Canfranc railway station

[onlyMark]

On my way back from Spain to Germany I initially diverted through Portugal but then cut back across to enter France through the Pyrenees.
Close to the border on the Spanish side is a rather large railway station at a town called Canfranc. Originally designed to be a showpiece I doubt they had any hope of getting their money back. It was a collaboration between France and Spain to aid cross border travel.

Built in 1928 and operated until 1970 when there was damage to a bridge on the French side causing it all to shut down. Went into disrepair until about 2020, so not long ago, when after being refurbished, the hotel inside opened.
When it was derelict more people came to see it between 2013 and 2017 that ever used it as passengers in all the previous years.
It is about 250 metres long.

Part of it is a 5 star hotel (Royal Hideaway Luxury Hotels and Resorts) but, and it may just be me, but looking at the rooms on their website they seem a bit small - they are on the very top floor under the roof -

[onlyMark]

The centre is where the hotel is -




Hotel reception -






A look around what is in the area -














I think this is what is now the railway station. No trains across the border but just a couple of local ones back down on the Spanish side -

[onlyMark]

After walking up and around and back I made my way to my car. The one with the open side door.
Kicking myself for leaving it open I wondered how I did so as there had been no reason for me to get to the back seats.
I quickly snapped a photo before putting my camera away and approaching -




I sidled up to the door and as I did so I could see part of the head of someone inside. I jumped to the entrance and said hello, expecting a flurry of activity as someone tried to push past me to escape.
It was a girl of early twenties sitting there looking at her phone.
She looked at me a little startled but then put her attention back to whatever she was typing.
She was so engrossed and ignoring me I had a sudden thought - is this my car?

Turns out it wasn’t. Mine was several cars down the parking area. I walked away from the door to check the number plate and no, not mine. Ooops. I walked away, she still glued to her phone screen.

A few views dropping down the mountains -








I’ll leave you with this - a very good French idea. A red light at road works with a timer on it -

[onlyMark]

If you didn't catch these when I posted them before -

[bjd]

Well, you made it through just in time! This weekend there was a lot of rain there, the road leading up there collapsed over several metres. Then during the night of Friday to Saturday, the heavy rainfall caused flash flooding and a couple of villages had lots of rocks washed into them, covering cars and blocking doors.

www.sudouest.fr/pyrenees-atlantiques/urdos/video-intemperies-en-bearn-inondations-eboulements-tout-comprendre-a-ce-qu-il-s-est-passe-ce-week-end-en-vallee-d-aspe-21304263.php

[onlyMark]

I came through the day before. Now that was lucky. Thanks for pointing this out. Amazing.

[kerouac2]

The "girl in my car" story was hilarious. Since I have only ever used rental cars my entire life, it is even easier for me to make mistakes about which is "my" car.

[onlyMark]

I'm lucky that mine tends to be a bit taller than others so you'd think it would be easy to spot. Yet no matter I could drive between London and Kathmandu without a map, I often can't find my car in a car park. Mind you, I have overcome that problem to a certain extent because I've hidden an AirTag in it so when desperate, I locate it on a phone.

[tod2]

What a beautiful building. I could never imagine something so big and smart-looking being where it is. I wanted to visit Andorra some years ago and never got there - only to Barcelona.

[onlyMark]

I have a mission now to drive on different roads whenever I cross the Pyrenees when driving down or back from Spain.

[kerouac2]

I have always liked taking the road through Andorra, entering through France and then driving out through Spain and taking the Portillon Pass (El coll de Portilló in Catalan) back into France. The scenery after leaving Andorra becomes spectacular almost immediately after passing through La Seu d'Urgell. But of course you can easily get to La Seu d'Urgell directly from Barcelona.

[onlyMark]

On my way down to Spain in June I stayed the night in Toulouse, skirted to the east of Andorra, went west after crossing into Spain, through La Seu d'Urgell and spent the next night in Lleida. Nice drive. Probably forty years ago I did drive through Andorra but now can't remember exactly why I didn't this time other than something about it being a tourist trap type of place. It's not Schengen(?) either.

[fumobici]

Yeah, unnecessary border control is pretty offputting.