Blackburn to the Pyrenees and back again

My mate asked me if I wanted to join him on a visit to see his sister in the South west of France. It was just the thing I was looking for and jumped at the chance. My mate lives in Burgess Hill and so he booked a couple of Ryan air flights from Stanstead for a hundred quid return to Perpignan. I just had to get my self to his house and we would be all set. I decided against driving because its a long journey and petrol is so expensive so I booked with Virgin trains return for ninety three quid.

I left Preston at one o'clock and after changing in London I arrived at Burgess Hill at four thirty.

My mate picked me up and we went to his house where we enjoyed an evening of wine drinking catching up and generally bullshitting each other.
We rose early the day after so we could miss the traffic on the motorway. The flights were at eleven o'clock and we arrived at Stanstead with plenty of time to worry about whether our suitcases would pass the carry on test..
To save space in our luggage we had to wear our heavy overcoats and walking boots. This was the only way to avoid a forty quid surcharge for checking in a bag,

After hanging around the airport for about one and a half hours we got fed up of giving other people advice about where their flight was leaving from and set off to board our flight to Perpignan.Flying with Ryan air may not be the most luxurious flight you ever take but they certainly are good value and the staff were really good.
The flight was about 2 hours and we arrived in Perpignan one hour ahead at about three o'clock. I always love it when they open the aircraft doors and the fresh warm air hits you and you can leave deary old England behind in your thoughts.

It had been arranged for someone to meet us at the airport and neither of us knew what the other looked like,but we must have looked so obviously English that very soon we met the lady who was there to pick us up,
You can't beat a holiday that someone else has arranged on your behalf. There is nothing to do except sit back and watch the world go by and occasionally dip into your wallet for some spondoodlys.
We were staying in an eleventh century hill fort sort of town called Laroque des Alberes. It is only about 40 minutes from perpignan and were soon there.

 Driving through Laroque is difficult so we had to park at the foot of the tower and walk up a very steep road to get to the house.

My mates sister was still at work when we arrived but we knew where she kept the door key. When we opened the front door we were confronted by a barking dog that didn't look too friendly.My mate said we had better wait till his sis arrived home but me being a bit daft said "its ok I'l go in and make Friends with it".

Once we had unpacked I started to get itchy feet so we took the dog for a walk and I rather stupidly let it off the lead..It quickly ran off !! After much shouting and getting lost in the narrow streets we eventually found 'Eddie' back on the terrace of the house looking pleased with itself.
By now I was in my shorts that I was to wear all week and having a quite beer on the terrace trying to shelter from the hot sun so as not to get too burnt on the first day.
The view from the terrace was lovely and in the distance we could see the Massif Canigou. At over two thousand five hundred  metres it was going to be a bit beyond us this trip.

I hadn't seen my mates sister for forty years but we soon got reacquainted after a litre or so of the local wine. Later that day we had a quick walk and saw this sign.We decided this would be our first walk..

In the morning the sun was shining so we packed our butties and water.

 Unfortunately we were told not to take the dog as there would be no water for him to drink on the hill..So we had to leave little Eddie behind as we set off compass in hand on my first Pyrenees adventure.

Thats where we are heading. Doesn't look much but its 1241 metres and we started at sea level so it took us almost four hours.. Along the way we stopped at a little cafe at about 3500 feet and had a brew.

The walk to the summit from this cafe is about half an hour and it follows the border between France and Spain. The border itself is just a barbed wire fence designed more to keep the cows in than keep smugglers out..

At the summit we posed for a picture and despite being so high up it was still quiet warm especially only being the end of March.

From the summit you can see the long distance path that passes through here from Spain and onto the coast at Collioure in France.
The path back to Laroque from here passes through a forest. As you lose height the trees change quite dramatically.. At the top the trees are almost all Beech, then further down they change to Pine tree and then as you get lower they become Oak trees and then as you approach the bottom the Bark Oak are more abundant.
 The walk statistics are :  13 miles 8 hours 5300 feet ascent.
Our evenings were usually spent sitting on the terrace drinking the local Muscat and admiring the views

 On another walk we visited the village of Castelnou and walked up to the Chapelle Saint Martin de Camélas.

This lonely hilltop Ermitage overlooks the surrounding valleys and is a peaceful place to reflect on things gone by.

 On our way up here a liitle lost hunters dog "chien chasseurs" joined our party and he followed us all the way back to Castelnou where we rang the number on his collar and the hunter came by and picked him up.

If you ever visit this area and are blessed with nice weather like we were then this is the sort of walking you can expect to enjoy.