At the start of Spain's civil war the International Brigades arrived to join in, some to support the old order and some to support Franco's revolution. Zaragoza, as Capital of Aragon, was a strategic target as it controlled the Ebro river crossing.

Forty Km away the town of Belchite was the scene of a bloody battle between 2 brigades of American volunteers who were sent to help the locals stave off Franco's march on Zaragoza. The town is on a slight hill in an otherwise flat plain, so the obvious place for a lookout was the church tower. The defenders kept their attackers at bay for a couple of days, by which time the entire town was rubble. The church still stands, after a fashion, but probably won't for much longer. Being a Sunday, there were no tours available, but we wandered the paths, keeping well away from the ruined houses built of mud brick which are rapidly returning to earth. Franco ordered that the town should not be rebuilt, but serve as a reminder of his power, and so there is a new town nearby which has now sprawled up to the edges of the ruins, but we saw fields of almonds and grapes, and a new olive grove being planted. There were at least 2 farms whose owners waved to us from their tractors as they trundled past.

From here we drove up into the Pyrenees, first into the foothills, Cotswold look alikes, then up hairpin bends through deserted ski resorts, finally driving through an abandoned border post into France. Now on the north side of the mountain, the temperature had dropped to 6C and there was snow! In June! 2m or so in places! The scenery would have been amazing if we'd been able to see it, as we were in the clouds with visibility of about 2 car lengths. We arrived at the start of the Col d'Aubisque to find a barrier across and 'Road closed' signs. Pity they couldn't have put one at the bottom of the 22Km road!!

This unexpected road closure added an hour to our trip, but we arrived at our hotel near Lourdes at 5pm. Having lugged our bags into the room, we discovered our hitchhikers, 2 flies which must have got into the car in Belchite then cooled down and had a nap. As I type this on Monday morning, they're happily exploring our room, but they won't be so happy later when we get some flyspray!

Photos going into the gallery now.