Day 10 - Tuesday 4th September

L’Escala – Carcassonne

Distance – 244km

Overview.  Headed north into France along the stunning Costa Brava coast and inland to the medieval fortified city of Carcassonne – and a 350 year old hotel.

Carcassonne Snapshot

History – The first signs of settlement date to about 3,500 BCE, although Carcassonne became strategically identified when Romans fortified the hilltop around 100 BCE and eventually made it the colonia of Julia Carsaco, later Carcasu.  The walls consist of towers built over quite a long period and one section is Roman and is notably different from the medieval walls.  One of the towers housed the Catholic Inquisition in the 13th Century and there is a museum which shows some of the original torture equipment employed by the Catholic Church.

Elevation – 81 – 250m

Population – 48,000

France Bound . . .

What a wonderful day's riding!  We all met up bright and early for breakfast at 8:30am and by the time we got everything sorted we were 'on the road' at a reasonable time . . . but then stops at a pharmacy and a place to buy some lunch caused some delays and we didn't actually ride out of L'Escalla until after 11:00am.

Costa Brava . . .  

We initially headed through Figueres and down into Llancá (where we were yesterday) and followed the stunning Costa Brava all the way into France and beyond.  It is high rugged ground that goes all the way to the sea - and there are small towns and villages scattered in most of the coves and nooks and crannies along the entire coast.  Some of the towns were Colera (B) and Portbou (C) – and it was here that we finished the N-260 which we had ridden all the way from Jaca!  Unfortunately we could not stop to get a decent photo as the stopping points looked pretty dangerous.

So we made our way along the coast in France through Cerbére - which was pretty much more of the same as Spain but perhaps larger towns and more industry . . . and certainly a very impressive railway system right out to the border.  We stopped for our lunch in Banyuls-sur-Mer (D) and took in some fresh sea air and coastal ambiance.

Now that was fun – let’s do it again!

And so was that!

The Power Rangers have landed!

Banyuls-sur-Mer . . .

Getting blown away over lunch . . .

Come on you lot – we’re ready to go!

  
Bypass . . .  

The next stage was always going to be a bit of a 'slog' as we had to bypass Perpignan to connect up with the N-116 up into the valley.  It was pretty tedious transiting between the interesting roads until we finally found a few twisty bits leading into Estagel (E) where we stopped for a cool drink - and where I destroyed my phone by soaking it in the hand basin in the toilet!

We could use less tables I suppose!

Another Helpful Local . . .  

Although rather stiff at first, when we got to know François Arago he turned out to be a most interesting character.  He was a local who became one of France’s most eminent citizens - a mathematician, physicist, astronomer and politician and he grew up from being a journalist, actor and author!  We would have like to have chatted with him a little longer but we had a schedule to keep.

He was a bit stiff until we got to know him!

On With the Journey . . .  

The next town we passed was Maury (F) and then Qullian (G) where the D-117/118 became moderately more interesting as we passed through Espéraza, Limoux (H) and Cépie.  The gorge down the Canal du Midi was just stunning and some of the open sweepers in the other valleys were also fun to ride.  We topped up with fuel at Couiza and made our way up through Limoux and on to Carcassonne.  Unfortunately Garmin stopped us about 500m short of the hotel - but a rather attractive local shop keeper was more than happy to assist!

Historic Carcassonne . . . 

The Hotel du Pont Vieux is interesting - right at the base of the fortified town and itself an 18th century building.  We parked the bikes in what seemed like a cavern right next door and made our way to the rooms - ours was on the top floor with stunning fortified town views.

We all met in the courtyard out the back of the hotel for a glass of Limoux 'champagne' - but of course we cannot say that - and then off up into the old town for dinner.  Tomorrow we will split up - Chris is finding the going a bit tough and will take an easier route to Anduze while the rest of us will continue with the original plan.

Garmin having trouble digesting French satellite dust

The fortified town

Drinks in the garden of the 350 year old Hotel du Pont Vieux

View from our hotel room

Another Helpful Local . . .  

This guy didn’t really say much but we thought the silly smile might mean something like ‘you bloody idiots’ for riding motor cycles at your age!

“I wish I could afford a bigger helmet”