We started the day…by leaving Spain….entering France…then a few kms later…we re-entered Spain…into the enclave of Llivia!
A very strange bit of history really…as Wikipedia notes:
“Following the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 ceded the comarques of Roussillon, Conflent, Capcir, Vallespir, and northern Cerdanya (“Cerdagne”) to the French Crown. The treaty thus established the Pyrenees as the border between France and Spain, while separating Northern Catalonia from Catalonia. However, the treaty stipulated that only villages were to be ceded to France, and Llívia was considered a town (vila in Catalan), since it had the status of the ancient capital of Cerdanya. So Llívia remained a Spanish enclave within France and did not become part of the Kingdom of France. This situation was confirmed in the subsequent Treaty of Llívia, signed in 1660”
So a tiny piece of Spain…surrounded by France!
From there….a 500m climb took us back up to around 1,600m….ready for the most delightful and long descent!
Glorious sunshine! It really was a wonderful hurtle!
Indeed….we were travelling faster than most buses and trucks…so we were frustratingly held up far too often!
On one such occasion…I was meandering along – brakes on – behind a bus. And a huge truck came up behind…with a long honk on his horn….telling me to get out of the way…yet I was the one being held up!!
He overtook anyway…..not safely….and then of course braked behind the bus! What an idiot! I then overtook him….at which point he went ballistic!! A long blare of his horn…and I did feel he would have run me down had I not escaped off the road! A maniac!
And really quite typical? Far too many close calls today. French drivers!! After six weeks cycling in Spain…one almost forgets how wonderfully civil the Spanish drivers are. Certainly the kindest drivers in Europe….with a real respect for cyclists!
Not the same in France….alas!
Gorgeous run down the hill……
We spotted the famous little yellow train…slowly climbing up the alley…
Through a final gorge…..
And down for breakfast at an old haunt in Villefranche de Conflent….
…a delightful fortified village.
Whilst the downhill gradient reduced as we moved towards the coast….the wind helped us along…such that neither of us needed to swap batteries until the 110km mark! Some sort of record that….despite the 800m of ascent!
Past the village of Eus….
….and the famed Canigou (Catalonia’s sacred mountain)
Lovely ride.
Not a cloud in the sky all day! I honestly cannot remember when that last happened on this trip! The weather has not been kind to us….until today!
Thuir for coffee…..and past the Alberes….we were now in very familiar territory.
Through Argeles….and on to….
…or…..
…..to complete the grand circuit! 6,130kms of cycling later!!
We headed straight down to Bar St Elme….where Nico – and girlfriend Fiona – were waiting to welcome us back!
The beers tasted good!! Well-deserved we thought!!!
I need a haircut!!!
