Trip 4 - France, Spain 2015-16

November 2015 to April 2016

Skiing in Portes du Soleil, France

Barcelona's Sagrada Familia Basillica

Our fourth trip was almost a repeat of our second trip, to spend an entire winter season skiing. We left the UK at the end of October to spend a couple of weeks at our friends house in the Dordogne area of France. From there and leaving all our skiing gear at their house, we drove over the Pyrenees to stay with Jackie's dad, Richard and Elizabeth, at their house on the Costa Blanca in Spain, stopping on the way for two days in Zaragoza in Northern Spain, for a bit of sightseeing. We had over a month on the Costa Blanca looking after their house and cat while they went on holiday and spent the time rock climbing and mountain walking, some of the time with friends Simon and Diane, who we had met during our trip to Vietnam and who came on holiday to nearby Calpe whilst we were there.

In mid December we returned to our friends house in the Dordogne, after a two night stay in Barcelona for sightseeing, collected all our ski gear and then drove across France to stay in the same apartment in St Jean d'Aulps that we rented during our last ski season.
For more details on this trip see below, it's divided into the following:

1. Dordogne, France
2. Zaragoza, Spain
3. Costa Blanca, Spain
4.  Barcelona, Spain
5. Dordogne (second time)
6. St Jean d'Aulps (the actual ski season part of this trip)

• Dordogne, France:

1. Depart UK at Portsmouth via overnight ferry to Le Havre and drove straight to Pechaud, near Belves, Dordogne, France: Dordogne 
2. Depart Pechaud, Dordogne, drive over Pyrenees to Zaragoza, Spain: Dordogne 2

• Zaragoza, Spain:

1.  Arrive Zaragoza: Zaragoza

• Costa Blanca, Spain:

1.  Arrive Altea La Vella, Costa Blanca, Spain: Spain
2. Hike in Sierra de Bernia: Bernia
3. Hikes to recce Puig Campana & Bernia Ridge: Recce hikes
4. Rock climbing & hiking with Simon & Diane: Spain 2
5. The Bernia Ridge Traverse: Bernia Ridge
6. Altea La Vella: Spain 3, Spain 4

• Barcelona, Spain:

 

1. Drive Altea La Vella to Barcelona: Barcelona

• Dordogne, France (second time):

1. Drive from Barcelona back to Pechaud, Dordogne: Pechaud

•  St Jean d'Aulps, France:

Website: http://en.portesdusoleil.com/st-jean-daulps.html

1. Arrive St Jean d'Aulps by car from Pechaud, Dordogne: St Jean d'Aulps 
2. For further details of the ski trip click on all blog entries from December 2015 to the end of April 2016. Special highlights as follows:
3. Visit of our friend Mike: Mike 
4. Ski Tour, Col du Cou: Ski Tour 
5. Visit of our friends Simon & Diane and Brian's sister Denise & Paul: Visits 
6. Visit of our friends from Solihull Mountaineering Club. Ski tour to Abondance ski resort. Off piste skiing on Mont Chery and Mont Caly: SMC visit