Pas de la Casa - Andorra

El Pas de la Casa is a ski resort (part of the Grandvalira resort), town, and mountain pass in the Encamp parish of Andorra, lying on the border with France. 

One of these card was bought by me in Andorra a few years ago and the other two were sent by Heidi and Carla. 

Its name literally translates as "the pass of the house" and refers to the fact that until the early twentieth century there was only a single shepherd's hut overlooking the pass. The pass marks the watershed of the Pyrenees, being the only point in Andorra where water drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and is the source of the Ariège river.

 At an elevation of 2,408 metres (7,900 ft) it is one of the highest points on the European road network.

The two main sources of wealth are trade, which generates a border tourism, especially people from France through its warehouses without taxes and winter sports, with the ski slopes of Grandvalira.

The ski resort of Pas de la Casa sits below the pass on the side closest to France, and below the Pic d'Envalira (2,827 metres (9,275 ft)). Its first ski lift was opened in 1957 and it now has 31 lifts, 100 kilometres (62 mi) of pistes and 6.26 square kilometres (2 sq mi) of skiable terrain.

Grau Roig is a sector of the Grandvalira ski resort in Andorra, located in the parish of Encamp. It includes alpine skiing and cross-country skiing tracks. It is the only sector in Grandvalira which does not have a populated settlement. - in: wikipedia

Incles Valley - Andorra

The snowy card is one of the many cards Paulo sent me a few days ago, the other was bought by me in Andorra 3 years ago. 

Incles Valley (Vall d'Incles in Catalan) is a valley of the Principality of Andorra whose entrance is located between the villages of Soldeu and El Tarter, in the parish of Canillo.

Fotografia: Jaume Riba

Facing north-east and crossed by the Incles River, the valley provides access to Juclar, the largest lake in Andorra. Of great landscaping interest, Incles Valley is the main site for hiking in the country. The access is difficult in winter because of the snow.

Sant Julià de Lòria - Andorra

I try to visit a new country every year and last year the new country on my list was Andorra. I bought a lot of cards there but these three are part of the 240 postcards offer from Paulo. 

Sant Julià de Lòria is one of the parishes of Andorra, in the far south of that country. It is also the name of the main town of the parish, which at 908 m is the lowest settlement in Andorra.

Sant Julià perfectly combines nature and rest thanks to its wide range of sports and cultural offers.

Beeing the lowest settlement in Andorra, Sant Julià enjoys a more temperate weather, with less harsh winters, compared to the other parishes of the Principality.

Madriu Valley - Andorra

Andorra was my 15th visited country. Beeing there i had to find cards of one of my Unesco missing sites, the Madriu Valley. It wasn't easy to find the cards but i've found them, i just didn't have time to visit the valley.

Photo by Arxiu Fotográfic del Comù d'Escaldes-Engordany

The cultural landscape of Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley offers a microcosmic perspective of the way people have harvested the resources of the high Pyrenees over millennia. Its dramatic glacial landscapes of craggy cliffs and glaciers, with high open pastures and steep wooded valleys, covers an area of 4,247 ha, 9% of the total area of the principality. It reflects past changes in climate, economic fortune and social systems, as well as the persistence of pastoralism and a strong mountain culture, notably the survival of a communal land-ownership system dating back to the 13th century. The site features houses, notably summer settlements, terraced fields, stone tracks and evidence of iron smelting. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1160

Sant Joan de Caselles - Andorra

Last september Joana "joaninha" went to Barcelona to participate in the Eurobilltracker meeting. Once there she and a few other friends went to Andorra. She didn't have time to send a card from there but she sent me this one when she got home. It was one of my favorites.

Sant Joan de Caselles, also known as the Church of Sant Joan de Caselles, is a fine example of Andorran Romanesque architecture. The church was built between the 11th and 14th centuries, and its three-story bell tower is the tallest church tower in Andorra. magnificent three-storied bell-tower. It has Lombard windows on three sides on the upper two levels.
The tower was built separately from the rest of the church and was later joined to the church by a body of stone. - in: http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Andorra/North/Canillo/Canillo/photo1052375.htm

Encamp - Andorra

"Andorra officially the Principality of Andorra is a small landlocked country in western Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. Once isolated, it is currently a prosperous country mainly because of tourism and its status as a tax haven. The people of Andorra are currently listed as having the highest human life expectancies on Earth, at an average of 83.52 years." - in: wikipedia.