exploring andorra

A few days ago I didn't even know Andorra existed, but I found it to be a pretty fascinating country. It doesn't seem like a country anyone actually lives in. Driving to Andorra la Vella, it seemed like the entire country was established to cater for tourists. The streets are spotless and every building is either a hotel, restaurant or service station. Well, that was the case until we hit the capital, Andorra la Vella. Andorra la Vella is the highest capital city in Europe, at 1023 metres. It's a tax haven and as a result the streets are lined with duty free shopping. The country relies on tourism (it attracts more than 14 million visitors a year) and isn't a member of the EU but enjoys some EU benefits and uses the euro. The country has about 88,000 people and is only about 35km from end to end. There are two heads of stage: The President of France and the Bishop of Urgell (Cantalan, Spain), a reflection of Andorra's past, however they are just figureheads and the head of government is the Prime Minister of Andorra.

Andorra la Vella is an odd city. It isn't very big, either in size or population, but is lined with duty free shops. The shops also sell some items that you wouldn't see in many other countries. Cross bow anyone? A sword? Oh and also super cheap grog. Bombay Saphire gin for 16 euro.
It is one city that lives up to its reputation as a tourist destination. The shops are open quite late, even on a Sunday, and most of the restaurants offer menus in Cantalan, Spanish, French, English and even German. Most of the staff we dealt we at the hotel, eating out and shopping all spoke at least a little English.

The streets are narrow, parking is at a premium (with a premium price attached too), pedestrian crossings are frequent and the city is spotless. From what we can gather there are few 'attractions' in the city. There is an old town but we only ended up driving past that. There was a lot of construction happening, I guess because they only have the summer to work.

We decided to come to Andorra after thinking that perhaps three days in Audressien would be too much. Also our first stop in Spain wasn't too far away so we just cancelled the last night in France and the first in Spain and had two nights in Andorra. After breakfast (where I ate so much I had to take my jeans off back in the room and put my pjs back on) we were all pretty lazy. We updated our photos, checked emails and generally relaxed after a hectic few days. We set off to explore about lunchtime but didn't get much further than one of the large duty free shops, where we spent a good hour or so. Then it was time to return to the hotel for le tour. we had access to Eurosport on the tv so could get the broadcast in English for the first time.
In the afternoon Dad and I visited the gym, sauna, pool and spa before we returned to the same restaurant as last night. Unfortunately, there must have been a different chef.