Safe Return Doubtful

Set aside the section through Lyon and St Etienne, my route through France was excellent, and one I’m certainly keen to spend more time exploring. 

From Cuiseaux in the southwest corner of the Jura there was another hour of splendid Jura hills before trudging through the heavily populated Lyon / St Etienne area. From there into the cantons of Loire and Haute-Loire in Ardèche to the little town of Rosières where I spent the weekend.

There was some good hiking here at the Ravin de Corboeuf, a fragile canyon, or ravine of multicoloured clay. There is also an old railway line, now a biking and hiking path that served for a good way to return. 

Sunday I moved on and drove for another three hours, a couple of hundred kilometers further south to another little town that had caught my eye, Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon.

There’s another old railway line here, situated above the picturesque medieval town in Aveyron. There are still tracks on the railway, and the guy who bought and renovated the old station house has made it his family’s business. I met him when I arrived, and he made me very welcome. There was no one else around, but it’s busy in the summer as he has made some rail bikes that can take a journey of an hour through the local forest, and over a spectacular viaduct. He has a cafe as well, and though it was closed, invited me for coffee. 

My plan for Monday was to drive to the border south of Perpignan and stay at Fort Bellegarde which is off the road on a hill close to Le Perthus. However, though a quick walk there just as it was going dark went well, it wasn’t a good place to stay; there was plenty of noise from the busy roads below and it was windy and exposed. I went on for half an hour into Spain to the historic Catalan town of Peralada. There is an aire here, and though it was very busy with motorhomes it was okay for the night, as by the time I got there, 6:30 pm, it was getting late. 

This morning I walked through the old town,  once home to the Frankish Counts of Peralada, but now far more popular for the wine it produces. 

It’s been a lot of driving in the last week, which I never usually like to do, but on this occasion I’m keen to get a bit more light in the day, and some warmer weather. Though the southeast of France was still enjoying late autumn while I was there, there was snow and ice forecast for later this week. It’s going colder here as well, but less so. 

With that in mind, though I was in half a mind to stay at Peralada another day, I wanted to get clear and Girona and Barcelona, and the Costa Brava, there are a lot of motorhomes still around. I drove another couple of hundred kilometres on the toll free Spanish motorway to Barcelona and then headed inland towards the Sierra de Prades, and the Poblet Monastery just outside the town of L’Espluga de Francolí.

It’s 500 metres up here, and though the day has been almost cloudless with 18C, it was be a cool night. I’m not usually excited by monasteries but this has a huge car park to stay overnight, and has an attractive situation with its mountain backdrop. I wandered the monastery late this afternoon, and will hike around the surrounding hills tomorrow morning. 

I will move a lot more slowly now, roughly down the little backbone of coastal Sierras over the next couple of weeks.