France, Languedoc Roussillon, Pyrénées-Orientales

Cerbère to Banyuls. 15.0 km. Sunday 24^th May 2009

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Gallery | Walks | Site Root

Village-des-Aloes-to-Banyuls.kml   
Village-des-Aloes-Banyuls.gpx   
Cerbere-to-Village-des-Aloes.gdb   
Train-ride.gdb   
Village-des-Aloes-Banyuls.gdb   
Entire Route (KML)

Google Earth	Garmin Altitude Plot	Garmin Mapsource	Village des Aloes
Sea view	Road sign	Our route up	Our route up
Pea pod tree	Pea pod tree	Unknown Yellow	Unknown Yellow
Unknown Yellow	Unknown Yellow	Unknown Yellow	Unknown Yellow
Unknown Yellow	Unknown Yellow	Ladies bedstraw	Ladies bedstraw
Ladies bedstraw	Ladies bedstraw	Ladies bedstraw	Daisy late yellow
Daisy late yellow	Daisy late yellow	Daisy late yellow	Daisy late yellow
Soft thistle	Soft thistle	Hypericum	Hypericum
Hypericum	Hypericum	Hypericum	Hypericum
Helichrysum stoechas	Helichrysum stoechas	Helichrysum stoechas	Helichrysum stoechas
Campanula	Campanula	Campanula	Campanula
Campanula	Campanula	Campanula	Campanula
Campanula	Rose	Rose	Rose
Big daisy	Big daisy	Big daisy	Big daisy
Big daisy	Chicory	Cistus tiny white	Cistus tiny white
Cistus tiny white	Chicory	Chicory	Helichrysum stoechas
Lavendula	Campion white bladder	Campion white bladder	Campion white bladder
Campion white bladder	Silene white	Silene white	Silene white
Silene white	Lavendula	Lavendula	Unknown
Unknown	Cistus tiny white	Cistus tiny white	View France and Spain
View France and Spain	View	Flora	View
Dianthus	Dianthus	Dianthus	Dianthus
Dianthus	Dianthus	View Banyuls	Dianthus
Dianthus	Buttercup	Buttercup	View Banyuls
View	View	Unknown	Unknown
Unknown	Unknown	Convolvulus	Convolvulus
Cerbere Station	Snowy peak	Verbascum	Pine unknown
Unknown	Unknown	Silene white	Silene white
Silene white	Silene white	Silene white	Silene white
Silene white	Dianthus	Dianthus	Unknown blue
Unknown blue	Vetch	Vetch	Spring
Spring	Escape route map	View Banyuls	View
View snowy peaks	View	Seed heads	Unknown blue
Unknown blue	Unknown blue	Unknown blue	Buttercup
Buttercup	Buttercup	Buttercup	Unknown blue
Buttercup	Buttercup	Unknown blue purple form	Unknown blue purple form
Buttercup	Buttercup	Buttercup	Buttercup
Buttercup	Honeysuckle	Honeysuckle	Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle	Umberiferal	Umberiferal	Umberiferal
Grapes	Grapes	Grapes	Bryony
Bryony	Bryony	Mountain View	Cote Vermeille
Winery	Vintage French Van	Bauyuls railway station	SNCF Railway
Regional express train	Regional express train	Regional express train	Railway trackside sensor
Regional express train	Railway heavy duty phones	Languedoc Roussillon Train	Languedoc Roussillon Train
Languedoc Roussillon Train	Languedoc Roussillon Train	Eringeum	Eringeum
Eringeum	Eringeum

Sunday

Small things sometimes take on greater significance. Often we have to get up very early in the morning but today we don't need to catch a public transport link to the start of the walk. Bliss.

We set out soon after dawn and found a better route from our village to the main coast road. Then we climbed 440 metres on mountain roads. At first there was tarmac but later the surface was nicer. We passed antennas and a look-out tower. There was an incredible number of flowers to inspect so our progress was slow. There were fine views of the mountains and coast but the weather was hazy.

Near the highest point, we joined the path used by people escaping the Nazi regime during world war two. Parts of the route were well hidden in vegetation but other stretches were exposed. It must have been dangerous. This was a fairly typical mountain path with no major obstacles. It might have been wilder 70 years ago.

We met only no one this leg of the walk. Had we done the walk the previous day, we would have met hundreds. In Portbou there was a train all painted up with the 70th aniversary of the Retirada across the Coll de Belitres back in 1939 on may 23rd. Presumably an entire train load of people had retraced this historic route. Of course we were following the route in the wrong direction.

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