Monday May 16th Sournia to Caudies de Fenouilledes

What an utter pain in the arse, just discovered that the blog masterpiece I did yesterday has disappeared. Slightly dodgy wifi in the garden of the two Dutch bikers who were running the auberge in Caudies de Fenouilledes must have done for it.

The main problem I had yesterday was near starvation. It was Monday and there was nowhere to get food. French villages have just about lost all their shops and bars and the few they have seem to be shut much of the time. I read somewhere that in the sixties there was a bar in France for every 100 people, well those days have clearly gone.

The topography around here consists of a series of ridges running east to west, approaching 1000 metres high. The villages tend to sit in the wide and fairly lush valleys in between the ridges and walk is zig-zags it's way through the countryside. Yesterday it was up over the ridge from Sournia then west, away from Budapest, along the north side of the next valley, through a series of villages, then, in this case through a ridge, into the next valley.

The scenery is gorgeous. It must be the best time of year to see it and the weather at the moment is particularly good, clear, a bit sharpe and not to hot. So climbing out of Sournia I was again treated to great views of Canigou and the Pyrenees as well as the coastal plain and beyond that the Mediterranean. Going down to other side of the ridge involved a trip through a deciduous forest where the trees had only just come out in leaf.

Canigou from above Sournia

South West to the Mediterranean

The walk also involved a series of villages, firstly Le Vivier, then St Martin, then a number of houses which don't quite coalesce into a village but somehow manage three ruined Cathar castles, and then Caudies de Fenouilledes itself. Just before arriving at Caudies de Fenouilledes I was treated to a walk through the Gorge du Juame which cut through the ridge I had been walking along and took me into the next valley.

Ruins at le Vivier

Ruins at Fenouillet

The villages are very nice, the stone property has been well restored, and I suspect that a lot of the accommodation is used for second homes or for holiday lets. Ever getting hungrier I was hoping for a shop or a bar (in Spain villages this size would have had a least one bar), but no such luck.

The countryside in between the villages was great, hay meadows, vineyards, and higher up herds of cows with calves and a bull. The bulls looked pleased with life and were not going to bother themselves with an idiot carrying a large bag.

Happy Looking Charolais

Arrived at Caudies de Fenouilledes, which is a small town rather than a village, at about 4, spent half an hour trying to find the Auberge and in the meantime spotted the supermarket and boulangerie which will be open tomorrow. Total walk was 28 kilometres with about 700 metres of climb and I was well ready for my dinner when it arrived at 8.

Saturday May 14th Refuge de Mariailles to Ballestavy

So today was a walk with everything. Great scenery, wildlife, scary challenging walking, hideous weather and then a great meal at the end of it.

After the terrible afternoon weather of the last two days I decided to head of early (not a lot to make you hang about in a Refuge) and try and get over Canigou before it started to rain. The Refuge was 1700 metres so we had about 1,000 metres to climb, some maps days Canigou is 2,700, some say it's 2,600.

Refuge de Marialles

The walk up the valley is an easy one although we did have to cross a very full river and I get my first dose of wet feet. As we climb the valley I get to see my first ever Flaming Salamander (I my second one later) and then lots of Isards running across the side of the valley. Slightly later Peter thinks we see a wild cat, I think it's a marmot.

Flaming Salamander

Crossing snow fields on the way up to Canigou

The weather is starting to look less settled and although we can now clearly see the top of Canigou there is still a lot of climbing. On the high side of the valley there is still a lot of snow some of which looks a bit too unstable to cross forcing us to make some time consuming detours. Eventually we are ready to make the final climb to the top and it really is a climb. For at least 300 feet your climbing your way up through a chimney, real climbing, and I'm having second and third thoughts about the whole thing. Exhausting, a big scary but actually really exhilarating we eventually make it to the top.

The ridge to the south of Canigou

Climbing the chimney up to Canigou

The clouds prevent us seeing the Mediterranean and the other views for which Canigou is famous for but it's dramatic despite that. It's starting to get cold however so after about 10 minutes we head down the easier path on the other side. The clouds suddenly drop, there is a crack of thunder and the rain and hail is pouring down. We walk through this for another 45 minutes until we get to the Refuge at Catalots, which is fortunately open and we go inside for some shelter. A couple of German women have the same idea and we crowd around the fire, drink hot chocolate and share some fruit cake.

On top of Canigou

Posing Pete

Half a hour later we were on our way again, still cloudy but not raining and only 8 kilometres to our destination at Ballestavy. After a couple of kilometres the GR 36 leaves the GR 10 and heads north effectively leaving the Pyrenees. The rain starts again and we drop into a forest which goes on uninterrupted the next 6 kilometres dropping about 1500 metres on the way. It's a great walk, even in the rain, a narrow ghost train like path through the trees, soft underfoot encouraging you to move really quickly down the hill side.

At about 6.30 we arrive at Ballestavy a really pretty village on the hill side in the middle of the forest. Cold and wet we find the Gite D'Etape near the church and it looks miserable. Peter goes of to get the key and I guard the bags. 10 minutes later he's back and has found accommodation above the restaurant and there is a woman with a car to ferry us there. The day is finished of with a absolutely brilliant Table D'hote sploit only slightly by the damp dog smell of my shoes.

Ballestavy

Friday May 13th Mantet to Refuge de Mariailles

Guest blog by Peter
This is the second day of my walk with John through some country I know - or thought I did till yesterday! Picking up with John's fiendish high level of fitness was hard so was pleased that both legs were functioning this morning.

Gite d'Etape in Mantet

We left Mantet after a good breakfast (turned out building his wonderful little gite had cost our belgian host two wives, though current post holder very nice and a great cook).
John bought some locally produced and high priced sheep's cheese and we walked 300 metres up to the Col de Mantet, really good views back the way we had come yesterday.

Up from Mantet

and then down to Py at 700 metres.

The Golden Nugget of Py had a sign saying "ouvert" but we were unconvinced. Pressed on and climbed gently up to Col de Jou through beech woods.

Through the Beech trees

Weather closing in but some good glimpses if the west face of Canigou which is the last big mountain in the range before the Mediterranean. At 2780 metres it is the sacred mountain of the Catalans visible from Narbonne to Girona. Tomorrow we'll go over early before the clouds and storms build up.

Today they certainly built up. We were just feet away from a lightning bolt and the rain poured down steadily (stair rods says John) but our day today was pretty short and half an hour later we checked into the Refuge. John overjoyed to try out again his dormitory anti-snoring technique.

The Refuge de Marialles

Grim Weather

Thursday May 12th Planes to Mantet

First full day in France, really tough day's walking but satisfying made all the more so by some wonderful accommodation in Mantet.

Left Planes at nine and walking with Peter Williams. Weather was excellent, sunny and fresh but the forecast for the rest of the day was poor. First little freshener was a gentle 400 metre climb up through the trees and then down into the valley on the other side of a ridge. The river in the valley was in full flow and we had to walk a long up the valley before we could cross it and then come back down again on the other side.

You then start climbing up to the biggest pass of the day, the Col Mitja, and at 2367 metres the highest point I've got to on the E4 so far. Took nearly two hours to climb to the top and just as we going over the top it started to rain, not heavily but enough to make you wet. There is a refuge at the bottom of the valley on the other side which, in a couple of weeks time is open, and would have been a good place to stop but not yet an option.

Serrat de la Xemeneis

Instead we have to climb another pass and make for Mantet. The signs at the refuge at 3. 30 tell us we still have 4 hours walking to go and it's still raining on and off and snowing at the top. Climbing up we saw a couple of isards a sort of wild mountain goat, running up the wide of the mountain. At about 5.30 we make it to Col de Pal at 2294 metres and the cloud is now so dense that finding the trail is a real problem. Walking across open ground, across snow and then through trees we suddenly find ourselves in a full blown storm, thunder and lightening with snow mixed in with the driving rain. We lose the trail and just for a few minutes it's really unpleasant. Both of us have waterproofs on but not a lot in terms of insulation and we were quickly starting to get cold. We manage the figure out where the trail should be from the GPS, not where we thought it was and head in that direction. After about 10 minutes see the white and red waymarks and almost at the same time the storm dies down and we can see Mantet.

Col du Pal

A long way down

Takes 90 minutes to work our way down the valley and by the time we arrived the Gite d'Etape we had walked 28 kilometres and climbed over 1800 metres. Big day, particularly a big first day for Peter.

Belgian couple running the Gite, great food and great accommodation. Just what was needed after such a walk.

Wednesday May 11th Alp to Planes

In France!!!

For the last couple of weeks or so it felt like I was never going to get here but here I am. Crossed the border at Puigcerda at 11 which is about 7 kilometres from Alp and then walked onto Planes. I'm now following the GR 36 which, for the next three days, follows the route of the GR 10, the trans Pyrenean walk, a really famous route.

Slight embarrassment with the bottom half of my trousers before leaving Alp. Had left them in the sun on the window sill to dry while I had a kip and of course they blew away. One leg was easy to retrieve but the other had gone down into basement in a space which was enclosed. Had to persuade a reluctant landlady to let me climb out of the restaurant window. It was easy getting out but getting back was a problem. Still don't suppose I will be coming back to Alp in the near future.

Very easy walk to Puigcerda, held off from crossing the border and walked up into town and bought some new walking poles. Bit heavy compared to others but will do the job. Also bought a look alike Swiss army knife which is also a lot heavier than the real thing but I'm now fully equipped again.

Then across the border although to be honest you would be hard pushed to notice. Some redundant buildings all that remains, good riddance to borders I say. Stopped in Bourg Madame, the first town immediately on the French side, and ordered a cafe au lait. My French is already as good as my Spanish.

Remnants of the Spanish/French border crossing

Then I started my walk across France. Markings were great but in any event I'm very confident about my GPS trail. Unlike in Spain however I don't have maps on my GPS (got PDFs of the maps on my IPad) so I can tell from the trail if I going the right way but don't know if I arrived - sounds almost philosophical.

Anyway the walk was excellent. An off-road trail along the south side of a very broad valley gradually climbing all the way. Good views although it became quite stormy as the afternoon wore on. Walked through some lovely little villages, Err, Lo and Eyne and some not so nice ski resorts. Very sad photo memorial on the side of a building to two children who had been taken to Auschwitz in 1942.

Err

Village memorial to the Holocaust

Christine and I have walked around here before although it must be more than 10 years ago. We started at the Llavia, the Spanish enclave in France, did a big loop north before coming back to Mont Louis the huge French fort on the north side of the valley I was walking along today. I remember we had a big argument at the Eyne 2600 ski resort, which in the summer is a very ugly place and must set of lots of rows.

Got to Planes at about 6 after a walkof 30 kilometres and 1300 metres of climb. I'm staying in a Gite d'Etape and I'm not really sure what the designation stands for although it is definitely doesn't mean five star hotel. Had dinner at 7 o'clock which is a bit early for us Spanish types but I guess I'll get used to these north European ways in a while.

Peter Williams, a friend from London who also lives out here, is joining me in the morning and having some walking company will be a nice change. Stop me going mad. Hope the weather holds up because the next few days hold out the prospect of some wonderful walking.