I haven’t written for about a week. It’s been intentional. I’ve had a week looking after two young grandsons aged 2 and 4, and I don’t want to post pics of them online. Needless to say, it was a very full-on and busy week. But that was then, and so much has happened since.

We are now in France, but our last day in Catalonia was very memorable. Come for a walk, my son said. It’s about 3 hours, he said, in a National Park. This, of course, excited me, and I was looking forward to getting out after a week being housebound. We set off early in the morning to an area with rocky pinnacles called Monserrat. They are truly majestic and take your breath away. The beginning of the track was pretty straightforward. Sam pointed out a triangle ‘window’, up high, and said, “We’re going there!”

There was a bit of off-track scrambling, a short but steep rope climb, and some ver narrow goat tracks, but we safely made it. It was only us there, and the climb was worth all the effort, I only have one word – spectacular!

Once we were rested and hydrated, we climbed down and back onto the main walking track. The track was colour- coded red, blue, yellow, or white. We followed the blue track. The challenge was that it didn’t match with the map of the area, and we ended up on what my sister called a ” Grade 5″ walk. It was very challenging, and a couple of times I had to dig pretty deeply inside myself to manage a climb, a narrow scramble, or a steep decent. One place we came to was about a 10m vertical drop. There was a knotted rope tied to a tree to abseil down. I was grateful for the lessons Laurie gave me many years ago as I gingerly made my way down!

Our 3 hour walk took just over 4 hours, and we were hot and tied by the end of it. However, I also had a really high sense of achievement and am so grateful for the opportunity. Some of the highlights for me were: the wild rosemary and thyme growing in the side of the track. Seeing a deer in the trees. The view. Doing something challenging with people I care about. The rock formations. Overcoming the challenges. Finishing!!!

We drove to Sant Cugat for some well earned lunch. After lunch we walked around the cathedral to the car. Sam dropped us off near the train station and left. I don’t like goodbyes and I suspect it will be at least 2 years before I see my youngest and his family again. I felt weepy.

It was time fo start the next chapter in my European holiday. Travel and explore. We caught a train into Barcelona and went to our hotel. After a shower and rest it was time to walk through the Gothic area and find a place to eat. We achieved all of that. I was pretty tired and really needed to sleep. Next day – Nimes, France!