The Pyrenees, that long mountain range extending east to west and creating the border between France and Spain, have captivated me for years. As a university student I read Laurie Lee’s As I Walked Out One Summer Morning, which became one of my favourite travel books. At the end Lee secretly crosses the Pyrenees and enters Spain at the onset of the Spanish Civil War and I began to feel a calling to one day visit the region. It wasn’t so much the jagged, snow-capped peaks, shimmering lakes and raging rivers that captivated me, but the culture of the people of the Pyrenees. In the West, you have the Basque people and in the East the Catalans.
Padma and I got a taste of the Basque Pyrenees in 2020. This time we wanted to experience the Catalan Pyrenees. The four-day experience we had in Catalonia will now rank as one of the best travel experiences Padma and I have had together.
I had no idea where to go so I zoomed in on Google Maps in satellite mode on the Catalan Pyrenees and found tall mountains near a town call Espot, which turned out to be the gateway to the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park
And that because of our new Catalan friends – Josef, Anna and Francisco. Josef and Anna are the owners of the Roca Blanca, a hotel in the village of Espot we chose based on its great reviews. From the moment we walked in I knew we were going to have a memorable stay. Josef doesn’t speak a word of English but I was able to translate for Padma his lengthy welcome to his family home which he built into a hotel some 18 years before. He assured us the bad weather was behind us and that he would work our hiking itineraries each day. I could feel the Catalonian pride emanating from him as he described the scenic hikes and then the food of his homeland. He was soft spoken and smiles and laughs came instantly. We knew right away that would be much more than the hotel owner for us.
Most of the restaurants were closed as it was the low season but Josef suggested we try to the local pub. And that is where we met Francisco, the owner of the pub. And once again, the Catalan hospitality and friendliness radiated from him. We ordered a Spanish omelette and were astounded at good it was. Padma and I commented to him about how good it is and asked how it was made. He explained to me but Padma missed out on the translation a bit so he said ‘Come tomorrow and I will teach you.’ The next day we came after our hike and had an afternoon drink at the pub. Francisco beckoned us and led us into a tiny kitchen where he and his chef went to great pains to demonstrate how to make a Spanish omelette with a Catalan flair. Francisco’s pub became our home away from home and soon we began to feel like locals.
We hiked in the Pyrenees for three days … each day carefully mapped out by Josef. And each day we’d come home to find Josef eager to hear feedback about our adventures.
On our final night, as we headed for our room Josef invited us for a farewell nightcap. His wife, Anna, and son, Mark, joined us and the three of us sat around a table drinking the Catalan digestif Ratafia. We sat not as hotel clients but as friends and laughed and shared stories into the night.
On our departure from Roca Blanca Josef gave us enormous hugs but apologised since Anna was still sleeping (the night before their son Mark was rushed to a hospital an hour away after drinking a beer laced with honey). We told him to send our farewell to Anna but after we loaded the car and was pulling out, Anna appeared and once again we got more hugs.
As we were drinking Ratafia, Josef noted that I had travelled the world and wondered which place I would most like to return to. A week earlier I might have given a different response, but on that night I was certain. I would choose Catalonia.
