{"id":2465,"date":"2023-07-17T11:16:50","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T11:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=2465"},"modified":"2023-07-17T11:16:53","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T11:16:53","slug":"83-barcelona-to-collioure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=2465","title":{"rendered":"83. Barcelona to Collioure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The final day!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A nice slow start today after our late arrival last night! Managed to get the blog up to date before ambling to our local cafe for a delicious Tortilla breakfast! So good to have a savoury option after far too many sweet pastries in Italy: Italian breakfasts really are miserable affairs!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, we cycled this last leg from Barcelona to Collioure over two days\u2026but rather than repeating the ride, we opted go take the slow train up to Portbou, the last stop before the French border, and cycle from there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our apartment was only a five minute dash away from Saints station\u2026..which was heaving. Today – Saturday – is really the beginning of the high holiday season, here\u2026and indeed everywhere in Europe! So the station was mobbed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As was the train! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stopping at every small village en route\u2026it was standing-room-only until after the Figueras stop\u2026about two hours up the line! Musical entertainment for a while\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A quick coffee in Portbou\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026.before setting off up the hill to the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Portbou annd Cerbere, the first town in France\u2026used to be hugely important railway towns on the only railway link. Track gauges are different in the two countries, so all trains had to stop\u2026in one town or the other\u2026whilst all passengers – and all freight – were shifted onto new rolling stock! Hence the huge marshalling yards in both places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking down on Cerbere\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026and the road on to Banyuls..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interesting\u2026I have cycled this road so often (usually for cheap cigarettes from Spain!)\u2026but have not stopped to take photos before\u2026! All quite pretty really!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banyuls\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On past Paulilles, long-closed site of one of Nobel\u2019s gunpowder factories\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026.and up and down into Port Vendres, still an important port, dealing exclusively with the import of fruit and veg from North Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was unaware of the time, but when I asked Alan\u2026we were now in a mad hurry for one last assignment!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rushing through Collioure\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026and up to the railway station\u2026where a train had just arrived!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Voila\u2026! Liz, arriving from Marseilles (where she had spent a few days after her Madeira jaunt with Jude).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so on to Bar St Elme\u2026our official finishing post!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vincent was there to greet us\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plenty of beers to celebrate\u2026of course!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Made it!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflections and final stats in the Epilogue to follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The final day!! A nice slow start today after our late arrival last night! Managed to get the blog up to date before ambling to our local cafe for a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collioure-to-istanbul-back-2023"],"yoast_head":"\n83. 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