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| Paris In Sites Newsletter Direct From France Edited by Linda Thalman Travel & Leisure Articles |
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Canary Islands - Lanzarote January 2008
By Linda Thalman
Good friends of ours mentioned they were leaving in 10 days for the Canaries and
we said, fine, see you when you get back.
Little did they know that we booked the same flight, same hotel, same package with half board
and a rental car once I had teased enough details from them to figure out where they were going.
We played the joke of the year on Michel and Dominique... they are still good friends,
thankfully, as it was one heck of a surprise at Orly airport at 7 a.m. when we
rolled our luggage over to say 'hi' and ask "where are you off to?"
Lanzarote is a volcanic island with very few trees except for the occasional palm grove or
what seem to be quite recently planted palms lining the roads or at hotels and private homes.
Cactus are every where and there are ever so stunning. The Cactus Garden, designed by
Manrique was outstanding. Nearly 10,000 plants and some 1,500 varieties. Overwhelming.
We all discovered the art and archictecture of Lanzarote's most famous and influential
artist: César Manrique.
The artist's home and gardens are now a beautiful museum. It's built over five natural
volcanic bubbles or lava caves. The rooms are connected by tunnels... difficult to
describe, but very much like some scenes in 'Riven', if you're familiar with that computer game.
He also had great influence on the urban planning of the island. There are absolutely
no billboards, electric and telphone wires are buried and most houses are only one or
two stories and are painted in white with intense blue or green trim.
What a welcome change from chaotic, ugly, boring beach highrises along the Med in
Portugal, Spain, France and Italy.
If you could only visit one place on the Island it has to be the Timanfaya National Park.
I've never seen so many volcanos so close together! There are more than 25 volcanic cones,
stupendous lava flows, sand that is red or black or brown.
All visitors arriving by private car must take a brown park bus to tour the 14 kilometer
Volcano Route.
Timanfaya is the product of violent eruptions from 1730 to 1736 and the most recent eruption
in 1824 that formed three new volcanic cones.
Around Bend Oregon and at Crater Lake I've seen lava flows, but nothing like this.
Lava and cones and craters as far as the eye can see in the 51 square kilometers of Lanzarote's
most precious natural treasure.
Lanzarote has got it right: we can look, but not touch, hence preserving a most amazing
area of natural beauty.
There were a fair number of winter tourists, but nothing was crowded or loud or roudy or boorish,
except for four people who drank beer all day, burped and talked as loud as they could by the
pool.
Their nationality will remain unnamed, but they won my prize for the most uncouth travelers
I have ever encountered.
If you need a break to a peaceful, sunny, welcoming place, put Lanzarote on you list...
after or before visiting France, of course!
Places of interest
Beaches
Web Sites
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Vaguely knowing that the Canary Islands were in the Atlantic off the west coast of
Morocco, we booked a week's stay.
Our flight on Iberia took us through Madrid where we changed planes and then
on to a gem of an island: Lanzarote and its capital city, Arrecife.
Manrique's influence is seen all around the island. He used the landscape as his starting
point for his architecture. He 'integrated art into nature and nature into art'.
Our trip was during the low season. It was so relaxing. You can drive from one end of the island
to the other in less than 2 hours and from east to west in 30 minutes.
General Information
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Email – Linda@wfi.fr
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Copyright since 1995 by Linda Thalman - all rights reserved.
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