Do they know it's Christmas?

First day of our Easter break saw us arrive safely in Martinet. Safely, if a little late due to the driver refusing to acknowledge the Sat Nav and believing in the guiding hand of a higher power rather than maps which saw us take a curvy and picturesque detour over much of the Pyrenees before descending to the gentler roads along the valley.

Martinet is a pretty village with spectacular views across to the Serra Cadi when the clouds lift above pavement height and is very near the ski slopes of Las Molinas. The driving rain put a bit of a damper on plans to walk in the afternoon and so we made the mistake of visiting Andorra La Vella, better described as Livingston Centre with the addition of ugly greedy people. My only interest was in investigating the purchase of a new lens but despite visiting at least 10 outlets no one could come within ?50 of the price on Amazon so left empty handed. The only bright spot was diesel at ?1.20 per gallon which at least paid for the journey.

The chosen shot serves to sum up either the Andorran theory that bright shiny things attract spenders or perhaps that they are the ultimate believers in the shop early for Christmas motto and therefore put up their Christmas decorations on the day before Easter.

I am told that away from the shopping street there are fabulous views and mountain villages in Andorra, which in itself is a fascinating autonomous state, ruled by two co princes, Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France and Joan Enric Vives i Sicilia, Bishop of Seu d'Urgell, Spain. It protects its citizenship fiercely, with foreigners having to live and pay taxes for twenty years before becoming eligible, and only native Andorrans allowed to own more than 33% of a business enterprise, though the latter rule is being relaxed to encourage inward investment.

It has a population of nearly 100,000 but only 38% have Andorran citizenship. Andorra has no real defence forces and only a small internal police force. All able-bodied men who own firearms must serve, without remuneration, in the small army, which is unique in that all of its men are treated as officers. The army has not fought for more than 700 years, and its main responsibility is to present the Andorran flag at official ceremonies.

The main industry is tourism, though some light industry exists and about 2% of GDP comes from agriculture. It maintains diplomatic missions at the UN,is affiliated to the EU and has an embassy in the US.

I realise I have fallen into the usual tourist trap, I have been a bit scornful about a country on the basis of one visit to its commercial centre. This is like judging Dublin on its beggars or Scotland on a shortbread tin. I am minded to return but avoid La Vella and find some of the remoter valleys and villages.