Pommerols to Villefranche de Conflent …….into the Pyrenees

September 9th

Up and at them…good sleep, good shower, ok breakfast, albeit in a great setting…

Today the plan was to visit two Cathar castles on our way to Villefranche-de-Conflent…..

 …..as we drove through the somewhat scraggly pine forests, rocky hills and innumerable vineyards we saw a sign for Aguilar Castle (not one on the list to see today). We veered off the road and onto a laneway leading through vineyards to a rocky crag, where the castle was perched …..a short 10 minute hike and there we were (actually no one else had yet arrived) so it was kind of cool to consider what life was like there in years of yore….

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Back down to rejoin the “main” highway and onwards via vineyards/’caves” and the occasional windmills………

 ………..to Chateau Peyrepertuse, actually a Cathar castle, albeit in ruins…..some chateaus are renovated but this was impressive regardless, both from a distance and up close and personal…..

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The castle is about 10 kilometers off the road and then a 45 minute hike up a rocky trail (knees are holding up …yeah!) and a fair number of people including even some who were para gliding over the castle were there to enjoy the site. The weather again is cooperating >>> sunshine and a light wind …yours truly on the ramparts:

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Down we went and onwards to another Cathar castle >>> Chateau Querbes….. which was guarding another entrance into the valley, not quite as impressive but still very neat.

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Well, our day was done and it was an easy drive to Villefranche de Conflent (naturally an MBV) where we were staying 2 nights at Casa Pelalonan…

……smooth check-in with our Finnish hosts….yes, wonderful they could speak broken English and French or excellent Finnish, apparently the guy had a bad heart attack and decided to sell the family business and restart his life here running a B&B….go figure and bon chance!! They are nice people and showed us a short cut to town …so off to a well deserved dinner in town…..guess who had these mastodon ribs ?????

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September 10th

Thursday morning looked overcast but we set of to the SNCF station to get tickets for the Petit Train Jaune

….there are open cars so we jumped on one to get a 360 degree view……lots of shouting, an electrician, more shouting,and we were off ……the train chugged into the higher Pyrenees and eventually stops at the Spanish border….we were advised to go to Mont St. Louis as the balance of the trip was apparently only modestly interesting. In any event a light drizzle gradually grew more intense and we transferred (along with everyone else to a covered wagon)….arrived at Mt. St. Louis (rainier) and simply took another train back down…..a nice trip which would have been better under better conditions………no pics!

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Had lunch on the run….i.e Boulangerie some nice quiches and a Coca …not Coke we were reminded, and quiches are not irradiated actually warmed in a coal oven:

the afternoon turned nicer by the hour and we enjoyed a walkabout in this pretty historic town .………..then a short a break at the Gite, followed AMK’s b-day dinner…very bravely tasting some local specialties:

                                                                                                    …that’s it folks another day done….