Sun, May 29 The day dawned beautifully clear. After breakfast we took a hike to the village of Peramola about a mile away. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow and we didn’t want to waste any sunshine. We walked through oak woodland overlooking a trout farm and wheat fields. This region is also supposed to be known for its truffles.
We checked out at 11:30, and headed northwest towards the high Pyrenees, climbing up mountain ranges and down through multiple hairpin turns. Today is Sunday so we had to compete with motorcycles groups and other motorists, but the scenery was great. The villages are now constructed of very dark stone with slate roofs and tall skinny church towers.
We finally descended to the holiday town of Sort, set along the La Noguera de Pallaresa river with multiple cafes with colorful umbrellas. Truckloads of inflatable river running boats passed us! We turned off to the village of Espot as it is the eastern entry to the national park we want to visit, Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes (twisted waters in Catalan), and we won’t have time to get back here again. We were looking for the information center to get a map, but, of course, we’re here during siesta, and, as we found out, it’s closed on Sunday, the busiest day for a park! We drove to the end of the road to a car park and a lady stopped us, for we thought, more euros for parking, but, no, she just wanted to hand us a map of the park!
We set off on a short hike along a wonderful level 0.5 km boardwalk that allows handicapped people a great chance to experience these lovely woods. We were beside a rushing, crystal clear stream with a great variety of flowers and butterflies. The view opened up to a grand vista of high spiky peaks, bits of snow. Really spectacular! There was a small herd of shaggy mountain horses and cows with musical bells. Really idyllic! 
We hiked for a mile more and returned to Espot and found a café where we split a delicious pork loin sandwich, beer and the soggy, very greasy, but really good, French fries they make around here.
The map showed a really winding road, but it had been improved and we got to the ski town of Vielha and our Parador by four.
We have a room overlooking the town, ski condos and Romanesque churches. The valley is called Val d’Aran and still has some natives who speak Aranese, the local form of Catalan.
We weren’t too hungry after our great lunch, but went down for our “welcome” drink in the bar and watched the rain beginning to really pour. We decided to get a small dinner in the dining room, a circular room with great views all over the valley. We were brought a wonderful sweet vermouth for an appetizer, then Bob had a strawberry gazpacho and I had the local Aranese soup of white beans, potatoes, noodles, chicken, sausage, and whatever else the kitchen thought to put it, but it was very good! For dessert we had the local version of floating island with a gigantic bowl of custard sauce and toasted meringue which we fortunately shared!
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