Tilting at Windmills

 

Moto Naranja has been pulled out of mothballs, or maybe I should say cobwebs after spending a relaxing year in a shed in Grenoble, France. With a creaky start to my next adventure, due to a good dose of Covid, I felt a little like this old knight on his aging steed. South through France following the Trans European Trail ( TET ) I passed through Andorra into Spain where the windmills are now high tech wind generators. 

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité

The first night on the road I spent in the little French town of Die, which some may remember was where I got to in 2020 just as the Covid epidemic started closing down the known world. In the shadow of the old church I came across this play being enacted and as far as I could gather it was something about that time in the late 18th century where they were lopping off aristocratic heads at an alarming rate.

Aermacchi Harley Davidson

I found this old beauty in some French town. Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft company that built Harleys under licence.

The Maestrazgo Region of Spain

It was great to get back onto the dirt roads with surprises around every corner and little villages looking like they were made for a movie set.

The sad thing was that many of these magnificent places were almost deserted, although it seemed that a lot of the buildings were well maintained. 

I quick stop for some repairs amongst the olive groves to sort out an electrical problem. Without power to keep all my navigation devices working, wandering around the Spanish countryside became a little tricky.

This was a typical farm track that I found myself riding on in northern Spain -fun riding. All may seem idyllic in this agricultural region, however apart from olives the main product is Parma ham. Now along with delicious ham comes a malodorous bi-product that at times had my eyes watering which was just not so bueno.

Hotel Reina Cristina

Just to prove that I do once in a while get a shower, here is a photo of an amazing old hotel I am spending a couple of nights at in Algeciras, Spain before catching a ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco.