The final day of our tour across the Pyrenees. I was good to go after a big breakfast and our rest day yesterday. I got goiing just after 7 into the cool morning.
Afeter a pleasant ride down the valley to long easy climb to the Col du Fortou started, entering dry forest and passing trhrough a mountain village,, The read was very quiet.
There were good views back to the Pyrenees from the top, The descent was very rough and slow on a narrow road, then the panorama across the plains looking to Perpignan was revealed.
I stopped for a coffee and Orangina to Au Pain Gourmand in Forbes where I chatted to an English couple who have lived in France for 40 years.
Then I bought a delicious nectarine from a roadside seller as I continued along the route, passing an overturned car in a creek with flowers on the bridge.
I crossed the main busy motorway on a bridge and continued on past vineyards. The route took me down a narrow dirt track which vanished in scrub. I hauled the bike through and across a steep creek coming to a paddock. There was no track but I could see a house so I continued to it and re-joined the road. RideGPS had presented this section of route that did not exist.
There was another dead end at a railway line so I backtracked through a village, seeing Greg, Mike and Phil riding in the distance. I caught up to them and continued on until we got to the very busy resort town of Argeles-sur-mare where we stopped for lunch. George and John arrived an joined us. The Tartine Catalan at the L'olivier d'argeles cafe was very good.
After lunch we followed the coastal highway for a short distance then detoured through vineyards to a very steep concreted climb that everybody had to walk up before joining a dramatic road the climbed up above the vineyards past the ruin of a monastery for spectacular views along the Mediterranean coast before descending.
After settling in we had a wonderful paella dinner at the friendly family restaurant Casa Pilar.
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