Shine a light

The last rays of the sun light up the sky like a searchlight from behind a mountain in Vielha, Val d'Aran. I drove here to meet up with S at the halfway point (timewise at least) of his travels. I brought a few supplies with me and collected things he had finished with, including the very expensive boots he bought only last year, which he has worn out -- he had to buy a new pair in Vielha. Luckily he is in better shape than his boots.

The Val d'Aran is a strange place. Nowadays, it's part of Spain, but because of its situation it's far more accessible from France, along the valley of the Garonne, whereas the exit toward Spain involves a 5 km long tunnel, built in the mid 20th century.Part of the modern region of (Spanish) Catalonia, the inhabitants do not speak Catalan -- they speak their own version of Occitan, Aranese. There are Occitan crosses everywhere, which you never see in the rest of modern Catalonia -- inevitably they made me think of Chaiselongue. Whatever its official nationality, culturally the valley is clearly turned more towards Occitania than to Aragon or Catalonia. I thought too of how Teleri could certainly have enlightened me further about the cultural connections -- more than the rather inadequate ethnological museum in Vielha.

Driving here I was able to see the damage caused by the recent flooding. The Garonne, a tumbling mountain torrent here, had gouged chunks out of the road, and between Fos and Vielha I passed through about eight lots of roadworks, with trees and other debris being cleared and huge rocks dumped to shore up the banks. In a couple of places they'd had to hastily gouge a rough track out of the mountainside to enable cars to pass -- this is the only straightforward way in and out of the valley.

Backblipped -- there was a flaky wifi connection in the hotel where we stayed, that couldn't cope with uploads. I have been absent from others' journals for the same reason, but I'll catch up later this week.