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March 15 - Monchique


Well today we woke up to sunshine, so we decided to drive to Monchique. Yesterday I forgot to mention that that Cabo S. Vicente was the most south westerly point in Europe.

The drive there was really nice and different. To enter a small village on the way (I don't know if this is what Agnès would call a bourg or not) we had to pass on a one-way bridge where the water level was about 1/2 inch from the top. There were about 100 homes in the village maybe a few more. It's hard to tell because some places are just a door in the wall.

Anyway, we had sun most of the way. Nathalie, I am not complaining but as soon as we passed the sign that said Monchique the skies opened up and it started to rain and hail. We had to laugh because it seems as if a cloud of rain is just following us. Fortunately, it didn't last long before the sun came out again. We also saw many cork trees along the way. Corks are made from the bark of the tree and are harvested every 10 years. The number painted on the trees represent the last digit of the year it was harvested.

Motorized donkey


Valley below Monchique
Cork trees - before picture

Cork trees - after picture - harvested in 2013 and 2016
After driving around Monchique for a while we went up to mount Foia the highest point in the Algave. The view was nice in spite of the haze. The pictures didn't come out too great though. On the way back, we saw a dirt road that Jacques decided to try. We were rewarded with awesome views of the valley below before we went back to the main road.




While driving around Monchique some of the streets were so narrow that we had to fold the mirrors of the car (yes, the mirrors fold in Europe) in order not to touch the walls of the houses. When someone is walking in the street you have to wait for them to find a step or place to stand before you drive ahead. I am really impressed with Jacques' driving in the old parts of the towns we have gone to.

More narrow streets

I made pasta with the delicious shrimps of the region for supper. We found 2 or 3 wines that we really like so of course we opened up a bottle to go with the supper. There seems to be a problem with the bottles here. They all leak and when you go for more, they are empty.