Tuesday, May 9
Today, after returning to Granada to retrieve our luggage, we grabbed a quick lunch at a café on one of Córdoba’s many parks. The image below, in addition to our usual soup and salad, included a Cordobés specialty: eggplant marinated in beer then lightly battered and fried and topped with a honey reduction. Delicious but very sweet. We ended up saving them for dessert.
In the afternoon, we visited the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba (la Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba). Tradition holds that the original structure was a Catholic church, and recent excavations support that hypothesis. In 785, construction on the Great Mosque began, when Muslims controlled the region they called al-Andalus. The Mezquita’s best-known architectural elements are the gorgeous polychromatic double arches that support the ceiling. The mosque was enlarged several times under Muslim rule and converted into a cathedral in 1236. Oddly (and fortuitously) the structure was neither demolished nor greatly modified, with subsequent alterations limited to adding Renaissance and other Western European structures and styles. The result is a stunning fusion of colors, styles, and religious imagery. Dave took several pictures of the Mezquita and will upload them to the Córdoba video, but in the meantime a visit to the Wikipedia site is worthwhile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque%E2%80%93Cathedral_of_C%C3%B3rdoba
On the way home we popped into a few of the patios in the historic center, including the one at hotel Balcón de Córdoba, where we enjoyed verdejo and olives.
Wednesday, May 10
On the way to the train station, we caught sight of this street sign and plaque with the “traditional” Salmorejo recipe. There are, of course, as many variations of salmorejo as there are of gazpacho.
Thursday, May 11
5:30 am wake-up to make our Spanish AVE high-speed train to Barcelona. In Barcelona we got on a French TGV high-speed. The internet on the TGV stank, which did nothing for Dave’s mood. Fortunately, the scenery, with the Med to our right and the majestic Pyrenees to our left, was gorgeous and distracting!
We arrived in time to explore Montpellier a bit, visit a fromagerie, and imbibe a liquid medicinal treatment .
Friday, May 12
Multiple trains to Le Puy en Velay. Our hotel: La Demeure du Lac, a 14th century estate currently owned by the Los Santos family, Spanish ex-pats who fled Spain’s Civil War in 1939.
Front door to tower stairs
Tower stairs
Chambre Mauresque
Spanish ex-pats still gather here, including a family of 3 (now) Belgian women, and Proprietor Pierre Los Santos.
Arrived in time to run down to La Cave Marcon for beer and wine. Super fun place. Check out the stools.
Tomorrow we start the Chemin du Puy!
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