Intrepid White's Travel Adventures: 06/22/18

Paris to Leon

This leg of our journey so far is the conclusion of the R&R prior to the commencement of our hike (camino) from Leon to Santiago de Compostela 300+ kms across most of the remainder of North West Spain .

We caught the high speed French SNFC tgv from Paris Gare de Lyon to Barcelona Sants via Nimes, Montpellier and Girona (Spain) taking 61/2 hrs over aprox. 1000 km's reaching a top speed of 303 kp/h. The photos tell the story.

Morning departure 0630 from Hotel with view of Gare de Lyon clock tower from our room

Gare de Lyon

Ngaire looking comfortable in 1st class upper deck

Short 4 hr layover at Barcelona so we jumped on a metro Line no 5 for a 10 min journey to see the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Sagrada familia. This unfinished catholic church, proclaimed a minor basilica by the vatican in 2010, was built commencing in 1882 by an archirect named Villar who resigned a year later. The construction was taken over by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi at age 31 and who devoted the rest of his life to the project. Gaudi died age 73 in 1926 and less than a quarter of the project was complete. Construction has progressed intermittently since that time and reached the half way mark in 2010. It is hoped to be completed by the centenary of Gaudi's death in 2026. The funding of the project has all been by private donation and it has been and still is a controversial work amongst Barcelonians. The work has been described by experts in the field as "the most extrodinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages"

Next train back to Barcelona station 1min 28sec

On time

Back to catch the 1800 Spanish renfe ave high speed train for the 1hr 40min trip over 294 km's reaching a top speed of 301 kp/h. In my opinion, a better train with much better service than the French tgv.

renfe ave high speed train (r)

Arrival at Zaragoso

Hotel on station concourse

Thursday June 21 left Zaragosa for our 1128 service 6hr aprox. 550 km's journey on a renfe alvia regional train to Leon. Top speed for this train is 160 kp/h.

Zaragosa

Arrival at Leon

Short walk to our hotel, settle in and explore the local neighbourhood and experience a local non tourist hardly any english speaking restaraunt which is the best way to get a 'taste', no pun intended, of the atmosphere and local culture.