The Rain in Spain.....not in the Plain

The Initial Downpour

One of the peculiarities of the Spanish road system is their lack of top-water drains.

Where in the UK rainwater runs down the edges of the road into drains, in Spain it simply continues to run downhill to the lowest point. This can result in rivers of water streaming down roads and often deep puddles forming where the water has nowhere left to run to.

In our area, the roads down to the sea are relatively steep so water from heavy rain rushes down towards the beaches and can cause much damage along the way or on the beach itself.

Along the front of our Apartment Complex, the road slopes into its midpoint from two directions and a large pool can form which is about 18” deep at its mid-point. The pictures below shows the effect of this, completely flooding a tennis court, the communal area, and the pool.

Our flooded access road and communal areas

(click for full size views)

Our beautiful blue-flag beach can be seen stripped of its sand down to bedrock.

Above you can see how the river of water has washed

the sand into the sea and discoloured the sea-water

Our once-beautiful beach

On La Zenia beach a new river course was driven across.

Bins washed down to the beach by the force of the water

All of the above will be repaired in quick-time but.........As soon as the rain returns to the plain the better!

August 2009 - Paris.

We have enjoyed many visits to Paris since we first “overnighted” there in 1980.

This trip was planned as possibly our last trip to the French capital as we hope to be exploring the cities of Spain from now on.

This Blog is more of a photographic taster of the best parts of our trip plus an adverse comment on the prices we found.

We enjoyed the visit immensely and, so as not to spoil the Blog, I will get the moan out of the way first. We have always advised our friends that Paris need not be expensive if you know where to shop, eat, drink, etc. If you wish to enjoy a drink somewhere posh, well then you will find it expensive but the choice is yours. The same applied this time but the difference is that the expensive areas seem to have spread everywhere, even to places where you would not have previously expected it. Be warned!

Now the good bits.

Park Citroen. This is the site of the old Citroen factory beside the Seine. It has been landscaped and specialist greenhouses and planted areas have been installed. Our reason to visit was for the Balloon Ascent.

This is a tethered lighter-than-air balloon which rises 150 metres above the park for spectacular views over the city. Suspended from the balloon is a round cage and one can freely walk around inside to get some great photographs.

The Big Wheel. This is in The Tuileries (the gardens of The Louvre) right beside the Rue de Rivoli. On here one gets a good long ride and again some great views over Paris.

The Orangerie. A small gallery recently renovated. Its main attraction is that it houses many of Monet’s later Water Lilly paintings. We had read of these but were amazed at the very size of them. Beautiful place to visit on a hot day as it is quiet and perfectly air conditioned.

Montparnasse Tower. To complete our visits to the “High Spots” in Paris we took the express elevator to the top of the highest building in the city, The Montparnasse Tower. The top floor is a visitor attraction 196 metres above the ground and one can walk to the roof which is over 200 metres above ground level. A good time to visit is in the evening just as it is going dark. One can view all the major attractions of Paris as they become illuminated.

Finally a selection of photographs from other places we visited such as The Seine, The Eiffel Tower, The Luxembourg Gardens, and the Palace of Versailles.

All in all a wonderful weekend. We may return to Paris in the future but we will probably pick April or December next time to avoid the crowds and the heat.........