I really enjoyed our days cycling in that area, it is such a unique road having the Bolero as the song of the day I think was very fitting. The climb just kept producing awesome views, and impressive views. We really appreciated being there in the spring as it allowed us much more of a view with there being no leaves on the trees. The engineering of how they built the roads is mind boggling. I highly recommend the ride.
Funny, I never saw the Torvall and Dean ice dancing, I do remember hearing about it. I guess I better check it out. Have fun on the ride in the spring.

Hi Lyle and Kirsten - just re-reading a few posts from your 1923 tour in anticipation of cycling in the Vercors this spring. The Combe Laval seems something not to be missed! Also love the SOTD Ravel piece. I don't recall the movie 10 - my introduction to Bolero was Torvall and Dean's memorable ice-dancing routine in the 1984 Olympics .

Hello Lyle & Kirsten, had to drop you a line after having gorged ourselves at Asai last night! So delicious! My husband said copy them for the rest of the trip! 😂We made it down to San Sebastián and took your lead to catch the bus to Bilbao for the weekend. Picking up the bikes again tomorrow and heading into those mountains! Not keen to do the straight run to Pamplona so stopping at Tolosa to start. Loving both San Sebastián and Bilbao, especially the Pintxos bars.
Hope you’re planning another trip for next year!

Hi John,
First, my sincere apologies for taking so long to reply to your message. The last few months have been incredibly busy for me and Kirsten as we were heavily involved in running the final Biathlon World Cup races of the season here in Canmore.

Looking at your note, I realize that this reply will probably land when you are either on tour or just about to start, and your decisions will have already been made.

As for which route would be better, we really don't have the right background to give an opinion as we've only been of the Catalonia / Basque side. It was wonderful (one of the best area's we've toured), however I'm very confident the French side would be equally great and the culture (Basque) pretty similar.

Take your pick (or do some of both!), I don't think you can go wrong.

For what it's worth, our next big tour will be in the spring of 2025 and we are thinking of starting in Santander and then head east & south, ending up in southern Italy via the Croatian / Albanian coast. We're thinking of riding the French side of the Pyrenees for this trip ... just for something new and different.

Have a great tour,

Lyle & Kirsten

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply Lyle. I wondered if you would see my message as it's been added so long after the event. Great to hear Levi is doing well and sounds like Mala Gana is a must do!

Hi Carolyn,

Thank you for the very kind comments. The only thoughts we have that weren’t covered in our journal are the brand new ones we’re having thinking about reliving it through following your trip! It really is a classic and I’m sure yo will have as great a time as we (and the Anderson’s) did. If you are in Sant Llorenc, please go to Mala Gana and have the scallops!
As for the puppy, Levi turned 10 months old yesterday … still a puppy but in a full ‘big dog’ body … there’s 33 kg’s of him now and he’s still growing . He is a very sweet and good natured pup and we’re confident that he will be an amazing service dog

Hi Lyle & Kirsten, what a wonderful trip and journal this was! It was great following along and is now the inspiration for the trip we are planning in September. So after you following the TA breadcrumbs trail along the Spanish Pyrenees, we will now follow yours all the way from San Sebastian to Ceret (from there we will head back up to Paris). In fact we are going to copy pretty much every day of that journey including the great idea of leaving the bikes in San Sebastian and taking the bus to Bilbao for a couple of nights. We're foodies too, so will also pick up on some of those delicious restaurants you went to. The day from Sant Llorenc to Castellar d N’Hug looked quite long and hard so thinking of maybe breaking that up in Berga?
Are there any other thoughts you haven't already covered here?
Hope you're enjoying the puppy (probably no longer a puppy)!

Just noticed your bit of Canadian humour here, rereading as I plan our upcoming trip.

Hello

We are friends of the Classen’s here in Victoria. My wife and I also bike tour in Europe each year. We are planning a route through the Pyrenees this Spring and have enjoyed reading your postings on CycleBlaze. Your route was primarily through Spain. Others we have read were primarily through France. We would be starting in Barcelona and biking to San Sebastián. We are trying to decide which route is better and would appreciate your thoughts on it. You can contact us as ebikestouring@gmail.com if you have the time to connect with us.

Thanks
John and Darlene

Hi Betsy,
I thought I’d sent this reply to you a week ago, but it was posted as just another comment and not a ‘reply’ to you, so you may not have seen it. If you have seen it already, well our appreciation for you following along on our tour is still there 😎!
Thanks for following along. Not surprising you liked the food descriptions for someone who “Ate Their Way Around Andalusia” ;)
This was our first time touring in Spain and we were really impressed with every facet of it.We will be back for sure.
If you’re passing through Canmore give us a shout and we can get together for a beer. We’ll do the same if we’re in Revy.

Impressive! We loved the last graph!

We agree traveling on small roads and often off the beaten track hold large rewards.

So cute!

So many amazing meals! Hope to get to some of your favourites on future trips.

Will go one day!