Hello Barcelona

 

Up at the crack of dawn to catch Chauffeur Prive to Gare de Lyon the GTV fast train which takes six and a half hours from Paris to Barcelona. Chauffeur Prive is an upmarket version of Uber recommended by Joel Stratte-McClure.

Here I am outside Gare de Lyons excited to experience the train trip. It was very easy. Just sit back and watch the green fields dotted with white cows, tiny villages and vineyards wiz by as you munch on a baguette.

The beauty of Barcelona is everywhere. The street lights are works of art and the natural light is far brighter than the muted shades of grey of Paris.

A quick taxi ride to our spacious two bedroom apartment in Eixample - a far cry from our tiny attic in Paris. And then we hit the streets. Before we went out to dinner we stumbled on this Gaudi building at the end of our street.

It turned out to be La Pedrera, apparently the zenith of Gaudi's work. It has been likened to a great petrified wave, a stone poem and a giant sculpture. It was totally gorgeous. And less than five minutes from our apartment. We vowed to return the next day.

The next day we set off to visit Sagrada Familia. The lovely autumnal weather reflected our spirits. Even the pavers echo the changing of the seasons.

We passed this lovely statue on the way.

He is holding a frog.

We passed this wonderful building - Casa de les Punxes. 

And then we were there at Sagrada Familias. We queued up only to find next entry was five p.m. It was eleven o'clock. We decided to retrace our steps and book tickets on line.

This giant cathedral is a work in progress. It is expected to be finally finished in ten years time - a hundred years after Gaudi's death.

A quick tapas stop.

And so we retraced our steps to visit Casa de les Punxes. It is an amazing castle like building created to house three sisters. It had the most wonderful audio visual displays which recounted the legend of Saint George and the dragon and the creation of the building itself. But first you had to walk across a shimmering, moving carpet of leaves.

Notice my foot at the bottom of the picture. And then we were into the audio visual adventure of the dragon terrorising the medieval town.

And after the dragon stuff - out on to the rooftop.

Such a busy day created a bit of a headache so a trip to the chemist was in order but chemists aren't quite the same as they are in Australia. And that was the end of our first day and a bit in Barcelona.