Our Blog - Andorra La Vella, Andorra

I'm not sure why it took us so long to visit Andorra, since it is only a 2-hour drive from Toulouse! But after living 2 hours from the border for 6 years, we finally headed to Andorra for a couple of nights. Most people go there for skiing or to buy alcohol or cigarettes. None of those things was really the reason why we went ... we were looking for someplace within a few hours where the temperature was cooler than it is in Toulouse in the summer. And while it IS actually a bit cooler (around 10 degrees F), after this trip, I am not sure we will go back there very often. We were hoping to do a bunch of walks with Lucy in the cool weather, and while there are plenty of walking trails, they don't tend to loop, which means we would have to go out for 1/2 of the walk and then turn around (not our favorite). In addition, most don't seem to have parking near the start of the hike, which also makes it a bit complicated.

I'll start with a little history/info on Andorra, especially since I didn't know some of this information. It is officially the Principality of Andorra and sits between France and Spain. Andorra claims it is the last independent survivor of the "Marca Hispanica", the buffer states created by Charlemagne in 795 to keep the Islamic Moors from advancing into Christian France. Supposedly, Charlemagne granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for their fighting against the Moors. One thing that I didn't know is that it is headed by 2 co-princes, the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain. There is a parliament which does most of the "ruling", led by a Prime Minister. It is really small .. 181 square miles, with a population of about 80K people. The capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 3,356 feet above sea level, which is why we went there hoping that the altitude would provide cooler temperatures.

We stayed for 2 nights in the capital of Andorra la Vella, which means "Andorra the Town" to distinguish it from the Principality of Andorra as a whole. The La Valira river runs right through the middle of town, with the tall peaks of the Pyrenees on both sides.

We had thought we would be doing French food for dinner but once we got to town, we found that all of the street signs were in Spanish, not French. So we decided that maybe Spanish tapas would be a better option. And boy did we have great tapas!

Early the next morning, we embarked on our first walking tour. It ended up being a fairly flat walk but it was a 15-minute walk totally up-hill to get to the start of it. In the middle of the mountain, there was a new-looking stone pathway that had been built hugging the side of the mountain. I have a few pictures of the view from up there looking down, as well as some where I attempted to get a view of the slope going up.

Then we headed back to the hotel, and we ended up walking by a restaurant that had 3 different animals, on skis, made out of pink and white flowers. This one I think is a skiing cow.

Then there were a set of really nice buildings. The city's old town is characterized by old stone houses, made of large blocks of granite.

This one isn't made out of granite, but I thought the decoration on the side was interesting.

The Romanesque Church Sant Esteve was built in the 12th century and then modified significantly in the 20th century. The original semi-circular apse still stands and it is an interesting contrast on the outside between the very old dark stone portion and the lighter addition. The 2nd picture is taken a little later in the day, from a bit of a distance, and from the opposite side. Here again, you can see the contrast between the building material and style of the bell tower from the other parts of the church.

The interior of the newer sections are very clean and "whitewashed", while the chapel with the original semi-circular apse is still mainly in stone.

This is one of 2 Baroque altarpieces that can be found. This one is in the chapel with the original semi-circular stone apse.

The second Baroque altarpiece is over the main altar and the ceiling over the altar has an interesting painting.

There is also a nice rose window over the organ, although you can see here that the stained-glass is decorative and doesn't show any scriptures.

This is a monumental work in bronze entitled "La Noblesse du temps" by Salvador Dalí and symbolises the passing of time. It is over 16 feet tall and weighs a bit over 3,000 pounds. The clock is on a tree trunk and has a crown that represents how time dominates over humanity. It was initially given to the Government of Andorra by a friend of Dalí in 1999 and then given to the town of Andorra la Vella in 2010 and moved to Plaça de la Rotonda (near the tourist office).

Our last stop in-town was at the Casa de la Vall house, which is the former headquarters of Andorra’s parliament (a new building was built just beside this one). The building itself dates back to 1580 when it was the house of Antoni Busquets, who was the vicar of Andorra la Vella. It has a relatively square floor-plan on 3 floors, which was typical of Catalan stately homes. On the façade over one of the doorways, where Tom is pointing, is Andorra’s coat of arms along with the date "1580". In 1702, the property was transferred to the Consell General (the parliament).

They had a nice audioguide tour that we took, starting in this room, with an intricate stone floor and a couple very old saddles on the wall.

Also on the ground floor is the former courtroom, which is done almost entirely in wood. Can you imagine yourself standing in the semi-circular area, being judged by the people seated all around you?

Moving to the 1st floor is the Hall of the Lost Steps, and was used as a reception area. On the walls are various religious murals.

Next to this room is the former kitchen, with a huge hearth in the very center.

Lastly, the Council Chamber and it's small chapel. If you look at the very back wall, you can see portraits of the co-princes (the Bishop of Urgell and the President of France), along with a bell (above the portrait on the right), which would be rung to start a parliamentary session. In the back part of the room is this small chapel, which is a little odd to have attached to the Council Chambers.

Then we did one more walk on the morning that we were leaving, this time on the other side of the valley from the previous day. This walk was called the "Path of Andy". I wasn't sure exactly what it was until we got up a bit, and then we ran into "Tamarro Andy". What is Tamarro Andy? It is one of 7 mischievous beings from legends that are the protectors of nature and the forests of Andorra. Each Tamarro is associated with a different parish in Andorra and each has a "magic doorway" to come from their world to take care of their specific area in Andorra. For kids, there is a little guide book that you can pick up at the Tourist Office and if you can find the 7 different Tamarros, you can get a reward when you return the book. Lucy made quick work of finding Andy!

And after finding Andy, we took a set of pictures to just remember the great views from our path.

They have some tall peaks there ... the first one is Pic de Carroi, which tops out at 2331 meters (7647 feet). Then two more, Pic de la Font Blanca and Pic de Casamanya out in the distance of the 2nd picture, at 2903 meters (9524 feet) and 2740 meters (8989 feet), respectively.