Day 10 - Barcelona to Millau, FR

We woke up around 6am and walked up to the Solarium Bistro for breakfast only to discover that it was not open. Only the Windjammer and the dinning rooms were open for breakfast so we went to the Windjammer for our last meal on board (Michele ate breakfast, Rob was not hungry so he just had orange juice.)

Michele took a few last pictures of the artwork she liked in the ship hallways.

 

This is a model of our ship. Our room was in the middle. 

We went back to our room after breakfast to gather our bags to make our way off the ship. It took us about 15 minutes to get from our room to the taxi stand. It was really fast with zero lines since Michele chose the Expedited Departure option. The cab driver took us over to the airport. We told him we were renting a car (in Spanish as he spoke no English) and we were at the Hertz rental booth in about 25 minutes.

The agent at Hertz was helpful. He spoke pretty good English and after noticing we were driving all the way to Amsterdam, suggested that we should consider a diesel car instead of a gas car. The price was only 10 Euros more per day but the car was a little bigger and got much better fuel mileage. Plus, diesel in Europe is cheaper than gas. We got a silver Fiat 500x 6-speed manual, which is either a compact SUV or a gigantic Fiat 500.

Once we figured out which parking lot the car was in (there were two and we picked the wrong one first, only figuring out the correct lot after Rob asked the guy at the Hertz return booth), we took a few minutes to walk around the car and confirm the nicks and scuff marks identified on the pickup papers. 

Everything looked in order so we loaded up the luggage. The two roller suitcases just fit on the rear trunk area so our backpacks went in the back seats.

Rob took a few minutes figuring out the controls of the car (most were standard but some were in Spanish). With the controls mastered and the seats/mirrors adjusted, we got the Zumo set up with the day’s route and headed out of the airport.

Not too far along the highway a guy in a car next to us honked and gestured at us. He was waving at the back of our car. Michele thought maybe our gas door was open. We waved thank you and kept going, but he slowed in front of us with his hazard lights right on the highway! At this point Michele thought he was a scammer and told Rob to go around and keep on going. We saw him pull over on the shoulder and stop. Was he legit or not? We will never know. 

Our first stop was Montmelo for a quick picture at the entrance of the Circuit de Catalunya. We could hear racing going on and wished we could have gone inside. 

We then made our way north to the scenic city of Tossa Del Mar. Rob thought the city would be a bit more scenic on the sea. It was a nice looking town but no obvious ocean bluff overlooks. We drove around the city for a few minutes and then headed Northwest towards the day’s destination of Millau.

After a few incorrect verbal directions from the Zumo on the exit number to use on the roundabouts (the GPS gets a bit confused on what an exit really is) we figured out to ignore the spoken number of exits and just follow the highlighted path on the screen.

We stopped at a roadside cafe/fuel station at around 11:30 for lunch. It was a fancy rest stop with a small cafeteria of fresh, healthy food options. We shared a sandwich and a cup of fruit. Michele hoped we would have these rest stops along the rest of our trip since they are so convenient. 

Not long after we crossed into France. 

Michele lamented that the language barrier would be challenging going forward, as she felt much more comfortable in Spain. The country side was still very pretty.

We lost count of the number of tolls we paid today. It was probably between 5 and 10. We will find out how much when we get home and look at the credit card, and anticipate it is over $100. 

We like this house at the top of the cliff. 

Just before we entered Millau, we crossed over a mountain range hitting an elevation of about 850m (2700 ft). As we crested the mountain we could see Millau below and the big bridge that crosses the valley.

There were also a dozen or so parasailers flying near the cliffs overlooking the city.

We found our hotel and a convenient street parking spot nearby. Parking is free on Sunday, lucky for us. 

Today we drove about 436 Km. We got 4.8 L/100KM which converts to 49mpg. That is pretty good mileage given we were driving at about 110kph (68mph) most of the way. Rob stayed 10 km under the speed limit to get good mileage. 

We checked into the hotel and then headed off to the local laundromat to wash our clothes. Michele found one about .5 miles away, so we made the easy 12 minute walk with two bags of clothes. 

Once at the laundromat we were confronted with the challenge of figuring out how to operate the machines. Everything was of course in French, so with Google translate and a little help from another customer who spoke a tiny bit of English, we were able to figure out what to do. There were some odd/comedic signage translations that said something about not fitting an elephant into a mouse hole, so don’t put too much laundry in. There were different machine sizes, a few warning signs/instructions by each, and a payment device on the wall. 

 

Eventually we learned to put the money in (Euros), type in the washer or dryer number, press validate if ok, then it starts running. The machines already have detergent in them, which the nice man told us after we dropped a pod into Rob’s washer. His clothes smelled extra fresh once done. We repeated the same for Michele’s washer. When done, the dryer was easier to figure out since we knew what to do. We spent only about and hour and a half there and $20 Euros. The whole ordeal was exhausting, but we can laugh now that our clothes are clean! 

We walked back to our hotel and repacked our suitcases. Michele found a highly rated restaurant nearby, Cote Marche, so we went to dinner. This was equally as challenging as the laundromat. The Google translate camera was only partially helpful. After seeing Mussels and possibly goat on the menu, Michele found a pasta dish with chicken and Rob had a steak. Or more accurately Michele ordered a steak for Rob, but after dinner he told her he had wanted a hamburger instead. Rob doesn’t like steaks at restaurants, apparently! The couples sitting beside us were very amused by our bumbling lack of French and our use of the phones to translate. 

Michele thought the side streets looked like a movie set. 

Back at our hotel we saw that several motorcycle riders arrived for the night. We called it a night as well since tomorrow is a long driving day across France.