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After a good night's sleep, I wake up without pain and practically without aches (that stroke of luck!). That's good, because the day will be full and we will talk a lot about cinema! We take the road towards Tabernas. By the way, a small photo of the plastic sea, since I hadn't managed to do it before.

We arrive towards the desert. At the eastern tip of Sierre Nevada is the Tabernas Desert.

And here we are in the town of Tabernas, with its castle which overlooks the entrance to the town.

We are waiting for the 4x4 from Malcamino which will take us for a ride in the desert, a short tour of part of the city, where we come across lots of iron movie seats with famous stars who have played here. One of which I particularly appreciate in those present: Terence Hill.

Our vehicle arrives, we embark on a Defender 110, Sam and I in the back and towards the desert and its rock formations, its filming locations, its paleontology and its geology. We feel a bit like backpackers on expeditions, it's great!

We start with one of the first filming locations, for the film Lawrence of Arabia. You should know that at the base, here, there were inhabitants who lived, or rather survived, as they could. We see some remains of a sort of rainwater tank (the only possible water supply in this desert). There was not a single palm tree for that matter. Suddenly, for the needs of the film, the team planted several palm trees to make an oasis with bouquets of palm trees, which they left in place after their departure.


Well, before going any further, a geographical point on this place. As I said before, we are in the Tabernas Desert, east of the Sierra Nevada. It is a semi-arid desert because there is about 24cm of rain per year. And when it rains, it is mainly in a few big times, making gullies and digging the soil composed of marl and sandstone. The landscape looks very much like the badlands of Wyoming, for the same reasons. We are currently in what is called here a Rambla, the rainwater alluvial bed (in our case). You should also know that because this whole part was underwater millions of years ago, the soil is very salty. So we end up with plants that like to grow in salt water. Like the Salicornia, which I only knew in Brittany (it looks like a little bushy succulents, and it tastes like salted pickle).

We meet some lizards like rapiette (rock lizard), as well as a herd of goats which graze quietly in the shade of the piers of a bridge.

A small photo of the Def's interior with Sam.

Next stop, with more geological information about this place. As I said before, millions of years ago, the region was underwater. More precisely under the Mediterranean Sea. And in some places, rivers flowed into the sea, leaving an alluvial soil in front of these mouths. We thus end up with a sedimentary plateau with more or less thick layers depending on the amount of rain that fell during the year. Over time, the sea gradually receded to reach its current location, leaving a seaside and a desert filled with salt. The plate tectonics worked and the sedimentary soil was raised, thus giving this angle to the sedimentary formation of marls and alluviums.

A visible part of one of these layers is also quite interesting because it has kept its marks of dryness.

A little further we stop towards a hole wall. The men who lived here thousands of years ago (maybe contemporaries of those who painted Lascaux?) Dug the walls because there was water running abundantly here. It is believed that these holes were used to slow down part of the water in order to recover it and irrigate crops in stairs, much like an aqueduct.

Next to it is a peculiarity of the formation, this kind of wave. Formed by lifting the soil and then a new sedimentation over it.

During the next trip, my turn to pass in front of the device.

Here we are at Rocher de la Tortue. Here is a fairly emblematic scene from the film Indiana Jones and the adventurers of the lost ark, the chase scene with the German tank. There is also La folie des grandeurs, with De Funès, as well as several other films and TV ads that are shot here. It is true that it looks like a turtle ...

Small exchange of photos partly involuntary.

On the rest of the route, we see an old dilapidated cabin. Old cinema setting, real abandoned house or entrance to an old mine? We will probably never know.

The tour in 4x4 finished, we take the car to go see one of the two outdoor cinema studio which is still standing in the corner.
You should know that the region is known for its landscapes that are very similar to the American desert or parts of the Sahara. Suddenly, much easier to access (and closer to civilization) than the aforementioned regions, the Sierra Nevada and the Tabernas Desert were the scene of almost all Italian films called ''Western-Spaghetti'' (My name is Nobody, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Alamo, etc ...). But not only: Indiana Jones, Lawrence of Arabia, Patton, La folie des grandeurs, Conan the barbarian, Mad Max, Doctor Who, Game of Throne, and many others ... And all these films needed scenery, entire villages were built for this purpose. until 2 p.m. during the region's golden age. But today there are only 3 left, of which 2 are dedicated exclusively to tourists. The last one (which we will see later) is still used today.
So here we go for Oasys Mini-Hollywood, also called Yucca-city!
Built in 1965 for the needs of Sergio Leone's film ''For a Fistful of Dollars'', this place was used for many other films before being restored in the 90s following a storm and only to be reserved more than tourists and more movies. The site hosts a small museum of posters of films shot here and movie projectors, a fairly large zoo, and of course the cinema village.

The american dream... 'murikaaaa fuck yeah !

We pass in front of the forge with its large bellows, the gold mine and a well (it is hot, the sun is strong!).

Small pee break before continuing ... the toilets are ... special ...

We pass in front of the church (it was complicated and long to take this photo since there was always someone to pass in front of or to stop, take the photo and leave or then look at me and stay still in front. .. GNNNN!) And one of the big streets.

We then aimed at the part dedicated to a kind of botanical garden dedicated only to cacti from around the world. There are weird shapes: Mickey ears, large stem like Dune worms, large, small, bushy, flowery, it's beautiful!

Ha, that's for me, the alcohol distillery!

Meal time is approaching, and we decide to go eat. The restaurant is quite full, it offers an all-you-can-eat buffet. I, who am mostly used to Asian all-you-can-eat buffets, that changes me. And there are good things: a duck mousse, chicken roll with raisins, a Russian salad, chili, potatoes with parsley ...

After being well restored (eating fresh, it feels good when it's over 45 ° C outside and we're in a fairly overwhelming sun), we continue our visit with the main square and its scaffold. As well as a gold mine, a cemetery, the square with the bank and the saloon ...


To shelter us a little from the sun, we visit the museum of the poster of western-spaghetti (almost all the films shot in the region on the theme of western) and of the cinema projector. More than fifty posters, and a dozen projectors.

Then we leave to go to the sheriff's office, with a sign announcing a fine of 5 to 100 dollars if we spit on the sidewalk (on the ground in fact, since the sidewalks are almost non-existent).

Second part of Mini-Hollywood: the zoo. With a rather funny entry.

Quiet animals, a very nice fountain, even water basins ... and an overheated koala.

While I sit in the shade to rest and take something for my head that taps like a war drum, Sam makes the animal loop of the zoo (with an ostrich that seems to interest him a lot).

To cool off a bit, we put ourselves in the shade in the part reserved for reptiles, amphibians and snakes.

It's better here, but I think I got a heat stroke. On the way out, we will drink a cold lemonade in a cool corner. After half an hour, it's much better. And we have finished visiting Mini-Hollywood. We are now heading to Fort Bravo (formerly Texas-Hollywood), the only movie set still used today today (recently an episode of Josephine Guardian Angel and the film '' The Brothers Sisters '') and luck for us, it is visitable!
The ticket clerk informs us by entering that there is a representation with actors (in Spanish) at the moment in the saloon, and that if we want to see it, to hurry.
We cross the village in the direction of the saloon where French-cancan resounds.



Until the next scene, we take a tour of the village. There is a Pueblo side, an Indian camp, obviously a cowboy (the main one, moreover). A cavalry fort (which gives its current name to the scenery) made up of electric poles, a station with 25m of rails, a cemetery, crosses planted.

You can go into several of the buildings, to see the back of the decor and that they are always only facades, fabrics, bricks and wood. And yet, from the outside, it feels like it! At the same time, that's the goal ...

And here we are back for the next scene. The sheriff and his assistant, and 2 bandits who are trying to rob the First National Bank. A duel in the street, a ride in the village, a lot of detonations (the weapons are fired blank). There are plenty of sockets in the sand, some could even belong to Clint or other big names in western and other movies and series that have been shot here (and the list is very long!).

The Sheriff in all his splendor:

And we return, exhausted from the day. Tonight is Tapaaaaas!

Busy, but happy with our daily visits, we sleep like stumps.

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