a look in our Aire's France book and found a free Aire on the French ski resort of Les Angles so headed there. The drive through the Pyrenees mountains was amazing. We had already been through the lower parts of the Pyrenees on our way to Spain and I thought those views were incredible but these were even better. We climbed over 1600 metres of sheer cliff edged roads. We could even see in the distance a mountain that still had snow at the top.
We parked up at the bottom of a ski lift just as it started raining. Another GB motor home with an English couple arrived shortly after and seeing our British plates they came over to say hi. We had a quick chat with them and they let us look around their motor home when we said we would be going back home soon to buy another camper. I'm not sure they realised our budget was more around the 5k mark than their 30k motor home but it was nice to see the inside anyway!
There is a lot of thunder and lightening going on tonight but hopefully when we drive out of the mountains to get to Carcassonne it will clear up!
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| Deserted chair lift and ski slope with no snow on it :( |
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