Pyrenees HRP - 2004 - Day 56 - Epilogue 2

 

Sue and Martin's Big Adventure

 

Day 56 - Sunday 19 September 2004 - Epilogue 2

Banyuls-sur-Mer to Ille-sur-Têt

 

Diary Entry (by Sue)

Another beautiful morning but more breezy - luckily the tent remained standing! Paid our dues and left the campsite at about 8.45 am. Headed north, in leisurely fashion. Lots of cyclists out early.  

First stop, west of Elne, was Thuir (pictured above and below). This delightful village was open to an extent, and we indulged in pain au chocolat, coffees, and a wander round. We admired the work of an 'Artisan Patissier' in one window.

 

 

 

Then, a few km west, we climbed a dirt road to Corbere de Dalt, with a castle and church perched in beautiful trees above Corbere. The church had a huge gold-leaf covered frieze at the front and sold cherry jam at the back! Its back step made an ideal location to sit and diary write, with the world at our feet once more.

 

 

 

 

Had lunch there too, moving into the shade with a view of the afternoon's destination, Ille-sur-Têt. A brew went down well with bread, pâté de campagne and tomatoes, and an excellent nectarine. Shortly after, a rather eccentric lady readily booked us into the nicer than Banyuls 'Camping Municipal' in Ille-sur-Têt. Here, the pegs go in, and it is quiet.

 

On foot, we went through the sleepy town, with narrow streets, and to 'Site des Orgues', the other side of the river. This is a tiny version of Bryce Canyon, with pinnacles of sand topped with a bouldery layer. Not spectacular, but pleasant.

 

 

 

 

Returned to town and visited l'Eglise St Etienne, a huge and extremely silent church, with twelve side chapels.

 

 

Its tower and external facia can be best seen from a distance due to the proximity to other buildings. Had a beer under plane trees in a quiet square before returning to the tent at about 6 pm.

 

It made a nice change to cook and have dinner outside - asparagus soup and three cheese spaghetti with tuna. We even had the luxury of using the table and chairs outside an unused chalet opposite our pitch.

 

Still warm, despite cloud, after 7 pm. After dinner, I read a bit more of 'Fresh Air Fiend' (Paul Theroux) in the comfy car seat, drinking mint tea until the light went.

 

Martin relaxed in the tent, watching the bats.

 

Went to sleep when it got dark.

 

Here's the Epilogue area, covering the final four days of the trip

 

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Pyrenees HRP - 2004 - Day 55 - Epilogue 1

 

Sue and Martin's Big Adventure

 

Day 55 - Saturday 18 September 2004 - Epilogue 1

Banyuls-sur-Mer and Collioure

 

Diary Entry (by Martin) 

A lie in at Banyuls after a somewhat disturbed night, for me anyway. People talking until about 6 am (eventually someone shouted at them), dogs barking, unidentifyable bleeps, train noises, motor bikes, cars, Sue's snores, then finally chirping birds. The latter not a problem, but the following night (Saturday) was similar except the talking stopped around 1 am.

 

Not to worry, we did sleep on the stony ground, tent supported by rocks at the back and by our extra guys at the front being tied to trees. (Need two more similar guys for the back.)

 

Wandered around sunny Banyuls in the morning. Found girolles for sale at €9.90/kilo. Tempting, Watched kayakers, divers and others.

 

Cappuccinos on the sea front in the sun.

 

Then we bought lunch ingredients and on the way back to our dusty campsite we diverted to the railway station to investigate trains to Perpignan. There was one in ten minutes, at 12.30, so we got it.

 

Found a nice small park in Perpignan to eat lunch - credit cards used as we had no cutlery whatsoever with us. The main purpose of the visit was to try to hire a car for our remaining three days before the flight home. There were about six car hire places within 200 metres of Perpignan station (a 25 minute train ride from Banyuls) - all shut for lunch from 12.00 to 14.00.

 

So at 14.30 we did a tour - all had no cars or were still shut, but "no cars" in Hertz had only been overheard and qualified "maybe later", so we went back there. Very luckily, they had a Renault Twingo. We accepted with glee and headed off in this (very soon getting stuck in a traffic jam caused by a massive cavalcade of motor bikes protesting about something), our first journey in a car for nearly eight weeks, to the picturesque resort of Collioure.

 

Parked in a lay-by  about 1 km south of the town and walked in.

 

 

Very touristy and upmarket. Lots of shops, and a street with musicians, paved with real grass!

 

 

Sue went for a swim - she enjoyed it more than yesterday, but still cold. Nice ice creams.

 

 

Back to Banyuls for a final walk along GR10. Smells of crushed grapes from the wineries. Truck and van loads of grapes being delivered today - it's very much the season for production of Corbières wine.

 

Excellent choice of restaurant - we went early and got the last table - La Vieille Cave Pizzeria - shared salad, chef's pizza - €28. Beer. Lots of water - we were dehydrated from the day! Back to camp around 9.30 for an adequate sleep on this less than satisfactory site.

 

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Tuesday 24 March 2020 - A View from the Kitchen Window

 

This cheeky little blue tit took a break from feasting on the peanuts that dangle from the washing line, in favour of nibbling on the tree buds outside our kitchen window.

 

 

In addition to my (getting slower) early morning run in isolation, I'm spending a bit of time each day raking moss from the lawn. There's lots of it, and it also offers the chance to enjoy a chat with the neighbours, from a very safe distance, of course. I've left some of the moss in a neat pile; hopefully it'll attract some of the nesting birds.

 

It was great to see a flock of goldfinches this morning, as I jogged along Derbyshire Road South.

Book Club

 

Sue's book club meets every month to chat about that month's book, which has to be a novel by an author never previously featured (and the club - an offshoot of SWOG - goes back many years).

They also chat about holidays, and life in general. This is the first time that they haven't left their homes to meet, but thanks to 'Zoom' they were able to have a two hour meeting of the type that has been possible for many years. I recall video conferences at work going back to the 1990s, resented by those who loved to spend time driving around from meeting to meeting.

Anyway, last night's session went well, punctuated in the background by requirements from Boris, to which we will adhere. "STAY AT HOME". 

Everything apart from Sue being required to go in to work today rather than work from home (not very clever in my view) seems to be on hold. We have lots of 'projects', but lack of inertia must be overcome.

Take care.

Where's Wally 2020...?

 

Morning runs: saw 47 runners on Saturday (5 km in 26.36), 21 runners on Sunday (28.33), 15 runners today (29.06).

By the end of the week I may look like Wally and be taking 40 mins. The earlier I start, the slower I'm going, but at least I'm getting out, if only briefly.

Camelia

 

I'm abandoning the walks/bike rides programme that I devised and broadcast last week. I'm in a 'Stay at home for at least 12 weeks' category.

Meanwhile, photos from the garden are all I can manage just now, though I'll try to find something more interesting to post from our laptop if I get a chance. 

The hard drive on our desktop computer failed this morning, which is a nuisance, but I'd prefer a poorly computer to a poorly human!

Take care...